<p>I have one question about the USNews ranking. I know rankings don't really matter a lot unless you're going to a top school, but they're still important to (even if not very accurately) predict the overall quality of a school.
So my question is, is a top-ranked REGIONAL University (top 10) actually supposed to be better (according to the ranking) than a low-ranked National University (a top 150 school, for example). Or are Regional Universities those that weren't good enough to be in the National University ranking?
Additionally, I'd like recommendations on private schools below 35k/year with good business programs and (if possible) in large metropolitan areas. It is important that it isn't a school known for its party scene (like UMD or Syracuse) because I'm really not into that; I'd prefer a different environment, with few parties. </p>
<p>National vs. Regional is an apples to oranges comparison. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2011/09/05/methodology-best-colleges-ranking-category-definitions”>http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2011/09/05/methodology-best-colleges-ranking-category-definitions</a></p>
<p>Most regional schools aren’t as good at top universities not because they are regional but because top universities tend to attract better students and are seen as more desirable. You aren’t going to find a school with no parties, especially one with a business school unless you are looking at christian colleges.</p>
<p>Without knowing your stats and residency, it’s hard to provide you with a list of promising colleges. If you have top-notch grades and test scores, a lot of places will offer you attractive scholarship packages that can reduce your costs to $35k or less. There’s no point in referring you to Penn/Wharton if you are academically ineligible.</p>
<p>Rankings have nothing to do with the quality of the school. Thing like acceptance rate factor in, which have no bearings on the overall quality of the school. AVOID THEM AT ALL COSTS. Do not look at rankings unless you are looking at programs for a specific major. If you want to be an art major, why go to Yale when you can go to Parsons? </p>
<p>What are your stats? (GPA, SAT/ACT score, SAT subjects or APs if relevant)
What is your parents’ budget? IS that 35K plus $5,500 in loans + 2,000 in jobs for you, or is that the total amount you can spend on your education per year? (For 35k from your parents + self help, you’ll have a lot of choices). Have you run the NPC’s - how far from that estimate is your EFC?</p>
<p>Am I right in summarizing thus: you want 1° a business major 2° not a hard drinking/hard partying school, 3° you have no geographical limits 4° you prefer an urban area (suburban okay?) </p>
<p>Don’t be foolish and overlook colleges as good as UMD because there are parties there. At every school that size there will be parties and people who go to them and people who don’t. In hs my daughter didn’t want to party either, but guess what, when you are 20 it can be pretty nice to go to a party and even in grad school in a large State Flagship she enjoyed many parties, although not undergrad style parties. Don’t make that a major factor in choice as long as there are good academics.</p>
<p>Do you need 35k tuition only or COA?</p>
<p>Thank you all for the advice.
Yeah I realized absolutely every school has a lot of parties (even the Jesuit ones) so I guess that shouldn’t be a factor in my decision.
35k would be the most I can afford tuition and fees only. I guess the cost of attendance I could afford would be a maximum of 48k. But I’m international so federal loans and grants/scholarships are out of the question.
I don’t have great stats. 3.5 GPA UW (2.7 gpa freshman year, but 4.0 gpa since sophomore. Decent amount of APs and Honors). I didn’t take the SAT yet (I know that sucks) but I expect at least a 1900, probably a 2000. Mediocre extracurriculars (Debate, tennis, book club. That’s it, no awards or anything)</p>
<p>Most public schools would be under your 48k price tag. Privates that accept students with around 2000 SAT’s are probably above your price tag as an international student. You might be able to get merit aid at a lesser private school if that’s what you really desire. What size of school are you looking for?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Here are the US News ranking criteria:
<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2013/09/09/best-colleges-ranking-criteria-and-weights”>http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2013/09/09/best-colleges-ranking-criteria-and-weights</a>
You can decide for yourself whether school quality is reflected in factors like admission selectivity, average class sizes, faculty compensation, and graduation rates. In my opinion, generally speaking, it is (imperfectly, and not precisely).</p>
<p>Many of the top-ranked Regional Universities are urban Catholic schools. Historically, they’ve served somewhat different markets than the so-called “National” universities and LACs do. National research universities (including public land grant institutions) emerged in the late 19th century, during the 2nd industrial revolution, to address growing nationwide demand by government, business, and industry for advanced scientific and technical knowledge. Urban, Catholic schools focused more on the needs of local communities for school teachers, nurses, accountants, business managers, reporters, and civil servants to run businesses, hospitals, newspapers, municipal governments, etc. The most popular majors at top-ranked regional universities like Creighton, Loyola MD or Villanova include business, marketing, speech/communications, nursing/health administration, and journalism. The most popular majors at top-ranked national universities like Harvard, Yale and Princeton include economics, political science, history, and biology.</p>
<p>Villanova is pretty amazing for business from what I’ve heard. Maybe Indiana University Bloomington? Consider Cal if you are from an underrepresented country. Stony Brook for safety? SUNY/CUNYs (Binghamton, particularly)?</p>
<p>The Greek presence (social fraternities) and “hard drinking” culture would be more of an issue if you attend a small school. If there are 1,500 students and a majority of them is involved in heavy partying, it makes for a lonelier experience than on a campus with 8,500 students where even a minority is a few thousands students.</p>
<p>A top-ranked REGIONAL University is usually still going to be pretty good, but it isn’t going to be competitive with the National Universities. Villanova or Creighton, for example, would fall into the 50-75 range if they were considered national Universities. You can see the effects when you look at regional universities that made the jump to be more competitive with the alpha schools.</p>