<p>So my question basically is this: Is NYU's reputation declining? And yes, I have done my research and have found potential reason to wonder if this is the case.
This year's freshmen class had a record number of applicants (in the range of 37,000), yet the average student's SAT scores (based on 2008 to 2010 comparisons) have fallen by 40 points (for the 25th percentile). Not much. However, when we consider the applicant pool has increased by a few thousand students each year, this makes quite large statistical difference. In 2008 NYU's acceptance rate dropped to an all time low of 24%. It is currently up to 38%. That's a huge difference. If the applicant pool has been increasing, acceptance rates (not account for yield rates) should be relatively similar over two years? On top of this, note that due to relatively recent financial troubles, NYU's endowment suffered and it down from it's previous high. It lost around 11% and gained around 8% of it back. Is there a correlation possibly between the financial crisis that happened and the average student applying to NYU? Perhaps since NYU's budget per student based on endowment is around $65,000 compared to Harvard's 1.5 million, more top students have turned to less financially "unstable" school? Or could it be speculated that NYU's reputation (having falling one spot in the USNWR as of this year) is going to continue declining? Could the decrease in average student have anything to do with available financial aid? NYU has expanded to Abu Dhabi and plans a potential expansion into D.C. for 2010 possibly. Are they spreading themselves too thin? Are we going to see a decline in the quality of students attending NYU, since by spreading out even more they decrease available budget per student down from $65,000?</p>
<p>That is a good question…I’ve also always wondered why USC and NYU have never been on CC’s Top Colleges list.</p>
<p>Their financial aid is reputed to be total bullcrap, so that may be a factor in its decline. Also, it’s the largest private school, and most people who want to go to a private school want to go to a smaller school. Plus, it has no real campus, and everybody wants to have a quad. It used to be my dream school because of its wide range of programs and its amazing location, but when I learned of those three things, I was immediately turned off.</p>
<p>
Why USC isn’t on the “Top Colleges” list has been debated to the ground and I believe the moderators came to the conclusion that there was no consistent basis for the list. It was simply made how it was made.</p>
<p>As for NYU, I’m perfectly fine with it not being on the “top colleges” list. Its USNWR rank is 33 and if we let NYU on the list then we’d have to let on its peers (such as Boston College) and that’d be opening up a whole can of worms. The cutoff point has to be somewhere.</p>
<p>I would disagree with
“if we let NYU on the list then we’d have to let on its peers (such as Boston College) and that’d be opening up a whole can of worms. The cutoff point has to be somewhere.”
Many of NYU’s grad programs rival that of the other top colleges, if not supersede them. If we were going by statistics in 2008, it probably would have belonged on the top colleges list. Now? Maybe, maybe not. But including it would not also mean having to include BC, William and Mary, etc. as they are not as large. (Well who said size had anything to do with whether or not it’s a top university?) The size in this case, is a very large distinguishing factor. Also, BC and William and Mary’s grad programs aren’t as reputable – which also means their professors are not as cited, etc. </p>
<p>This however was the not question, the question is whether or not we predict NYU has already reached it’s pinnacle and is going to fall?</p>
<p>The reputation of NYU as one of the leading research universities is most certainly not declining. In the widely watched and cited 2010 Academic Ranking of World Universities,
[ARWU</a> 2010](<a href=“http://www.arwu.org/ARWU2010.jsp]ARWU”>http://www.arwu.org/ARWU2010.jsp) , NYU is ranked 31st in the world and 23rd in the US. In social sciences alone, it is ranked 11th in the world, and the US, [ARWU</a> FIELD 2010 Social Sciences](<a href=“http://www.arwu.org/FieldSOC2010.jsp]ARWU”>http://www.arwu.org/FieldSOC2010.jsp) . All this puts it way ahead of a number of US universities which are placed higher in the USNWR rankings. The methodology used in ARWU emphasizes the quality, impact, and visibility of the research conducted by the universities. One is free to argue about it, but I want to remind the critics, I am sure many, that the reputation of universities, unlike liberal art colleges, rests primarily on the quality and quantity of the new knowledge and discoveries generated by their faculty. Cambridge and Oxford, or Harvard and MIT, for example, owe their reputation much more to the world class science done by their professors over the centuries than to the undergraduate education they provide (the latter can be obtained elsewhere too).</p>
<p>This is all very true. But I’m more concerned with NYU’s undergraduate reputation. It can easily be said that their grad programs and quality of professors are some of the best in the world. However, looking at their undergrad, it seems that they are accepting a larger array of students as compared to previous years. Based off of it’s grad standing, I don’t see why it’s undergrad shouldn’t be as selective or reputable as other universities that are higher ranked in USNWR. But as it is, NYU’s selectivity is not comparable in it’s undergrad admissions. Compared to it’s ranked peers, using the ARWU (as provided below), their acceptance rates are below 30% and the average SAT much higher. (Note NYU is #31 – Northwestern #29 and Duke #35). Why is it that their standard undergraduate student is not at the same level with these other schools that seem quite comparable in academic reputation?</p>
<p>I think NYU has better brand power than has USC, but that’s probably because NYU has better professional programs.</p>