<p>We're still tied for 12th. Admittedly, I was hoping we'd move up (or at least get 12th by ourselves) because of the spike in admissions status and that our endowment was relatively better equipped to handle the economic downturn. </p>
<p>I'm still a bit hazy on which year's stats appear in which rankings, so economic viability may become more valuable in future year's rankings.</p>
<p>A few other thoughts:
Ranked too high/on the upswing:
Penn is tied for 4th (Is there anyone who actually thinks that Stanford and Penn are equivalent?)
UChicago is 8th
Vandy is 17th.</p>
<p>Ranked too low/on the downswing:
Duke is 10th? (I'm stunned and very happy that we are within striking distance of a school that theoretically is everything we'd want to be in terms of balancing academics with athletics)
Cornell is 15 & Brown is 16. I love that we are SIGNIFICANTLY ahead of 2 Ivy league
schools.
Rice is 17. So much for Rice being our twin.</p>
<p>And more importantly, we do NOT want to be everything Duke is. We want to be as succesfull as them in basketball and have a men’s lacrosse program. But we want to do it the right way (like we do). And football?</p>
<p>First, anyone who cares to peruse my posting history will note that I don’t like the rankings. As someone who has been here for 3+ years, I’m well aware that my experience didn’t improve when we climbed or decline when we slipped in the rankings. The kids, facilities, and professors are unchanging. However, the perception of the university is important. As someone readying for the job market, I like that my school is ranked 12th as opposed to 13, 14, 15, or even 50. Moreover, the rankings matter for HS seniors who can’t think of any other reason to pick a school. It’s less than ideal, but the rankings are a good barometer to group the top universities in some sort of tiered system. So if being ranked 12th means the kid who was “only” applying to Penn, Duke, and Stanford (my arbitrary collection of “social” top schools), will include us, that’s all the better for us. Whether we like it or not, we should recognize the fact that students will choose NU over schools like Hopkins and Rice because we are ranked higher. Current students recognize the folly in this, but we should recognize the essential inevitability of it. We didn’t create the rules of the game, but it’s idiotic to not play by them. Besides, pretending to be the school that “has no idea where we’re ranked” creates a sense of elitism that is silly. Are we so incredibly fantastic that we don’t care how we compare based on objective data points (no matter how seemingly random)?</p>
<p>Second, the Rice/NU comparison may have been rare for most, but was definitely a part of my college process. Both schools are pseudo-city schools (granted, we are in a “suburb”), but are small-ish and have decent athletics. I think those who are looking for a top 20 education and good athletics are limited to Stanford, Duke, NU, Rice and MAYBE Vandy/ND/UVA/Cal/UCLA/USC. But in the end, there are only 4 schools in the country who are competitive/relevant in D-1 football and basketball.</p>
<p>wow… that is a *<strong><em>load of text… LOL. dont </em></strong>. u just mad cuz NU got ranked hella low. better luck next year! dont hate on penn and chicago cuz u prolly got rejected by BOTH.</p>
<p>I’m going to respond using something called “complete sentences”.</p>
<p>NU isn’t ranked “hella low” by its own (or virtually any other) standards. We have been 10-15 for most of the past decade. In fact, when I applied we were 12th, dropped to 14th, and then moved back up to 12th. So by comparing 09-10 to recent history, NU is about where it should be.</p>
<p>I also never applied to UPenn or UChicago. Both of those schools are very different from NU, and I would hope that you would have enough faith in me that I wouldn’t haphazardly apply to Top 15 schools. Instead, YOU are the one assuming that people who apply to one top school machine-gun applications to all schools similarly ranked. </p>
<p>Besides, the most cursory of glances through my post history reveals exactly where I applied and where I got in. Ad hominems make bad arguments. Ad hominems make STUPID arguments when the easily-accessible facts fly in the face of your argument.</p>
<p>“OMG NO AD HOMINEMS!” this isnt a formal debate, stupid. this is a free forum so anyone can say anything about anybody. hopefully u’ll learn at NU that in INFORMAL debates, ad hominems are completely acceptable as long as they’re relevant and thus justified in the context of previously made arguments.</p>
<p>you want facts? the fact is that NU is ranked at 12 and there’s nothing you can do about it. don’t be mad that penn and chicago ranked higher. chicago is an outstanding institution that deserves to be in the top 10, and penn may not be exactly equivalent to stanford, but the presence of wharton makes it very close overall, which justifies the tied ranking at #4. you need to stop complaining about rankings and get on with life.</p>
<p>By the way, Upenn overall score did not go up - it is the same as last year. Upenn is ranked fourth because other schools did worse, not because Upenn did better.</p>
<p>1ncognito probably got rejected by NU lol. He resurrected his SN just to bash it. To be honest, I really think all the hate coming from UChicago is really jealousy that NU students tend to be better-looking AND smart (in most cases, smartER despite our lower ranking). I have many UChicago friends, but the only ones who are not nice are the ones who are not so good-looking. Coincidence? I think not. Stop being such jealous haters, esp. phuriku I especially love the people who walk around the NU campus with their UChicago shirts on looking pretentious, thinking people must look up to them because their school is higher-ranked. My UChicago friends are honestly so embarrassed for them whenever we spot those people.</p>
<p>Regardless, it’s disturbing that 1ncognito is so <em>angry</em>. He clearly has a grudge. I got into UChicago and don’t have a grudge against it. I admit I’m a little annoyed by the jealousy and pretentiousness rampant there though (get over other schools’ preprofessionalism already… it doesn’t make them any worse schools) but I don’t go out of my way to criticize the school. I also got into Yale but chose not to attend and couldn’t care less where UPenn is ranked.</p>
<p>1ncognito, I just want to make sure I have what you said straight. Because CC is an “open” forum, the rules of logic no longer apply, so you are allowed to use Ad Homs? Do the rules of gravity not apply, too? Just because no one is formally evaluating you doesn’t keep you from being a moron.</p>
<p>Your justification is that they are ‘warranted’ and ‘relevant’. What part of "I didn’t apply to UPenn or Chicago’ get through? Things that objectively untrue are, by definition, unwarranted and irrelevant.</p>
<p>I’m also going to try this again: I. Am. Not. “Complaining”. About. Rankings. In fact, I think 12 is the right place for, give or take a few spots. I did not that I think a few schools should be higher and a few schools should be a bit lower. That doesn’t mean I’m angry. I also happen to think that Britney Spears’ new stuff is better than her old stuff, but that doesn’t mean I go and accost anybody buying “Hit Me Baby One More Time”. The difference between us is that I find myself enlightened by objective data that runs counter to my intuition, and you are terrified by data that runs counter to yours.</p>
<p>There I go again, using that “logic” thing.</p>
<p>LOL first off, where’d u get the idea that i go to chicago? fyi, i didnt even bother applying to Chicago OR NU since to be honest these are nameless second-tier institutions for top tier rejects i’d sooner go to berkeley than NU despite rankings lol. second, get your facts straight - an ad hom constitutes a fallacy only if there is a conclusion drawn using the ad hom as a premise. otherwise it’s just a statement.</p>
<p>penn still has the same score, but the WHOLE POINT of a ranking list is that it’s RELATIVE. if you’re in a track meet running at constant speed and the guy in front of you screws up and ends up crossing the finish line at the same time as you, IT IS A TIE NO MATTER WHAT. FACE IT :)</p>
<p>and please… when ppl get rejected they always say “i didn’t apply” to cover it up. pathetic. remember, it’s okay to be rejected by ivy league schools :)</p>
<p>1ncognito, given your obsession with rankings and your condescending attitude, I’m pretty sure you don’t go to a top school. If you do, what school do you go to? Sucks for that school honestly.</p>
i’d sooner go to berkeley than NU despite rankings lol. second, get your facts straight - an ad hom constitutes a fallacy only if there is a conclusion drawn using the ad hom as a premise. otherwise it’s just a statement.</p>