<p>Surprised to see Tulane listed at 51 on the list. I thought the impact Katrina had on freshman retention was the biggest headwind, but hasn't that passed the mathetical timeline yet? No matter what the rankings say, it is a fantastic school!</p>
<p>I too was surprised about TU’s ranking. Tulane’s a fantastic school hurricane or not. Does anyone happen to know what Tulane USWNR ranking was before Katrina reared its ugly head?</p>
<p>
1996 - 38
1997 - 36
1998 - 34
1999 - 36</p>
<p>2000 - 44
2001 - 45
2002 - 46
2003 - 43
2004 - 44
2005 - 43
2006 - 43
2007 - 44</p>
<p>2008 - 50
2009 - 51
2010 - 50
2011 - 51
2012 - 50
2013 - 51</p>
<p>The biggest jumps seem to be from the 30s to 40s in August 1999 and from the 40s to the 50s in August 2007.</p>
<p>hmm it seems like tulanes ranking has been slowly going down for 15 years, even before the hurricane.i wasnt familiar with the school until i received some brochures in the mail from them and im considering applying, but i dont know if the school will ever improve ranking wise.im from california so im certainly going to apply to USC, UCLA, UCB, Pepperdine, etc.</p>
<p>^
Tulane has always been a great college, regardless of where it ranks in US News, and New Orleans is arguably the most unique city in the US. With no application fee, non-binding Early Action, and great merit scholarships, I’m struggling to think of a reason for any student NOT to apply. I say this as a UCLA student.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, I had never even heard of Pepperdine until I moved to California a few years ago, despite having been on CC for some time and pretty familiar with colleges. Prestige is often regional…I don’t know how well Tulane draws from California, but it doesn’t necessarily reflect poorly on the school that you hadn’t heard of it.</p>
<p>collegestar12, or really anyone else - I wouldn’t look to much into the rankings. I don’t know how to fully explain this, and maybe warblersrule can back me up, but college rankings become so much more irrelevant once you’re actually in college. All of us at Tulane couldn’t care less whether Tulane was ranked 51 or 31- we’re just happy to be here. If ranking trends are a reason you don’t end up applying to a school, then you need to seriously rethink why you’re going to college. There’s so much more to a school than a number.</p>
<p>The US News rankings are a classic trailing indicator. Katrina hit in fall 2005, but Tulane’s ranking did not go down until the 2008 rankings (published in fall 2007). Katrina is not the only thing baked into the rankings and data, but it is true that it takes years for the data to change and then for the changed data to show up in the rankings. For example:</p>
<p>The admissions selectivity measure is based on the class entering in fall 2011, not the current incoming class (whose stats are better). Freshman retention rates are based the first-year classes the entered Tulane fall 2007 through fall 2010. US News uses a six year window for graduation rates which is averaged over the classes that entered Tulane from fall 2002 through fall 2005. And so forth.</p>
<p>The biggest US News factor is peer assessment (basically subjective reputation) which changes slowly. Although Tulane’s reputation took a big hit in the academic community when it laid off professors and shuttered some programs after Katrina.</p>
<p>Since TU keeps making the US News “up and coming” list, one would expect the ranking to start going up at some point. But there are still lingering data and reputation effects from Katrina. Also, all the other schools aren’t standing still.</p>
<p>collegestar - This probably will come out harsher than I mean for it to, but it would be absolutely ridiculous to base your college decision on rankings of any kind. The USNWR rankings are highly flawed, using dubious assumptions and data that has been shown time and again to be incorrect. There are numerous postings detailing some of this. Yes, I am a Tulane alum and parent, and therefore a booster. But I am also a scientist by education and training, and I can tell you quite analytically that the rankings are pure nonsense.</p>
<p>Just to give you a quick example, UC Davis is ranked #38. Then take a look at the average SAT scores of the UC Davis students compared to Tulane’s by looking at their Common Data Set compared to Tulane’s. [Institutional</a> Analysis – Student Research and Information](<a href=“http://www.sariweb.ucdavis.edu/]Institutional”>http://www.sariweb.ucdavis.edu/) Click on the 2011 CDS for the pdf file, and look at section C9. You will see their 25th percentile CR score is barely above the average, and overall the scores are well below Tulane’s. [Tulane</a> University - Common Data Set (CDS)](<a href=“http://tulane.edu/institutional-research/common-data-set.cfm]Tulane”>http://tulane.edu/institutional-research/common-data-set.cfm) The ACT composite offers a possibly even starker contrast. I know test scores are not the be all and end all of criteria for quality of the students, but at least it is the same test no matter where it is taken.</p>
<p>I am not picking on UC Davis, it is a fine school. It just happens to be a fairly dramatic example. I suspect their higher than expected ranking comes from the familiarity and thus good peer and counselor rankings it gets from all those California responders, plus the general reputation of the UC system. I can also promise you I would slam the rankings system even if Tulane were in the top 30. Meaningless is meaningless.</p>
<p>To get to the particulars of Tulane’s ranking given the USNWR assumptions, the main reason for the fall a bit after Katrina has mostly to do with the general perception of Tulane because of the way the media reported everything. Tulane closed for a semester and for at least a few years a surprising number of people thought Tulane was still in a state of recovery and disrepair. While there was a retrenching immediately afterwards, the perception far outlived the reality. Then just about the time this was finally getting better, the 6 year retention rates became a major factor (and yes Tyler, that will continue to plague Tulane’s ranking for at least another 2 years as I understand the way USNWR calculates these things). Tulane could not even report a number for 2005 cohort, because Katrina made it meaningless and USNWR refused to factor in a correction. So Tulane took a hit there, and it counts for a fairly large percentage of the ranking.</p>
<p>I think the change from 1999 to 2000 had something to do with a change USNWR made to their formula which happened to affect Tulane more than some other schools. I cannot remember exactly what it was.</p>
<p>Anyway, that is all a long way of saying forget the rankings, look into Tulane on your own, attend a local event if you can. To answer warbler’s question, Tulane draws very heavily from California. It is in the top 5 states represented at Tulane. I want to say something like 8% of the students are from there.</p>
<p>For those of you who are reading this: Tulane is a member of AAU and that means: Tulane is one of the most highly regarded and selective independent research universities in the United States.</p>
<p>Kindly, compare the other 50 universities above Tulane and find out how many of them are members of AAU…(click this: [Association</a> of American Universities](<a href=“http://www.aau.edu/about/default.aspx?id=5476]Association”>http://www.aau.edu/about/default.aspx?id=5476) )</p>
<p>So, if you like to do research and have curiousity in research, you will find Tulane is the place and it is much better than what the ranking says.</p>
<p>Here is another quote for you to ponder upon: Research in many disciplines has flourished at Tulane through the establishment of centers such as the Newcomb College Institute, the Roger Thayer Stone Center for Latin American Studies, the Middle American Research Institute, the Tulane/Xavier Center for Bioenvironmental Research, the Murphy Institute, the Tulane Cancer Center, the Tulane Center for Gene Therapy and the Newcomb College Center for Research on Women. The university is ranked by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as a university with “very high research activity.” Of more than 4,300 higher educational institutions rated by the foundation, Tulane remains in a prestigious category that includes only 2 percent of universities nationwide. (Taken from Tulane website).</p>
<p>In 2008 Tulane was ranked by the Ford Foundation as the major international studies research institution in the South and one of the top 15 nationally (taken from wikipedia).</p>
<p>So, do you want to go to school and do research (high research with prestigious categories) then go to Tulane OR if you just want to get a degree then go to any of the other 50 colleges above Tulane. The choice is yours and Life is Good.</p>
<p>See this.</p>
<p>[Ten</a> Reasons to Ignore the U.S. News Rankings](<a href=“http://www.mindingthecampus.com/originals/2012/09/post_151.html]Ten”>http://www.mindingthecampus.com/originals/2012/09/post_151.html)</p>
<p>and this.</p>
<p>Emory University Confirms Accuracy of Data Used in 2013 Best Colleges Rankings</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/college-rankings-blog/2012/09/10/emory-university-confirms-accuracy-of-data-used-in-2013-best-colleges-rankings[/url]”>http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/college-rankings-blog/2012/09/10/emory-university-confirms-accuracy-of-data-used-in-2013-best-colleges-rankings</a></p>
<p>THANKS for the info for Ten Reasons to ignore the US News Rankings. </p>
<p>Ten Reasons to Ignore the U.S. News Rankings (sept 12, 2012)
By Edward B. Fiske</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I know I started this thread, as I was surprised and curious. I have one child in a school in the top 15 and my other child is a sophomore at Tulane. They are both incredibly happy with where they are, and both universities fit each of my kids perfectly. I will tell you that my son, who is at Tulane, could not think of a better place to be (academically, socially, community, experiential, diversity of experience, faculty, etc). In fact, he has two friends who just attended as freshmen. Tulane is definitely worthy of being on the “up and coming list.”</p>
<p>Tyler15: My S was accepted by Johns Hopkins Univ in BME (Bio medical Engineering) but the school is very stingy in giving scholarship+grants+merit aids money, etc…while Tulane is very generous in giving all of those…So My Son accepted to Tulane. BTW, both schools are research schools and my son is very happy at Tulane and is doing honor programs in BME. In fact, he has been talking with MIT and UPenn for doing graduate school over there after Tulane. </p>
<p>So, Tulane is fantastic school for research and is very generous in giving financial aids (financial aids = Scholarship+grants+merit aids, etc)…too bad there is no ranking for schools that give a lot of those “financial aids” for undergraduate studies.</p>
<p>There are plenty of resources that list (perhaps not “rank”) schools known to give generous merit and/or FA.</p>
<p>I am a bit surprised that this post hasn’t elicited more comments. Perhaps the word has gotten out that USNWR rankings are not as useful as some might believe. Unfortunately, there are those who are still impressed by their rating system. However, as many before have stated, much of the criteria utilized is flawed. Specifically, USNWR utilizes “Yield”. Yield is the percentage of individuals who actually attend a university out of the total who are accepted. USNWR claims that yield is evidence of the quality of the student body, because those who don’t end up going to the university, although accepted, likely went to a higher ranked institution or more desirable university to which they were also accepted. USNWR offers no empirical data to support its thesis, yet it continues to utilize this subjective criteria in its evaluation.<br>
There are some universities which artificially keep their yield high by making heavy use of their wait list. As such, if a student declines to accept an offer of acceptance, the university plucks somebody off the wait list. Since this person was not ‘accepted’ initially, they don’t count against the number of students accepted. Therefore, the university has one accepted student and one who is admitted, just not the same individual. Numbers can lie. Therefore, ‘yield’ is a very flawed criteria. It would appear to me that Tulane accepts a certain select number of students that are acceptable. However, this number does seem to be a bit greater than the number it expects to enroll, knowing that some will not decide to attend Tulane. Sometimes this renders a lower yield, although it in no way reflects on the quality of student which decides to attend. I think this approach has backfired a bit on Tulane because a greater number of students actually decided to attend than anticipated so the university is apparently scrambling to find room for the larger than anticipated Freshman class.
However, for those of you who are still concerned about rankings and Tulane’s sinking status, let me assure you that there are those of us out there who evaluated the relative appropriateness of various universities for our offspring without a great deal of regard to rankings. As I previously posted, I am the father of three young women who are freshmen in college this year. They happen to be triplets. As such, we have had the opportunity to evaluate a number of different universities based on the variable interests and opportunities offered.
First of all, all three of my Ds were members of the NHS, top 5% and received some form of merit aid from the various institutions they decided to attend. I do not say this to boast, I just wish to provide the reader with a reference point…we are dealing with academically gifted students. We are from CA, so of course we evaluated the UCs. All three of my Ds applied for and were accepted to UC Davis (a supposedly higher ranked institution). They actually passed on applying to a couple of “higher ranked” UCs, not because they wouldn’t be accepted, but because those more prestigious UCs did not suit their needs, interests, tastes, etc. Only one of my Ds is going to Davis. Her first choice in universities was actually a lower ranked out of state school, but the financial aid package at Davis decided the issue for her. She is very happy to attend Davis, but its ‘higher ranking’ did not impress her.
Yes, one of my Ds applied for, was accepted to and decided to attend Tulane. My Tulane D actually achieved a higher GPA and SAT. She also took more AP courses and scored higher on her AP exams (almost all 5s) than her sisters. Therefore, one could argue that she is the more likely candidate for a more prestigious university. Notwithstanding the above, she couldn’t be happier about her choice. Tulane offered a unique blend of opportunities AND its financial aid package was more generous than other universities to which she was accepted. (Note, some of the universities with less generous financial aid packages were ranked higher by USNWR and some were ranked lower) Tulane’s generous offer made it possible for my daughter to attend. Since we have three starting four year universities, this aid was critical. However, my daughter would not have decided on Tulane but for an academic program which interested her.
The above is a long winded way of challenging prospective students and parents to fully evaluate Tulane, without regard to its USNWR rank. Visit the school, read student and parent reviews, consider their reputation for generous financial aid, research its academic programs and evaluate whether New Orleans is a suitable setting. Tulane is NOT right for every student. But, if it is dismissed based upon USNWR rankings, you might be missing out on your best fit.</p>
<p>Well said, TRIPSDAD. I hope you didn’t take offense at my plucking UC Davis out as an example, there are other schools I could have chosen. I have been to UC Davis several times and as I said, it is a very fine school, especially for certain specialty programs that are nearly unique.</p>
<p>I would question your comment that yield is still used by USNWR as a criterion. I thought they had dropped that from the formula. Is it back again? If so, as you so correctly state that would be a ridiculous error, which would only compound other ridiculous errors.</p>
<p>FC: I did not take offense to your reference to UC Davis. As a matter of fact, since I have first hand knowledge of that instittution, I wanted to utilize it as an example of a ‘higher ranked’ institution which one of my Ds passed over in favor of Tulane. Yet, UC Davis is a far superior choice for my other D. </p>
<p>I stand corrected on the ‘yield’ criteria with regard to the USNWR. It was Kiplinger’s which continues to utilize ‘yield’. However, USNWR does utilize the very subjective high school counselor rankings criteria. USNWR does not explain how high school counselors’ opinions could at all be objective. I know from first hand experience that Tulane is not as well known in our area as many other ‘National’ universities. I believe my daughter is the first from her high school, and possibly from the area, to attend Tulane. Also, many similar universities are situated in much larger metropolitan areas (i.e. Houston, St. Louis, Atlanta, New York, Boston, Los Angeles, etc.) Also, public universities situated in populace states with large cities will be better regarded by a larger number of high school counselors (i.e. University of California system).</p>
<p>Although I’m beginning to sound like a Tulane apologist, my real intent is to encourage prospective students to investigate the many possibilities available for college. Within my Ds group of friends, we are familiar with several very bright students who chose not to attend a ‘national’ university, but decided on smaller regional institutions which fit their needs. They could not be happier or more satisfied with their decision. A number of those students received full or substantial scholarships at those smaller schools. Could they have gone to a highly ranked university? Ofcourse. But choosing a school based on USNWR rankings would have likely been a mistake for them.</p>
<p>Just go to USC. USC is more well-known, well-ranked, well-endowed, spirited, recruited, etc. in just about every school at both universities. This “up-and-coming” distinction also applies to USC, which is already ranked 27 spots higher than Tulane on USNWR.</p>
<p>I personally know 6 students who transferred to USC from Tulane this year, and I wish I was fortunate enough to have been accepted as a transfer alongside them. None of them have regretted that decision btw. </p>
<p>Good luck and fight on!</p>
<p>Quite the mysterious posting, since in his previous 5 posts in July of this year, he said he was going to USC. So how could he be a student at Tulane, and how could he have been there long enough to be trying to transfer?</p>
<p>S2 chose Tulane over USC and HE has no regrets! ;)</p>