<p>USNews needs to make a separate category for big state Us like they have for liberal arts colleges. It's so easy to say all of them combined are overrated or underrated.</p>
<p>underrated - UT Austin, UMCP, other state schools</p>
<p>overrated - i don't believe in it</p>
<p>Overrated: ACLU, AFLCIO, UPS, HHG, CO2, UCLA, BMW, JFK, LBJ, HDTV
Underrated: RCMP, NASA, USPS, CR-V, WVa</p>
<p>USPS is definitely underrated.</p>
<p>hahahahaha</p>
<p>
[quote]
vicissitudes, It looks like you have bought into the whole east coast reputation prestige thing as you categorize 6 schools as overrated/overranked, only one of which is located in the NE. Do you really think it is like this? And for the underrated, you again list 6 schools and 5 of these are state Us and 4 of the State Us are located in the NE or CA. Is it something about State Us that make you think they are underrated? What do you think about State Us like UNC. W&M, UT, UF, UIUC?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I have bought into this whole east coast reputation thing? Where are you getting this from? Looking at my post, I pointed out two schools on the east coast which I thought were overranked "U Penn, Duke" and two which I thought were underranked "UVa, Brown." I don't see that as tilted towards east coast at all. But so what if many schools on the east coast have prestige? I think they deserve a large portion of it. There are, in fact, quite a few very good universities in the east coast. I'll give you a very simple example: graduation rate. Harvard's 4-year graduation rate for the 1999 cohort was 87%. Princeton's and Yale's 4-year graduate rates were 89% and 90%, I believe. That's very impressive. Now take a look at some west coast schools. 77% for CalTech, 76% for Stanford, and 58% for UC Berkeley. Now, I actually believe CalTech and Stanford are on-par with Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, and UC Berkeley isn't far off, but this is just one aspect that demonstrates that the top east coast schools are indeed very good schools to go to.</p>
<p>Is there something about State Universities that makes me think that State Universities are underranked? Not something about them, but something about how US News ranks colleges. For example, alumni donation rate? That's hardly relevant to education if at all and obviously large schools inherently lose in this aspect. Selectivity? Also something large schools lose at, although I bet the top 6,000 students at UC Berkeley or U Michigan can stand up to Harvard/Yale/Princeton students any day. Yet US News doesn't measure it that way. I'll give you a simple example of how selectivity is flawed. Say tomorrow I create a university named "The Universitiy of Vicissitudes" and get 100 of my friends to apply, and only accept one who has 2400 SATs, 4.00 GPA. My acceptance rate is 1%, and my student body far surpasses that of any other university. The selectivity ratings would shoot through the roof. But does that actually make my university good? Not at all. In fact, have you heard of Tuft's syndrome? It refers to the practice by some universities (notibly Tufts) to reject their best applicants who are likely using the school as safeties and not likely to matriculate. That artificially boosts the school's desirability and boosts its yield (which until 2004 was part of US News rankings). Yet we can all agree that in the long run this hurts Tufts because it loses out on its potentially best students.</p>
<p>What do I think about other state universities like UNC, W&M, etc? They are also very good state schools, and I wouldn't mind if they get bumped up a few ranks as well. I don't comment on them though because of three reasons. One: I am not as familiar with those schools. Two: I think after the first few "elite public universities" the selectivity of the state Us really takes a dip and it hurts the student population. UT - Austin for example. It has a lot of resources, and is a good school, but it's massive! Three: I and most of the CC population are really only concerned with the top 25 schools or so. Let's just come right out and say it. I could have put in my post that I think SUNY - Binghamton should be ranked higher than #86, but let's face it, no one will really care. Heck, I had to look up the school just to make sure I got the spelling right.</p>
<p>overrated: yale
underrated: holy cross !</p>
<p>TourGuide--You just made my life...excuse me while I go chuckle for 10+ minutes.</p>
<p>Pahahahahaha.</p>
<p>v'tudes, I agree with nearly all of your poiints. The one exception is that if you asked people at Duke or UVA where their school is located, they would not say the East. They would say the South. That is why I posed my comment as I did. IMO, there is a great geographic advantage to schools in the NE and CA in terms of the USNWR rankings calculations (PA and graduation/retention rate). This leads many of them, particularly some of the lower Ivies, to be overrated IMO. Duke is probably the only Southern school that is recognized by the education establishment as being worthy of mention in the same breadth with the top schools in the NE. IMO, this prestige-focused point of view, fed regularly by the NY and CA media, leads to the persistent underrating of Southern schools (and the effect extends to the MW and SW). </p>
<p>Two follow-up questions: First, why do you think USNWR uses graduate/retention rank (and weight it so heavily) and how is this connected to the quality of a college? Second, what do you think of the suggestion to do a separate ranking for State Us and probably make data more specific to their group, eg, don't include alumni giving, reduce class size weightings, reduce admissions rate weightings, etc?</p>
<p>
[quote]
Overrated: ACLU, AFLCIO, UPS, HHG, CO2, UCLA, BMW, JFK, LBJ, HDTV
Underrated: RCMP, NASA, USPS, CR-V, WVa
[/quote]
</p>
<p>UPS overrated?</p>
<p>I remember when my mother told someone that I was going to UPS (University of Puget Sound) and they asked her if I had gotten a job. ;)</p>
<p>Tourguide, that was great</p>
<p>overrated: berkely
underrated : colby/colgate</p>
<p>
[quote]
[quote]
Quote:
Overrated: ACLU, AFLCIO, UPS, HHG, CO2, UCLA, BMW, JFK, LBJ, HDTV
Underrated: RCMP, NASA, USPS, CR-V, WVa
[/quote]
UPS overrated?</p>
<p>I remember when my mother told someone that I was going to UPS (University of Puget Sound) and they asked her if I had gotten a job.</p>
<p>Tourguide, that was great
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</p>
<p>Actually TG listed USPS (the US Postal Service - i.e. the "Post Office") rather than UPS --> underscoring exactly why the USPS is underrated...</p>
<p>here's a little trivia:</p>
<p>Q: First Postmaster General of the United States?</p>
<p>A: Ben Franklin... Quaker stud extraordinaire</p>
<p>Overrated-NYU, Emory, Penn, WashU. Underrated-Georgetown, Holy Cross, Davidson.</p>
<p>No, I had both UPS and USPS listed, Prestige. Jeez, take it easy on the champagne already.</p>
<p>From Post #511: "underrated : colby/colgate" </p>
<p>I agree, and would add that Gorgonzola/Ipana are overrated.</p>
<p>underrated - Tufts, UChicago, Notre Dame, Rice, UPenn</p>
<p>underrated-- UChicago (I go there-- I have to add it!), Harvey Mudd, SUNY Binghamton</p>
<p>overrated-- Brown, Swarthmore</p>
<p>overrated (more like rant): Starbucks coffee... i mean, c'mon folks! wake up and smell the ... err... you know what i mean - the coffee itself is just absolute crap! The only way its potable to the American palate is to drown it with enough chocolate, vanilla, caramel, gingerbread, syrup flavoring --> douse it with cinnamon, sugar, chocolate powder, vanilla powder --> all topped of with whip cream until you're left with enough calories and sugar to put you into a mild coma... the big winner?:</p>
<p>Venti Whole Milk White Chocolate Frappuccino blended creme - whip cream... here are some sobering facts:
- 760 g calories (that's > Double QPounder w/Cheese - 740 g)
- 190 g fat calories
- 21 g of total fat
- 13 g of saturated fat
- 65 mg of cholesterol
- 121 g of total carbs
- 550 mg of sodium (that's > Large French Fries - 330 mg)
- 105 g of sugar (that's > Vanilla Triple Thick Shake (21oz) - 96 g)
<a href="http://www.starbucks.com/retail/nutrition_comparison_popup.asp%5B/url%5D">http://www.starbucks.com/retail/nutrition_comparison_popup.asp</a></p>
<p>but ... its all about the "coffee" right? last rant, the growing pretentious Starbucks lingo:
- "Percent" - meaning a 50/50 concoction by a "barista" (e.g. 50% whole / 50% nonfat)
- "140 degrees" - meaning that "no, this is not the newest boy band. If you find normal drinks too hot to drink, and want to save your tastebuds from a fiery death, order your drink at a hundred and forty degrees -- this is still quite warm, but not tongue-roasting." [cut and pasted from link below]
<a href="http://www.quicksilverweb.net/sbucks/sbcharts.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.quicksilverweb.net/sbucks/sbcharts.htm</a></p>
<p>underrated (ends up as a rant): speaking of Mickey D's... actually Ronald's "premium roast" coffee - ain't half bad!... usually the only time the word "premium" ever comes up when discussing Mickey D's is the nice healthy "premium" of transfat (8 whopping grams of it) which transforms into the ultimate Trojan horse right into your bloated arteries with every large order of fries.</p>
<p>
[quote]
the nice healthy "premium" of transfat (8 whopping grams of it) which transforms into the ultimate Trojan horse right into your bloated arteries with every large order of fries.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>yeesh...what to do about the many people who consume this crap daily and will eventually be everyone's financial/medical responsibility, one way or another?</p>
<p>btw I despise Starbucks too, so right on. Now, what was the topic here?</p>
<p>underrated-- Tufts, UChicago, UMichigan, NYU, Hopkins</p>
<p>overrated-- Harvard, Cornell, Notre Dame, Duke</p>
<p>Overrated: Duke, Wash U., Michelle Pfeiffer, Angelina Jolie, JLo, Kate Hudson, Kate Moss, Peat Moss, Lohan, Coffee, Caffeine, cigarettes, motorcycles, Yale, William Faulkner, Los Angeles, Colorado, Heineken, Italy, Sex and the City, UC Davis, Ed Norton, Courtney Cox's taste in men, Evergreen State College, Subway, The L Word, Ellen DeGeneres, U of Texas, Oprah, Oahu, Sydney Australia, Julia Stiles, pets, painted finger nails (give it up, ladies, it doesn't make you look thinner), The Devil Wears Prada, Meryl Streep, cutting your own lawn, Swarthmore, David Lynch, Kyle McLaughlin, USAFA, the guy who played Chandler.</p>
<p>Underrated: Grolsch, Spain, Jenna Dewan, Ole Miss, Pauly Walnuts, the state of Iowa, William and Mary, Little Feat, Schopenhauer, beer for breakfast,</p>