Ridiculous!
How dare any new entity penetrate this rarified club! Outrageous! We want a static society! Damn dynamism! Ossification is the way!!!
NJDad, there have been posters asking for Boston College, Georgia Tech, NYU, Texas-Austin, Tufts, UIUC, USC, Wake Forest, William and Mary, Wisconsin-Madison to name a few, to be included in the CC Top Universities page for some time. It does beg the question, why are they also not included, as they are all just as worthy as Tulane.
I cannot for the life of me understand why TUFTS is not included. Emory and Rice, but not Tufts? Macalaster, Oberlin, Bates, Colby, Kenyon, Hamilton. All of these are less competitive than Tufts. Makes no sense.
How are the CC top uni’s chosen, because in what world is Tulane a top school??
Maybe it has to do with advertising dollars? IDK. Is it an independent assessment? It makes ZERO sense that Tufts is not on the list. But it does make sense that a school like Tufts would not play ball, if it requires that.
@brantly I agree, not to say Tulane isn’t great, but, at least to me, seems as though they don’t quite fit. Of all the schools that deserve a spot the most, would be NYU and Tufts and GaTech. We minus well add Penn State if we add Tulane.
This thread cracks me up for some reason, but then again I think rankings are overrated and part of the problem in higher ed.
Why NYU over Tulane? NYU (which we like) has higher acceptance rate and their ACT range is lower. Penn State? Great school, but 50% acceptance rate vs 26% for Tulane and significantly lower ACT score at PSU. Why is Michigan on the top list? 29% acceptance vs 26% at Tulane, almost identical ACT scores. Perhaps Tufts should be on the list before Michigan, as it is harder to get into. At the end of the day, is this about US News rankings? Is it acceptance rates or scores or ad dollars or relationships that help a school make the CC top cut? Does it matter, or is it about perceptions? Would it be that hard to just search a school by name?
For the record, my D got into Michigan and Tulane.She likes them both!
Okay, that’s it for me…I’m off to search a lower rated school (alphabetically) to see when we might hear back on EA decision 
Though my daughter was accepted to Tulane with a very good aid merit package I am not impressed by the low acceptance rate given the free application and simple optional essay.
It just doesn’t take very much effort to apply-compared to say Wake Forest, Notre Dame, or U Chicago…
Does it have to do with endowment? Tulane recently announced a big endowment campaign.
I’m not even sure why this is on the Michigan thread. Should be moved or closed. Perhaps the many deferred, heartbroken kids (who wrote that super easy “Why Tulane” essay) over on the Tulane page would like to weigh in on this.The school is still listed under T.
3monkeys, there is a lot more to a university than acceptance rate. I would suggest your daughter focus on more important metrics.
Michigan and Tulane are not comparable. For one, Michigan is a research powerhouse, with a far superior faculty, much stronger academics, a more intellectual vibe,and a significantly more rigorous, comprehensive and inter/multidisciplinary curriculum etc…Virtually every department at Michigan is world class. None of these facts are applicable to Tulane.
In terms of resources, again, those two universities are not comparable. In absolute terms, Tulane’s endowment is $1.2 billion. That’s barely over one tenth that of Michigan, which has an endowment of $11 billion. Even on a per student basis, Tulane’s endowment is $87,000/student, while Michigan’s is $240,000/student. That’s not even factoring in state funding and economies of scale. Michigan’s on a different plain altogether, one comparable to the likes of Brown, Columbia and Cornell.
When it comes to selectivity, the two universities may have similar acceptance rates and ACT averages, but do they have similar applicant pools and evaluation standards? Besides, the Michigan SAT range (1310-1500) is slightly higher, albeit insignificantly, than Tulane’s (1250-1420), and the average cumulative, unweighed high school GPA for incoming Michigan freshmen is 3.85, with 80% graduating with GPAs of 3.75 or above, compared to 3.5 for incoming Tulane freshmen, with only 30% graduating with GPAs of 3.75 or above. This would suggest that Tulane focuses more on ACT testing than on academic rigor, academic accomplishment or intellectual horsepower. That being said, I do not believe selectivity is a determinant of institutional quality.
I recall that, back in the day, Emory, USC and, more recently, Northeastern, were subject to similar derision when they made their rapid acsents up the US News rankings. Five or ten years from now, other people could be decrying the University of Miami’s ascent, or maybe BU’s. It seems that, several years into NYU and Wake Forest’s respective rises in the rankings, people are now used to the concept. The fact is that things do change in the world, and it is not always a quick or linear change, especially in the prestige obsessed world of college rankings. One university’s rise does not come at any others’ expense, and it does not help the mission of CC to heap negativity on any institution.
Alexandre:
Thank you for the lesson on metrics and letting me know that evaluating a college means digging deeper than the acceptance rate. Just to clarify, I did not say (nor do I think) Michigan and Tulane are comparable on the factors you mention. I only mentioned acceptance rate as one data point. I also want to thank you for the insight into Michigan’s faculty, academic program, endowment, and vibe. It was very helpful, as my own years at Michigan are starting to fade from my memory and I haven’t been able to do any research on it at all.
Based on longevity and sheer number of posts, it is clear that your knowledge of all things college is superior to mine (truly). I have, however, helped launch two very successful young adults. Please don’t worry, my third child is also well aware of metrics and has researched in great detail many of the differences you highlight. She created her own grid with endowment and many other measures she felt would help her make a sound decision. She will be fine, thanks for your suggestions and concern.
I’ve never been to Tulane and have no affiliation with it other than an acceptance and lovely scholarship for D, but I do wonder why people on the Michigan thread are so upset about the placement of Tulane on CC. It seems a strange thing to care that much about. Is it that someone new to the board might be confused and actually think Tulane is “better” than it is? Is it offensive to those of you with kids at higher ranked schools? My post was in response to the shade, negativity and tone being thrown Tulane’s way. NJDad68’s excellent post #12 said it best.
3monkeys, I do not underestimate Tulane. I know where it belongs. I will even be attending a conference there in July. I have no objection to it being included in this forum, but like I said, including Tulane and not other universities like Boston College, BU, Case Western, Georgia Tech, NYU, Rochester, Texas-Austin, Tufts, UIUC, USC, Wake Forest, William and Mary, Wisconsin etc…all of which are at least as good (all of them actually make a stronger case if you ask me) is inconsistent and sends the wrong message.
If CC is to expand the field of “CC Top Universities”, and I think it makes perfect sense to do so, then we should add 20-30 other universities, not just Tulane. As moderator, I am concerned about this development (adding just Tulane as opposed to doubling the number of “CC Top Universities”), but not enough to do anything about it! 
On a more positive note, congratulations to your daughter. Hopefully, she will receive a few more good acceptances in the coming weeks and choose the college/university that will give her the best overall experience.
NJDad, while it is true that universities improve over time, they do so at a very slow pace, and generally, seldom improve relative to other universities since all universities invest in their future development according to their means. With very few notable exceptions, the same universities that are considered the best today were also considered the best 50 years ago, and will likely still be considered the best 50 years from now.
@NJDad68
We of course understand that. However, there is no methodology to this. And Tulane is still ranked 40. Although impressive considering their circumstance. But I can name 10 schools that deserve the recognition more imo.
I am amused that Tulane is getting so much discussion on a Michigan thread. I never use the CC Top University list, but just scroll down alphabetically to find what I need.
I’m having fun imagining that the CC Top University list is generated simply by the number of times a school is mentioned on the forum. If that’s the case, then this thread certainly pushed Tulane further along.
Check this page KimV2015
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/cc-top-universities/
Tulane University
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“I’m having fun imagining that the CC Top University list is generated simply by the number of times a school is mentioned on the forum. If that’s the case, then this thread certainly pushed Tulane further along.”
See above…
I’m pretty sure it’s manually done by mods. So it goes. I don’t think it really matters.