<p>where'd washU get the money? I know emory got a big pile from coca cola.</p>
<p>
[quote]
- UNC (no. 25)
- UCLA (no. 28)
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Actually, UCLA is 25th (along with Michigan) and UNC is 28th.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Actually, UCLA is 25th (along with Michigan) and UNC is 28th.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>my bad......</p>
<p>Harvard....wow!</p>
<p>Not sure whether this is the one you're looking for, Majayiduke09, but I think it's appropriate for this thread. One of my favorites of hawkette's:</p>
<p>Another good one:</p>
<p>those schools beat washu in PA but PA is clearly influenced by strength of graduate programs and therefore isn't the best in determining which schools are actually the best for undergrad (and also hence why the entire ranking isn't based off the PA score)</p>
<p>the real problem with washu is its deceptive and injurious admission policy wherein they use the waitlist as a tactical device, not a fallback for under-accepting like the rest of the schools in the country do.</p>
<p>washu is the only school (of any marginal significance) that i am aware of that does not release their waitlist figures.</p>
<p>also, they spend so much of their money on merit aid, trying to attract good (but rich) students, that they have one of the poorer financial aid policies among the top 20 schools.</p>
<p>all in all, it's pretty unethical and shameless, and that's why washu gets such a bad rap. it's trying to 'keep up' with schools that are 'out of its league' at the expense of its students.</p>
<p>
That's quite an oversimplification.</p>
<p>First, Penn has been ranked consistently by US News at somewhere from #4 to #7 every year for the past 11 years.</p>
<p>Second, Penn's grad and professional programs have been highly ranked for many decades. For example, in the highly respected NRC ranking of Ph.D. programs in the 1990s, Penn had the 8th highest number of programs ranked in the top 10:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.grad.berkeley.edu/publications/pdf/nrc_rankings_1995.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.grad.berkeley.edu/publications/pdf/nrc_rankings_1995.pdf</a> (see table on right side of page 2)</p>
<p>Third, also in the 1990s, Penn initiated an ambitious program to significantly enhance its undergraduate experience to bring it in line with the quality and reputation of its professional and graduate programs. To achieve that goal, Penn embarked on one of the first billion-dollar capital campaigns in the country, ultimately raising $1.5 billion (an impressive number in the 1990s), and specifically targeting $1 billion of that toward improving the undergraduate program and experience. In addition to enhancements of specific academic programs, Penn used that money to create things like a new college house system, the Kelly Writer's House (recently featured in the NY Times: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/05/education/05writers.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin%5B/url%5D">http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/05/education/05writers.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin</a> ), several other special interest centers, the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships, substantial physical improvements to the campus and surrounding neighborhood, etc., etc. Details are available here:</p>
<p>Sept/Oct</a> Gazette: How Excellent?</p>
<p>Fourth and finally, the significant substantive improvements continue through to the present, with Penn currently engaged in a $3.5 billion capital campaign--half of which will go to the endowment for increased undergraduate financial aid, etc.--and is about to embark on a major campus expansion that will include substantial enhancement of and additions to athletic facilities, a brand-new college house, new major facilities for neuroscience and nanotechnology, etc.</p>
<p>A heck of a lot more than merely "good marketing schemes."</p>