<p>theres some talk about ucsd and how its “climbing ranks” in academics and popularity…but how true is this? evidently ucsd has been featured in quite a few publications that rank ucsd highly…so maybe?</p>
<p>although only established in the 1960s, it has made major strides for a relatively new public institution when comapred to ucla (est 1920s) and berkeley (est. 1870s?). will ucsd keep growing in popularity or do u think it will level off due to lack of athletic teams and school spirit? </p>
<p>when ppl shoot down ucsd and tout berkeley and ucla or other top publics, they seem to disregard the fact that ucsd is not even 50yrs old. Yes, ucsd may no beat the academics of other public institutions (berkeley, ucla, umich, uva, unc, etc) but will it? it seems to be far younger than all of these schools, so will there be lots of room for growth? will it become an “elite” school in the near future? </p>
<p>I think it might finds it's way at the bottom of a list of top public schools. To do better than that would be amazing for it. I also think that Berkeley and UCLA play a huge part in its performance as they're linked and the reputations of Berkeley and to a lesser extent UCLA lead partially to UCSD's, especially initially. </p>
<p>But anyway, I think it might soon be often put on a list with Berkeley, Mich, U Va, UCLA, Wisconsin, UNC, UIUC, perhaps a few others I'm forgetting, maybe William and Mary.</p>
<p>heh, it already is on a list with some of those schools. US News' top ten public schools:
1. University of CaliforniaBerkeley
2. University of Virginia
3. Univ. of CaliforniaLos Angeles
University of MichiganAnn Arbor
5. U. of North CarolinaChapel Hill
6. College of William and Mary (VA)
7. Univ. of CaliforniaSan Diego
8. Univ. of WisconsinMadison
9. Georgia Institute of Technology
10. University of CaliforniaIrvine</p>
<p>UCB has been generally known and perceived by the general public to be the best public university in the nation! Granted the UCB forum on this site has had a lot of discussion nit-picking the negativities of the university, it beats many other public universities by far in terms of the resources available and amazing professors.</p>
<p>UCSD, along with having it's world class bio facilities, is surely becoming a very prestigious university.</p>
<p>I know the big biotech firms turn to UCSD when they need resources (both human and material wise). The last time I visited the career center they happened to have a Merk rep.</p>
<p>"But anyway, I think it might soon be often put on a list with Berkeley, Mich, U Va, UCLA, Wisconsin, UNC, UIUC, perhaps a few others I'm forgetting, maybe William and Mary."</p>
<p>UCSD is already thought of as academically superior to Wisconsin, and UIUC. US News and many other rankings demonstrate this. UCSD is quickly closing in on William and Mary and UNC. I dont think UCSD will surpass any of the top 4 publics (Berkeley, Virginia, Michigan, UCLA) anytime soon, but i do expect it to surpass William and Mary and possibly UNC within the next 5 years to move into the top 5 public schools in the nation.</p>
<p>UCSD is definitely far superior than Wisconsin - academically. Part of the reason it hasnt surpassed Wisconsin yet, is because of its newness and alumni support, both of which will change in time.</p>
<p>I agree with ucchris that UCSD will probably surpass William and Mary and UNC in the next 5 years. The only issue is that US News might want to "spread the wealth" and not have too many UCs hit the upper echelons too soon.</p>
<p>"Part of the reason it hasnt surpassed Wisconsin yet, is because of its newness and alumni support, both of which will change in time."</p>
<p>Actually UCSD has already surpassed Wisconsin in the rankings. US News has UCSD as the 7th best public and Wisconsin as the 8th best public. Almost every other reputable ranking i have seen also has UCSD ranked ahead of Wisconsin.</p>
<p>Michigan, UCLA, UNC, Berk all see Wisconsin as a peer institution, yet I have never found UCSD mentioned. Do some google work... please tell me you guys are not the type of people who see one ranking on US News as authoritative voice? Wisconsin has almost 70 departments in the 10 top in the nation including fields UCSD is strong in (i.e. sciences) yet has many other programs that blow UCSD away (anything business related). To be frank guys, Michigan and Wisconsin give you the same undergraduate education, yet somehow Michigan is automatically given the nod above UCSD? </p>
<p>edit- also, these schools are pretty damn different, so I don't think you can really compare them.</p>
<p>Wisconsin is hardly in the same league as Berkeley and UCLA. (and I didnt attend either of those schools).</p>
<p>To be quite honest, kids who go to Wisconsin from California, go there because for the most part they did not get into most of the UC schools. I went to a mid-tier UC and I know at least 2 people who transferred to my school from Wisconsin. They both agreed the quality of students at the mid-tier UC level is superior to Wisconsin, let alone CAL or Berkeley.</p>
<p>In my graduating high school class, one girl went to Wisconsin because her grades weren't good enough for most of the UC's except for Riverside.</p>
<p>My uncle is a professor at CAL and let me tell you, Berkeley does not view Wisconsin as a "peer" institution. Repeat - DOES NOT view Wisconsin as a "peer" institution.</p>
<p>Don't mean to be harsh, but just laying out some facts which is important if there are high schoolers looking for information on this site.</p>
<p>You're not being harsh, you're being wrong. It is disingenious and reeks of someone who looked at the US News and World report to dictate their arguments on school quality. There are many departments at the undergrad level in which Wisconsin is ranked higher than one if not both of the schools, and at the graduate level Wisconsin and Cal often battle for top spots, far better than UCLA. Wisconsin's academic rating in college guides mirrors that of UCLA and has a very high peer rating (which yes, you can find in the US News).</p>
<p>First, undergraduate selectivity is a bad indicator of school quality at a certain point. Michigan and Wisconsin share the same ACT range of 26-30. </p>
<p>Second, I'm glad you know nameless, faceless people, but I too "know kids" who are from California and wanted a change, skipped out on UCLA and Berkeley and went to Wisconsin. Same thing happens at Michigan. Also, kids who get rejected from UCLA/Cal go there as well. </p>
<p>Anyway, I'm not going to respond to this thread anymore as that it is about UCSD, but the University of Wisconsin has programs across every single academic discipline in the top 10 of the nation from history to economics to various business programs to the hard sciences to engineering. Wisconsin actually produces more research than Cal, one or two ranks below UCLA, and because the similiarity of the schools (large research universities) they are clear peer institutions. Do some damn research please.</p>
<p>Well, all I can say is that ALL of the kids I know who went to Wisconsin, could not get into the UC system, at least at the mid-tier level. </p>
<p>I am sure you know some kids who chose UCLA and Berkeley over Wisconsin, but trust me that is the exception rather than the rule. </p>
<p>Wisconsin is a great school. In fact, I have friends who went there and who transferred out of there. But it really is not in the same league as UCLA and Berkeley in so many ways. I mean the gpa range for admitted freshmen for Wisconsin is 3.5 - 3.9, while the average gpa for UCLA and Berkeley is around 4.17. But that is ok, Wisconsin still is a great school. </p>
<p>Oh and back to the point of this thread. UCSD is ranked where it should be ranked. It is a fantastic school and will see more successes in the future.</p>
<p>
[quote]
UCSD is already thought of as academically superior to Wisconsin, and UIUC . . . UCSD is quickly closing in on William and Mary and UNC . . . [and] to move into the top 5 public schools in the nation.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Questionable.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Wisconsin is hardly in the same league as Berkeley and UCLA. (and I didnt attend either of those schools).
[/quote]
</p>
<p>While I agree, it seems that many Californians use it as a safety if they cant get into the top UCs, in a way like UMich, I do think people outside of California, particularly in the Midwest, look upon Wisconsin highly, with the top public schools in the nation, at the least right below them, and better than UCSD.</p>
<p>You're right about the midwest. However that becomes less important in time as UCSD ages and people continue to move out of the rust belt and midwest to the west, mountain states and sunbelt. The midwest has become less important as a region as indsutry moves out of the area.</p>
<p>I have to clarify your point DRab. Californian's look to Wisconsin as a fallback, but not in the same way as Michigan. Michigan is much tougher to get into. Look at Wisconsin's gpa - about a 3.7 while even UCD, UCI and UCSB have average gpa's of 3.9 while UCB is 4.17. So Wisconsin is clearly more a fallback for those who can't get into the mid -tier UCs not the top ones. </p>
<p>This of course is the general rule of thumb. Some who got into the mid-tiers might attend Wisconsin to get more of college feel, but that is more of an exception. The same people I knew who were looking out of state, were looking at Wisconsin, Boulder, UofA and Tulane. Michigan was completely out of the question.</p>