<p>Looks like it'll be a while before we regain our former 20-23 slots. Stupid endowments (we're poor).</p>
<p>I donate a bit every year to do what I can to increase the alumni giving rate... we'll be back up to the high 20s, someday. :)</p>
<p>I'll consider giving $20 once I cash in my summer tutoring sheet to Dowling Hall :)</p>
<p>I took a quick look at the magazine at lunch today the ranking that immediate stuck out as being low compared to the schools above Tufts was the Peer Assessment. I believe Tufts had a Peer rating of 3.6 while most of the top 20 schools were in the lower to mid to upper 4+ range. As I read how they weight these rankings Peer Assessment counts for 25% of the score while Alumni Giving only 5%. </p>
<p>Peer assessment is how other education professionals view each school so I would say it is pretty important in building Tufts reputation.</p>
<p>Even schools like UCSB and UW had similar or higher peer ratings. Does anyone know why</p>
<p>I think part of the reason Tufts' Peer rating is so low is because it is not as large and does not have as well-known graduate programs (outside of medicine) as other schools do. I think other Deans, especially ones far away, have a hard time divorcing themselves from rating a university as a whole when they fill out the survery, and not just its undergraduate program, as they are supposed to be doing. The big research universities all get very high rankings because in academia research generates more publicity than smaller schools. As a undergraduate institution at least, Tufts deserves better a better ranking and having UC-Berk a full point ahead of Tufts as an undergraduate instituion is a joke.</p>
<p>Perception is difficult to change which is why peer assessments stay relatively stable. Emory, Rice and Vanderbilt are mid sized schools which maintain high peer assessments.</p>
<p>Endowments help to fuel money spent on top faculty. Emory spends signifant money recruiting top faculty. Perhaps Tufts has too much competition from neighboring colleges to recruit additional faculty.</p>
<p>the peer assessment is what's wrong with the US News rankings. How do the heads of other colleges know what a Tufts education is like, or an education at any of the schools for that matter, if they have never taught/attended the vast marjoity of them? Doesn't peer assessment basically mean prestige? I don't know how Caltech does so well every year when it's frequently topping the princeton review's list of worst teachers, unless deeans of other schools are basiing their evaluations on caltech's presitge... Oh well, they're just rankings afterall, they don't really mean anything...</p>
<p>But a lot of people do think those numbers are important....especially during admissions.</p>
<p>I agree alot of people do think these rankings are important and sadly sometimes perception is reality. I know from a West Coast perspective when I mention that my D will be going to Tufts most high school age students and their parents know anything about the school. Professionals on the other hand do know it and are duly impressed. It should also be said that If I substituted Williams or many other top LACs the general public lack or recognition would be about the same. That said there is no doubt that going to HYPS, etc. gets instant recognition in all circles.</p>
<p>Of course as a parent of an incoming freshman I am only speaking from hearsay on these and other boards and from almuni I know and in a year or so will have my own validated impression. Going in however I couldn't be more excited about my D going to Tufts and think it is the perfect place for her and one that will give her as good or better of an education as any school in the country could offer. </p>
<p>When you consider the low 3.6 peer score to other schools in the top 15-30 schools on the list it just shows that in the areas like small class size, student/faculty ratio, etc. Tufts is clearly one of the very top schools. In those categories clearly in the top 10 and for the quality of the actual education you will receive I believe that interaction with professors and individual attention is the most important factor in the quality of the education. Clearly a far more important factor that what others perceptions are.</p>
<p>No well known graduate programs?!?! Ever heard of the Fletcher School? It's like the second ranked IR program :-D</p>
<p>Well-known graduate that corresponds directly to undergraduate - ex. Minnesota has one of the best psych grad programmes in the country; MIT is fantastic for engineering, etc. </p>
<p>Fletcher, dental, vet, and med are all amazing, but don't really help out the prestige of undergrad, as there is no corresponding undergrad department.</p>
<p>We're poorly-known outside the northeast, so many students who would apply don't simply becuase they never consider it. This makes us appear less selective than other schools that we're better than (Cornell <em>cough</em>)</p>
<p>Also, being in Boston, I think we're overshadowed by Harvard and MIT. I guaruntee you if Tufts were in Wisconsin or Indiana it would be the shining star of the Midwest.</p>
<p>"I agree alot of people do think these rankings are important and sadly sometimes perception is reality."</p>
<p>Yes, perception is given reinforcement by discussions such as this. Who cares? Socrates was condemned first and foremost by public opinion. The true victims of his death felt the injustice not at all, and certainly that was a much more momentous occasion than the publication of a rag that purports to cast light on what is new in the world. Let's just give it a rest and start focusing on something more worthy, . . say, . . . justice?</p>