[quote]
Since 2005, The Florida State University has produced three Rhodes Scholars. No other state university in the nation can make that claim.</p>
<p>The groundwork began in late 2004, when Florida State established its first Office of National Fellowships. Finally, students had a one-stop shop equal parts recruiter, teacher, coach, navigator and advocate that would help them to compete with Ivy League students for prestigious fellowships, and win.</p>
<p>And win they did. In the past four years, the Rhodes triple play at Florida State has been bested by only nine schools a rarefied group composed of Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, Duke, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and the University of Chicago. During the same period, a mere six schools have managed to match the Rhodes record of Florida State. That stellar cadre includes Columbia, Brown and Georgetown universities.</p>
<p>Among the many renowned institutions who have garnered "only" one or two Rhodes Scholarships since 2005, while Florida State was nabbing three: Dartmouth College; Cornell University; the universities of Virginia, California-Berkeley, Michigan-Ann Arbor and Texas-Austin; Washington University in St. Louis; the U.S. Air Force Academy; Northwestern University; and the California Institute of Technology.
<p>I question the validity of this as a measure of school quality. A very small number of geniuses in a student body of thousands isn’t that significant. It’s sort of like saying that Cornell is better than Stanford because they’ve had two more Putnam top-five appearances. That’s an elite minority, nothing more.</p>
<p>It is significant as no other similar school has accomplished this recently. It is significant as the opportunity to be recognized and facilitated towards such a lofty goal may well be higher at FSU than other similar state schools. It is an opportunity for the best and brightest to excel at state university prices.</p>
<p>Too bad their athletic department is rampant with scandals, or the quality of student-athletes there might be more respectable. Rhodes or not, they need to get the academic integrity of their student-athletes up-to-par.</p>
<p>I think it’s a great accomplishment considering they only recently intitiated a concerted effort in that direction. Academically, I think FSU has a lot of other great things going for it as well. </p>
<p>I am requiring D to apply to at least one FL public. She’s decided on FSU. If she ends up there, I hope she’ll account for one more FSU Rhodes Scholar in the coming years.</p>
<p>No, not every university has its scandals. Haven’t seen Cal, Stanford, UCLA, Boston College, or Virginia in the paper for them. Nor Grinnell, Davidson, etc. Most of the ones that do have scandals do not have them on the scale of Oklahoma, Alabama and FSU. Making an excuse for kids being “underprivileged” is a very weak argument. I’m very involved in the athletic department and athletic clearances at a major D-1 university, and we take every precaution to avoid scandals. The background of coaches, advisors and other staff is heavily scrutinized before hiring. FSU hasn’t just been involved in one scandal over the years- they’ve been involved in several.</p>
<p>I’m happy for the Rhodes Scholars. It’s a fine accomplishment, and hopefully FSU can build on that success. It’s just too bad that the university’s recent history of academic dishonesty often overshadows their true accomplishments.</p>
<p>Anyone who insinuates Florida State is on par with Cornell, Dartmouth, CalTech, Berkeley, etc. (as the author of that quoted blurb does) is clearly delusional. Especially on the basis of Rhodes Scholarship production. Please. >50% of the Rhodes selection criteria is based on athletic prowess and ‘upstanding’ character traits. It is hardly a measure of raw intellectual and scholastic merit.</p>
<p>Looks like the clowns came out in full force to bash FSU.</p>
<p>A few points to clear up:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>No one is saying that FSU is at the level of Harvard, Stanford, Cornell, etc…Actually, non of the Florida schools are at that level or even close.</p></li>
<li><p>Having that many Rhodes Scholars in the past few years is a great accomplishment for ANY school.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>-FSU HAS NOT been in involved in “several scandals” recently. They had ONE so-called “scandal” pertaining to some students cheating on an online quiz. Anyone who claims otherwise is flat out lying.</p>
<ul>
<li>Schools like Virginia and Duke have their fair share of problems when it comes to their students athletes. Does the Duke lacrosse team ring a bell?</li>
</ul>
<p>Some of you need to get your facts straight before you start posting garbage on a message board.</p>
<p>It’s unnecessary to condescend to Florida State.</p>
<p>The OP’s intention is to suggest that exceedingly disadvantaged residents of Florida who have considerable intellectual potential but are not quite Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT, or Caltech level,–perhaps due to the limitations of their socioeconomic background–can and should seriously consider pursuing an undergraduate education at FSU.</p>
<p>The Duke lacrosse team is generally accepted as having been falsely accused in the entire matter, as all charges were dropped and the players were declared innocent.</p>
<p>While three Rhodes scholars is a great accomplishment for FSU, it seems like the only person here who thinks this catapults FSU into the upper echelon of higher education is a parent of two FSU students.</p>
<p>I would, however, agree that this provides good recognition that one does not have to go to an expensive private school in order to go places at the undergraduate level.</p>
I’m glad whatever school you are involved with has had few difficulties. Perhaps I’m simply older and more scarred, but even close vetting does not eliminate problems. The PhD equipped educator who was the genesis of the latest issue I’m sure thought she was doing the right thing for the right reasons. If you think vetting is the answer to all problems maybe your school is too conservative and risks little on those who have had little. No risk, no problems, for example. For me, I say take the risk. A state university serves the people of the state, not just those who have yet to be caught.</p>
<p>FSU has done a good work here. No, it’s not Harvard. But it is worthy of respect.</p>
<p>Close, but not quite. I suggest any motivated student come to Florida State and try for such recognition. Does this put FSU directly in competition for the best and brightest nationally? </p>
<p>The university I am involved with is a large state public university, ranked in the top-25 schools nationally. It is ranked first in the country for socioeconomic diversity, and also registers first nationally for those on financial aid. So to say that it “risks little for those who have had little” is ignorant and insulting. It also is definitely NOT conservative- in fact, I’d say over 70% of the students consider themselves liberal. We take the character of our recruits very seriously when recruiting- while we believe in second chances, we also understand that the reputation of a university and its alumni base is at stake. We will not compromise our academic standing for a kid who runs fast but has consistently broken the law or failed to show remorse for poor choices. Perhaps this is where our schools differ. Though, I do not know enough about FSU to make that characterization, and am only going by your encouragement to “take risks” on risky kids. </p>
<p>I did not intend to put down the Rhodes Scholars themselves- that is a fantastic achievement, and is worthy of respect and admiration regardless of the institution attended. My point was simply that FSU should continue to focus on developing its student-athletes into high-caliber people, and that it’s a shame that articles such as the one you posted are often put on the back-burner in favor of articles regarding scandals and cheating (though this is not unique to FSU- it’s something that unfortunately many schools struggle with of late). </p>
<p>I don’t want this conversation to get off-topic, for the emphasis should be on the students themselves. I’m glad to see that FSU is taking steps to correct their student-athletes’ missteps. I certainly hope it continues to grow in its mission to provide an excellent education to the students of Florida and the world.</p>