<p>1 Vandy
2 Florida
3 Uga
4 Uk
5 Bama
6 Tenn
7 South Car
8 Auburn
9 Ole Miss
10 Lsu
11 Miss St
12 Arkansas</p>
<p>Just a conversation a buddy and mine came up with. What do you all think?</p>
<p>Your list sounds about right. The SEC is not much of an academic conference though is it? I mean, I once heard somebody call it the Special Education Conference! Of the major conferences, the SEC is one of the weakest...academically speaking. </p>
<p>ACC:
Boston College
Duke University
Georgia Institute of Technology
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
University of Virginia
Wake Forest University</p>
<p>BIG 10:
Northwestern University
University of Chicago (purely academic member)
University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
University of Wisconsin-Madison</p>
<p>PAC 10:
Stanford University
University of California-Berkeley
University of California-Los Angeles
University of Southern California
University of Washington</p>
<p>The SEC gets a bad rap because it's on the South, and the stereotype that Southerners are not as smart as people in other regions of the US is still prevalent. The smartest students in the the SEC schools are just as good as any in the "Elite schools in the US" (whichever schools those exactly are at this particular nanosecord).</p>
<p>The fact is that the states in the South have a lower flagship university-to-resident ratio (if that makes sense) than states in the North and West (except for California and New York). The Alabama's and LSU's of the world can't be as selective as the UMass's and Michigan's.</p>
<p>
[quote]
The smartest students in the the SEC schools are just as good as any in the "Elite schools in the US" (whichever schools those exactly are at this particular nanosecord).
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I guess that's why not everyone winning Jeapardy is Harvard grad. LOL! We are talking about average and on average, SEC just doesn't compare.
I agree that if a state has large population, its flagship public tend be more selective (like UCLA/Berkeley). However, you can't deny the fact southern states like AL, MS, and LA also have lowest average SAT scores. That has nothing to do with population density.</p>
<p>I doesn't have a great deal to do with average intellegence either. I pretty sure the dumbest students in New York and Pennsylvania stand side-by-side with their counterparts in South Carolina and Mississippi. </p>
<p>You really need to to learn to not be so arrogantly smug. It'll help you in life.</p>
<p>and it would help if you could write in english</p>
<p>Vanderbilt is highly regarded and selective in admissions (acceptance rate is around 33%). They are also the only school out of the 12 that has less than 50% of its students from the south. UF and Georgia are also well-respected regionally.</p>
<p>I agree with your rankings for the most part --</p>
<p>1 Vandy
2 Florida
3 Georgia</p>
<h1>4 Uk</h1>
<p>5 South Carolina
6 LSU
7 Alabama
8 Auburn
9 Tenn
10 Ole Miss
11 Miss St
12 Arkansas</p>
<p>I am a graduate of an SEC school and a proud current resident of Alabama and resident of Mississippi growing up. You can feel free to criticize SAT and ACT scores all you want, but the truth is that there are plenty of highly intelligent people in both of these states. The valedictorian of my high school class in Mississippi had a 36 on the ACT and we had many others with 30+ including myself. However, that valedictorian went to Ole Miss because they offered her their largest scholarship of which they only award one. She graduated in three years and earned a master's the following year before heading to the University of Virginia for law school. She is now married to some one who is also from Mississippi and scored a 35 on the ACT. He also chose an SEC school and later went to med school at the University of Virginia. I don't think anyone who met either of these two people would question their intelligence. These are just two examples. </p>
<p>Yes, the average SAT and ACT score at SEC schools might not compete with that of Harvard, but it doesn't mean you can't get a great education there and that there aren't many intelligent people there who chose to attend that school over more prestigious ones. The truth is that if you want to stay in the south SEC schools are GREAT networking opportunities. The alumni bases are huge and lots of employers look to hire their own. The other reason why strong students choose to stay at SEC schools is location. I personally didn't want to go so far away that I couldn't visit my family on a weekend by car if I wanted to. There are 5 SEC schools within 5 hours of where I grew up, but there were no Ivy League schools or even Top 25 programs that close. The closest prestige school would have been Emory and it clocked in at about 7 hours. </p>
<p>The other issue is money. We simply don't make as much money in Mississippi as in other places. That's ok because cost of living is lower. However, paying a huge tuition bill is not feasible. That's ok because of student loans, right? Well, if you are planning on returning to the area where you started then you more than likely aren't going to be making a huge salary that allows you to take on $80,000 of educational debt. People I know struggle with the $10,000 they ended up with. My first job out of college paid me $25,000 and I loved my job. You might argue that if I had gone to a more prestigious school then I could have made more money...but that's not accurate. I'm a teacher and so my salary is solely based on the level of degree I have and years of experience. I would have made $25,000 if I had gone to Harvard.</p>
<p>People make college decisions for many reasons. For some, they will advance in their careers and reach their goals a lot faster at a prestigious school. However, others can get a great education in less expensive places and still have successful careers doing what they love.</p>
<p>I don't mean to sound like I'm on a soapbox but I think sometimes the kids of this site get obsessed with rankings and honestly think they'll never accomplish anything in life if they don't attend a top ten school. There are many CEOs who are graduates of my alma mater, as is John Grisham. I don't think anyone is complaining about their levels of success.</p>
<p>I like college2332's rankings better. Here's another take. If you look at the middle 50% ACT scores, the rankings would be:
1 Vandy 28-32
2 Florida 25-29
3 Georgia 24-28
4 Arkansas 22-28
5 (tie) LSU 22-27
5 (tie) SC 22-27
7 Auburn 22-26
8 (tie) KY 21-27
8 (tie) TN 21-27
10 Bama 21-26
11 MS State 20-27
12 Ole Miss 20-26</p>
<p>Arkansas would be the big gainer on this list. Of more interest would be stats for the various Honors Colleges in the SEC. I know that LSU recommends an ACT of at least 30, but I don't know actual stats of enrollees.</p>
<p>Looking at academic areas within these schools would completely change the rankings for some students. For engineering or architecture, Auburn is excellent, and certainly better recognized than South Carolina or Arkansas.</p>
<p>I'm not writing a dissertation here.</p>
<p>SEC Business School Rankings from 2006 US News--here's how they stack up nationally:</p>
<ol>
<li>Florida</li>
<li>Georgia</li>
<li>Arkansas</li>
<li>South Carolina</li>
<li>Auburn</li>
<li>Bama</li>
<li>LSU</li>
<li>Ole Miss</li>
<li>Miss St.</li>
</ol>
<p>If you go by the US News Ranking (National Universities: Top Schools), the SEC order is:</p>
<p>18 Vanderbilt
50 UF
58 UGA
85 (Tie) Auburn
85 (Tie) Tenn
104 Alabama
109 Univ SC
120 UK</p>
<p>Third Tier
LSU
Miss State
Arkansas
Ole Miss</p>
<p>People can say whatever they want, but there are plently of intelligent students that attend all of those universities. Sorry, but I don't feel the need to go to the Northeast or California for school. I'm comfortable with the south and nothing is wrong with SEC schools.</p>
<p>I'm proud to say I will be attending Tennessee in August. It's a well respected school in not only the Knoxville community, but the state of Tennessee. The people support the school, because the university as a whole gives back. That's one of the reasons I chose to go there. People can say whatever they like about UT, but I as well as others know it's a good school. Go Vols!</p>