<p>Exactly, nearly 60% of people who apply get in. Also, I was trying to make a distinction between admitted classes vs incoming class. Because Ohio, like any other school (or NBA team), doesn’t get every prospect that it wants. So with Irvine/Davis/SB, you have LA/CAl hopefuls who apply as safeties. And that’s what I’m trying to imply about OSU./</p>
<p>Lastly, I understand that the high yield rate probably undermines this effect in regards to OSU. So I concede that this effect might be higher for the UC schools than it is for OSU. But then again, Ohio is home to a bevy of respectable privates, LACs in particular. Which would make OSU, the only real standout of public schools in Ohio, the fall back for all of these students who are applying to Ohio’s great privates. <– Hidden dirty message.</p>
<p>So you’re going to say taht schools in Michigan, Ohio, and the other B-10 schools are better than CA’s or don’t have significant problems? Speaking of the pot calling the kettle…, lol… I’m just fueling the fire, don’t mind me.</p>
<p>I’m going to have to back up the Big Ten on this one. I went to a Big Ten school for two years (transferring to Penn now), and I’m appalled at how little credit the Big Ten gets in these rankings. I would say that Northwestern is the only Big Ten school that really gets the credit it deserves (probably not a coincidence that it’s private). Schools like Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and (sometimes) OSU and Penn State are far more valuable to economic development in their states and research nationwide than a large number of schools ranked ahead of them. I’m not here to detract from the UC’s, they’re excellent schools as well, but many publics don’t get the attention they deserve. I’ve gotten so disgusted with these rankings over the past few years (even though they always treat Penn well) that I’ve begun following the top research universites ranking put out by the Center for Measuring by University Performance instead. I think more objective measurements/rankings like that are far more valuable. It actually takes into account federal/non-federal research funding, Ph.D.'s granted, national academy members, etc. instead of “prestige,” which is generally a self-fulfilling prophecy.
I grew up in Ohio; OSU has outreach stations in every single county in the state (88). They help local farmers grow more sustainable crops, reach out to underprivileged schools, etc. I’m sure most of the Big Ten schools do similar things. When it comes to actually doing things that matter to the country instead of being “prestigious” and sending out a bunch of corrupt politicians and bankers after graduation, I think publics do a much better job.
Which is more noble: helping to educate the working classes in all ways possible at the cost of exclusivity or working to maintain an air of exclusivity and privilege? An age old question, I suppose, but one most people still haven’t figured out.
US News rankings don’t even deserve to be described as B.S. because they’re too based on opinion for that. Maybe a B.A. Or possibly just an associate’s in art.</p>
<p>So you’re going to say taht high schools in Michigan, Ohio, and the other B-10 schools’ regions are better than CA’s or don’t have significant problems? Speaking of the pot calling the kettle…, lol… I’m just fueling the fire, don’t mind me.</p>
<p>I think you are making the same mistake that I made when I first got here trying to rank the Big Ten schools based only on the acceptance rate and was corrected by barrons I recall. “Acceptance Rate” really doesn’t tell much if anything!! You must look at the whole picture. Please check out Case Western University’s freshman stats, Case has ~75% (self-selected) annual Acceptance Rate!!</p>
A better example would be the College of the Ozarks. It has an acceptance rate on par with the Ivies (9%) and a student body on par with Texas Tech.</p>
<p>Acceptance rate is a measure of popularity and spots available, little more.</p>
<p>Incidentally, I agree that some of the Big 10 schools seem undervalued. I would choose Wisconsin or Minnesota over almost all of the UCs.</p>
<p>Post #123: “I would say that Northwestern is the only Big Ten school that really gets the credit it deserves (probably not a coincidence that it’s private). Schools like Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and (sometimes) OSU and Penn State are far more valuable to economic development in their states and research nationwide than a large number of schools ranked ahead of them.” </p>
<p>Totally agree with schrute on this. It’s not only a bias in favor of private unis, it’s a Northeast bias, too.</p>
<p>Hey, I’m a proud UC graduate myself. But that doesn’t make me blind to the problems. But don’t take my hearsay word for it. Try reading the news:</p>
<p>BRAND: Professor Lofchie has been with UCLA’s political science department since 1964. He loves his job, even when it means teaching a lecture course without TAs, which is the case now. No teaching assistants means the students don’t get a chance to discuss the material outside of class. So at the end of the hour, those with questions grab a few moments with their professor.</p>
<p>ALICE(ph): I’m Alice, by the way.</p>
<p>Prof. LOFCHIE: I know it.</p>
<p>ALICE: Hi. Okay. In the (unintelligible) reading, he was talking about…</p>
<p>BRAND: It’s not the class size that worries Lofchie. It’s the fact that many students can’t get into the courses they want. UCLA has had to cancel more than 100 classes in the last year. Others, like the one we attended, have restricted enrollment because of the TA shortage. It creates a situation, Lofchie says, that’s painful to watch.</p>
<p>Prof. LOFCHIE: The beginning of every term becomes a scramble to get into courses. If I’m not in on what they call the first pass, the first round of enrollment, can I beg? Can I plead? Can I email the professor? Can I find some way to cudgel my way into a class?</p>
<p>BRAND: What was your experience? What did the students ask you?</p>
<p>Prof. LOFCHIE: It’s terrible. Students come to you, or they email you, or they telephone you and they say, I need this class because it’s a prerequisite for the political science major. Or, I need this class because it’s a prerequisite for certain upper division courses, and I can’t take that next step until I am able to take this class.</p>
<p>So part of what I think is most objectionable about this new environment that we live in is that the interface between the budget crisis and the student falls on the faculty members, so that instead of talking to students about the European social model and whether it would work in the United States, I’m very busy explaining to students why I can’t let them into the course.</p>
<p>BRAND: So what do you think is going to happen?</p>
<p>Prof. LOFCHIE: I’m not optimistic. Having seen this university in the '60s, I now find myself commenting on the fact that the past really was better in the university. Students really did get a better education. I hope it improves before I retire. But there’s no guarantee that things will get better.</p>
<p>“Schools like Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and (sometimes) OSU and Penn State are far more valuable to economic development in their states and research nationwide than a large number of schools ranked ahead of them.” </p>
<p>Budgetary problems will be ongoing for awhile, obvioulsy, but Cal and UCLA wil be hit by them less, as when the crisis hit them by surprise per the NPR piece.</p>
<p>Both Cal and UCLA upped their non-resident enrollment considerably as an adjustment to the state’s lesser funding of undergrad education. If enrollments at both schools hold, there’ll be 23 and 15% non-residents at both.</p>
<p>I often wonder how much an incumbent President’s alma mater can jump in a ranking ( if at all) looking at peer assesment, an increase in applicants and now HS guidance counsellor assessment. Did Obama mania help Columbia? it’s a theory, just thought I would throw it out there.</p>
<p>I took the free trial and looked at the methodology. I do not see high school counsellor assessment. Were these bundled into peer assessment? or Does the online version not have a complete list of factors for each school ranked?</p>