<p>Based on its U.S. News ranking of 28th, do you guys think UNC is overrated, underrated, or accurately ranked by the publication?</p>
<p>Discuss...</p>
<p>Accurately I guess... the US News rankings shouldn't be given too much creedence, however.</p>
<p>creedence?</p>
<p>I think about 23-25 range is accurate for UNC. put em' right along the rankins of Michigan, UCLA and UVA. The ranking Southern Cal above UNC looks awkward (USC - Less history, recently rising but mostly due to alumni pouring money in).</p>
<p>wow, it's an internet forum and i made a typo... get over it</p>
<p>I agree with scott. With history ranging back to 1793, UNC is the oldest public university in America-thus, deserving to be ranked among Mich, Berk, and UVA.</p>
<p>seriously???
what does history have to do with anything when it comes to the US News rankings?</p>
<p>and besides from its founding to 1900, UNC only had a few hundred students and was a virtual backwater in academia. it's not like UNC has always been the large research institution it is today since its founding. Almost all of the school was housed in the five buildings around the old well, until the school started expanding southward in the 1920-30s.</p>
<p>shouldn't those one hundred years of virtual inactivity be discounted? the UNC we know today is about 80 years old.</p>
<p>if the status of schools is determined by how old they are then several colleges would ranked in the top thirty that don't deserve to be. salem college, rutgers, university of delaware, college of charleston, hampden-sydney college just to name a few, were all founded before UNC. do they deserve to be ranked up there with UVA, and UMich too?</p>
<p>the point: how old a college is does not matter when it comes to their ranking</p>
<p>we're not saying that history is the sole determining factor, only that it IS a factor. A college that has national landmarks and a lot of tradition certainly makes it a lot more legit, trusted, and attractive for students than one that was started only 70-80 years ago. there is no ONE factor that makes or breaks a school's credibility, so it is true that having a long history doesn't mean it is a good school but it certainly does play a role in how its critiqued.</p>
<p>"A college that has national landmarks and a lot of tradition certainly makes it a lot more legit, trusted, and attractive for students than one that was started only 70-80 years ago."</p>
<p>Since when are legitimacy, trustworthiness, and attractiveness criteria in the U.S. News rankings?</p>
<p>Since when is US news rankings the only way to evaluate colleges?</p>
<p>I think it's pretty accurate. Saying it should be above Berkeley is a bit...out there, but I'd say it's probably in the right spot among publics.</p>
<ol>
<li>Berkeley</li>
<li>UVA</li>
<li>Michigan</li>
<li>UCLA</li>
<li>UNC</li>
</ol>
<p>Yeah, I'd say that's about right. I think Cal is pretty much on its own level, then slightly below it are Mich and UVA, then slightly below that, UCLA and UNC. But they're all obviously great schools.</p>
<p>in the current rankings ucla and umich are tied for 25th</p>
<p>i think its overrated</p>
<p>^ I am also from Texas, and I have to agree that UNC is somewhat overrated in terms of college rankings (I'd put it in the low 30s), but underrated by the average layman outside of the east coast. </p>
<p>To be perfectly honest, before I had looked at the USNWR Rankings, I had no clue that UNC was nearly as highly ranked as it is. Frankly, I only knew UNC from its basketball and lacrosse programs.</p>
<p>You all do realize USNWR is a huge joke right? Focus your attention on which school has the strongest, most reputable program in which you would like to major and stop worrying about overall school rankings. </p>
<p>For instance...if you were interested in Petroleum Engineering, you will find most of the top programs are not at schools ranked in the upper echelon according 'US News'. But if you graduate from one of those programs, you will be inundated with high-paying job offers and will be set for future grad school admissions.</p>
<p>This discussion is ridiculous.</p>
<p>dude, no ones making you guys come to unc. seriously we'd be better off without you anyways. if you think its overrated then dont come to our school. simple as that. no ones forcing you to. if you think your better than us, then move along. im sure the school down the road from UNC will take people like you. but please, dont pretend like you KNOW our school because you dont. even if you do take visits, its not until you move in, and spend a semester or two that you can even make judgements.</p>
<p>statistics arent always right and numbers are numbers. theres a reason college admissions dont just look at your SAT/ACT and GPA. certainly you agree that an applicant should be examined in other aspects such as their character and other personal strengths. just because one applicant or one school doesnt look as good on paper doesnt mean it isnt better.</p>
<p>that being said, im sure people at UVA and Michigan have enough school pride to say that theyre the best or better than this or that college. certainly we do too so please. dont insult us by trying to judge our entire university because you really aren't qualified.</p>
<p>I have a 99% confidence interval that UNC's proportion, or mean, ranking is between .21 to .23, well beyond the third interval, making it statistically significant.</p>
<p>I agree w/ you simple. I see awful too many people on this thread that think UNC is overrated or a level below other top publics. UNC is not a notch below UVA nor Michigan when you look at things objectively. Michigan is a research focused school with top majors throughout but so is UNC? It's just that UNC Sociology, Pub Health, Nursing, Lib. Science, Journalism, Primary Care Med., Undergrad. business are top 1-5 in the nation (acc. U.S.News). Michigan's Poli-sci, Hist, English, Law, Med (Sugical), Undergrad Business rank top 5 in the nation. Also, the majors that are top 5 for Michigan are also in top 10-20 for UNC. UNC is a very well rounded university (most of the programs top ranked in the nation). So, where do you find enough fault in the university to claim that it is a notch below UCLA? hence UVA? Reputation? You'd think UT-Austin may carry weight in TX but over on the east coast UNC will trump UT anyday, reputation wise. The Chapel Hill (which UNC is often referred to as in academia) is recognized w/ reverence in most of our universities in America. I traveled around/ visited multiple professors at different universities (UPENN, Brown, CMU, UCLA, Harvard, BC, Emory, G-tech) and the wow factor for UNC is definitely there. There is no reason to doubt that UNC is right there in the middle of the top public pack.</p>
<p>i think its overrated and i've been here for two semesters. i used to go to tulane, and i think it is a much better school than UNC, subjective reputation perceptions aside. unfortunately i cannot heed your call to leave UNC because it is too late for me to transfer back. ideally i think unc should be ranked somewhere around where UW-Madison is right now. it think all the other state schools in the top , except UVA, are overrated as well. there's no way a any of those huge state schools with resources stretched to the limit should be able to compete with the lower ranked privates like WFU and Tufts in or near the top 30. the only reason they are able to make it up there is because of the inflated and subjective peer ratings. those top 5 publics do really well in this category because their name get thrown out there a lot (basketball, football, nobel prize winners etc.).</p>