UF "Slipped" from MOST difficult to MORE difficult in the latest Ranking

<p>Was that a typo? We also slipped in the ranking, albeit by an insignifigant amount, from 47 to 49. I am just wondering why the slip at all, since academics is getting better and admissions is tougher than ever. The enrolement is capped, too so S/F ratio isn't geting larger. Do you think they made a mistake? Oh well, still top 50, but so much for dreams of top 25 anytime soon. Maybe the MBA program will continue to rise from 37.</p>

<p>what source is this from?</p>

<p>i don't think UF will ever break top 25 maybe not even top 40...i guess the ones we were tied with before (UT/PSU) got better</p>

<p>? We're still 47 according to USNWR</p>

<p>MEMBER STATUS WOOT</p>

<p>oops...my mistake. I could have sworn I saw that we were still at 47. I really feel as if someone adjusted something because when I looked at the site earlier today I could stake my life on the fact that it said most selective....I think the application process is driving me insane...stupid awesome school...</p>

<p>47 in 2007</p>

<p>49 in 2008</p>

<p>I wouldn't worry too much about it</p>

<p>For those of you who want all the numbers for 2008.</p>

<p>Rank: 49
Peer assessment score (5.0=highest): 3.6
Graduation & retention rank: 44
Average freshman retention rate: 94%
2006 predicted graduation rate: 77%
2006 actual graduation rate: 79%
2006 overperf.(+)/ underperf.(-): +2
Faculty resources rank: 123
% of classes w/fewer than 20: 39%
% of classes w/50 or more ('06): 20%
Student/ faculty ratio ('06): 21/1
% faculty who are full time ('06): 99%
Selectivity rank: 44
SAT/ACT 25th-75th percentile ('06): 1140-1360
Freshmen in top 10% of HS class: 72%
Acceptance rate ('06): 48%
Financial resources rank: 40
Alumni giving rank: 83
Avg. alumni giving rate: 17%</p>

<p>U.S. News & World Report ranking is quite subjective. The Peer Assessement component comprises a full 25% of the ranking number. Last year about 58% of of the peer group responded. This year only 51% or about half responded. Here is U.S. News & World Report's current statement on this:</p>

<p>Peer assessment. How the school is regarded by administrators at peer institutions. A school's peer assessment score is determined by surveying the presidents, provosts, and deans of admissions (or equivalent positions) at institutions in the school's category. Each individual was asked to rate peer schools' undergraduate academic programs on a scale from 1 (marginal) to 5 (distinguished). Those individuals who did not know enough about a school to evaluate it fairly were asked to mark "don't know." A school's score is the average score of all the respondents who rated it. Responses of "don't know" counted neither for nor against a school. The survey was conducted in the spring of 2007, and about 51 percent of those surveyed responded.</p>

<p><a href="http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/about/weight_brief_2.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/about/weight_brief_2.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I believe the peer group consists of deans, provosts, etc. My understanding is that many schools are starting to refuse to participate in this ranking survey, particularly the lower ranking schools. The decrease in the number of respondents supports this. You might expect some seemingly arbitrary changes in rankings as a result.</p>

<p>But another possible explanation for UF's slip would be in their admissions data. The data posted at UFL.edu for the 2007 freshman class seems to be actually for the 2006 class. The true data for 2007 might have some surprises...</p>

<p>what do you mean the TRUE data?</p>

<p>The US News rankings are always 1 year behind. The data in this years book is based 2006 stats. The 2007 stats are just being released by each school now. There is no way for US News to collect the info on all these schools and publish the book 2 months. This list is based on 2006 admittances.</p>

<p>I'm guessing...and haven't seen the USNews report yet...but I BET that the data for % in top 10 is what caused the slip. UF did not include this data in this years CDS for some odd reason. I posted about this and even wrote the Office of Institutional Research about it (no response). So, it is likely the data in US News is "estimated" rather than "real". Using past CDS data as a guide, UF is likely upwards of 85% for this metric, yet US News (according to rstone) is listing it as 72%. That is enough to cause a slip in the selectivity ranking.</p>

<p>It still baffles me why the CDS didn't have this data in it this year...it was one of UF's strongest metrics.</p>

<p>Although the heading on the page has changed to say "2007-2008", not all the data for the CDS for 2007-2008 has been posted yet; The data in the "Enrollment & Persistence" and "First-Time, First Year Admission" are for 2006-2007. </p>

<p><a href="http://www.ir.ufl.edu/data.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.ir.ufl.edu/data.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I strongly suspect that you will see some some surprises in those sections when they are updated. You may be able to guess why...</p>

<p>yea, for the '05 freshmen admits (not those that enrolled) it says 80% were in the top 10%. does US news use freshmen class for top 10% or admits?</p>

<p>Strange goings-on in the published CDS for sure. 2007/2008 data is cloned from the 2006/2007 data....and is listed as 72% in the top ten percent. The year before it was listed as 85%...and the year prior to that it was 81%. If this data is true, there is not any real basis for the claim UF has been getting "more selective"...even if the admit rate has gone down. I can't fault US News...looks like the data is there in the CDS...an argument can certainly be made, if anything, that UF is easier to get into versus a few years ago.</p>

<p>Depends what group you are in. The admit rate for Caucasians has likely gone down.</p>

<p>it can't have been easier to get admitted. GPA is obviously the most important factor here, and based on this evidence I can't see how it's possible for the top 10% figure to have dropped. In 2006, 64% of those admitted had a 4.0 GPA or higher, and only 28% of those with a GPA lower than that were admitted. for 2007, 74% of those admitted had a 4.0, and likewise, just 18% of those with under a 4.0 got in. </p>

<p>and I just now noticed that the 2007 profile has been EDITED! It now says the middle 50% of SAT scores is 1210-1400 (vs. 1220-1390) and GPA of 4.0 - 4.4 (vs. 3.9-4.4).</p>

<p>Isn't a range of 1210-1400 about the same as a range of 1220-1390? They just increased the margin by 10 points on both sides. the range for GPAs went up a little bit, though. :/</p>

<p>As compared to the published 2007 numbers it is clear to see a drop in the 15% weighted selectvity rank from #39 up to #44. The Alumni giving at 5% also dropped from #79 up to #83.
The other 80% remained the same.
It seems that selectivity at #44 still keeps UF as a top 50 school since it is worth 15%, What kills you is the #123 for faculty resources rank worth 20%. This 20% line is comprised of class size < 20 @30%,class size > 50 @10%, faculty salary @ 35%,Professors degrees @ 15%,
student faculty ratio @ 5% and full time faculty @ 5%.</p>

<p>Seems the major culprit is still class size. </p>

<pre><code> 2008 2007 Weight
</code></pre>

<p>Rank: 49 / 47<br>
Peer assessment score (5.0=highest): 3.6 / 3.6 @25%
Graduation & retention rank: 44 / 44 @20%
Average freshman retention rate: 94% / 94%
2006 predicted graduation rate: 77% / 78%
2006 actual graduation rate: 79% / 79%
2006 overperf.(+)/ underperf.(-): +2 / +1 @5%
Faculty resources rank: 123 123 @20%
% of classes w/fewer than 20: 39% / 39%
% of classes w/50 or more 20% / 20%
Student/ faculty ratio ('06): 21/1 / 21/1
% faculty who are full time ('06): 99% / 99%
Selectivity rank: 44 / 39 @15%
SAT/ACT 25th-75th percentile ('06): 1140-1360 /1160-1360
Freshmen in top 10% of HS class: 72% / 85%
Acceptance rate ('06): 48% / 57%
Financial resources rank: 40 / 42 @10%
Alumni giving rank: 83 / 79 @5%
Avg. alumni giving rate: 17%/ 18%</p>

<p>that drop for the top 10% is hard to believe...it definitely improved from 06 to 07 admission seasons, so I guess next year's rankings should improve if this reflects 05 to 06 changes...:/. </p>

<p>They (UF) really need to put more complete statistics about admittance and enrollment stats instead of publishing those dubious approximations of middle 50s.</p>