<p>Damn. I don’t know who to root for, they’re both so entertaining.</p>
<p>I’m actually still in utter disbelief as to how this began. All I did was mention that I wrote to some shabby magazine publisher and would report back to you guys if I hear anything from them. From out of nowhere this guy pops out, spreads his cheeks, and starts spewing his vitriolic crap onto my lap. I’ve really never seen someone more eager for a fight than this guy here.</p>
<p>I guess there’s no better place for taking out one’s personal frustrations than on the internet.</p>
<p>Oh, man. That metaphor was unnecessarily graphic, haha.</p>
<p>From my time lurking, that just seems like the way Columbia2002 is. Confrontational, rude, and occasionally very helpful. I don’t mind it, but I also make a point to not ever allow the Internet to get me down.</p>
<p>c02, by that logic…</p>
<p>the person who wins the nobel prize isn’t necessarily validated by winning the prize because their previous efforts are what truly made them famous. i can buy that to an extent…but what if you’re someone like ronald breslow that clearly is a world leader in his field and has taught 2 nobel laureates, but never won the award himself. so should he be happy that he is the man without winning the world’s most respected honor? </p>
<p>regardless of what you want to say - rankings bring legitimacy, and that is the category we care about. it isn’t so much that they are themselves the accomplishment, but they legitimate the accomplishment as being well-received by the public. and just the same - few people know how influential breslow has been outside of academia because he doesn’t have a gold medal for the world to see.</p>
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<p>I love Breslow. He’s a boss.</p>
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<p>Does this mean that Columbia has finally beaten Duke in the “most insecure students” ranking? =)</p>
<p>Way to go Columbia!! Wait until the Common App makes this place even more selective. Beat out Stanford … WOW</p>
<p>I, for one, think odjobs’ criticism of Duke is unfounded. We all know Stanford is the best sports university on the planet. More NCAA titles than any other school.</p>
<p>I still don’t know how we topped them this year, but I’ll take it and run. Rankings are a fun way to feel good about your community (and the value of the degree you’ve paid for) when you’re on the up. We all already think “well, it MUST have been a good school, because I went there!” The same is true of all patriotic feelings; I think someone once said that patriotism is the belief that a country is the greatest in the world because you were born there. Well, hollow though it may be, we can all be a little prouder of our school today.</p>
<p>I personally think that, while we may not defend #4 in next year’s rankings, the next 5-10 years look pretty good on account of Manhattanville. Much like President Obama, that campus is a repository for all the hopes and dreams of students for what it might one day look like or accomplish. Until it gets elected built, we can claim it’ll do miraculous, magical things. Let’s hope the top recruits keep biting on that bait.</p>
<p>NO, Stanford has the third most NCAA titles, Behind USC and UCLA. It does however, have the most Women’s titles, which is of course the most important factor in determining a good “sports school.” But seriously guys, y’all need to buckle down on improving the general social atmosphere at Columbia. Sadly, Columbia’s social life is aptly described by words like “awkward,” “chaste,” and “emaciated.”</p>
<p>i fear someone will respond to madseason, so i’ll go first - </p>
<p>i’m very happy that you like to flame on our board. i had more fun than you could imagine at columbia, but i guess that doesn’t matter because some unknown and poorly marketed study said we don’t have sex. high five to you and your inferiority complex.</p>
<p>and to kwu who calls us insecure - yes because there are maybe 20 consistent posters on here mixed between alums and students and that somehow reflects the vast majority of students on campus. as i wrote to you before - of course i know i’m insecure, but no less so than you or anyone else who posts on here. anyhow, if the number of friends of mine that have talked about this excitedly would attest, this is something that we all take with a grain of salt, but do enjoy the recognition. they aren’t posting on college confidential, though many have made it part of their facebook wall, it is for the most part the informal conversations that have been most gratifying, even those that hate rankings have said “as much as i think i’m beyond rankings, it feels good to see how far we’ve come.”</p>
<p>columbia is an incredible place - in ways that usnews could never quantify, it is great to know it is also considered good in ways it does quanitfy.</p>
<p>Lol odjob, I’ve been a “Duke student” for a whole 3 months now so attackig anything about the school’s past affects me in no way whatsoever. Way to throw out such glaring generalizations and stereotypes in an attempt to insult me.</p>
<p>It’s a celebration, snitches. I, for one, welcome it. Reading the bwog comments today, I’d never have expected so many exclamation points, fight songs excerpts, and joyful f-bombs.</p>
<p>If this is school spirit, I welcome it.</p>
<p>My experiences with Columbia undergrads doesn’t bring chastity to mind.</p>
<p>I think this comment from Bwog sums it up rather nicely: </p>
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<p>Ahem.</p>
<p>Alrighty guys, quick question.</p>
<p>Do you think Columbia will get a large increase in the number of applicants for ED/RD because of this jump?</p>
<p>Or people who originally planned to attend Stanford/MIT/UPenn etc think they have a better chance in getting into those schools now that they’ve decreased in rankings?</p>
<p>columbia was gonna get a big jump because of the jump to the commonapp - all the kids who love nyc and want to go to school there will no longer have a barrier, all the kids who want ivy and will just apply to all of them will no longer have an excuse. </p>
<p>this may just enhance the jump.</p>
<p>■■■. My hopes of ED are over.</p>
<p>Quotes like this crack me up: ‘Sadly, Columbia’s social life is aptly described by words like “awkward,” “chaste,” and “emaciated.”’ Madseason, if you’re a Columbia student, you should join a sports club or frat/sorority (or similar organization). My Columbia son’s experience is anything but what you describe. If you’re not a Columbia student, give your sources the same advice.</p>
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<p>yes, except USNews 2011 uses admissions data from entering class of fall 2009. this 93–>97 will only be reflected in next years rankings, so any gaming you perceive has not been realized in the rankings. </p>
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<p>no, it’s the perceptions of uninformed people who need a 30000 ft opinion on the best colleges. Which is thousands of high schoolers and parents who are not necessarily either gullible or naive. </p>
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<p>just like the rankings changed significantly this year, “truths” with years of data to back it up, like “columbia will never break the top 5”, are broken all the time.</p>
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<p>because we made the biggest move (8–>4 is a more impacting change than 57–>52), so it only make sense that we’d be the most active. If duke became a top 5 ranked school again, your board would be flooded. </p>
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<p>common C02, alma must have trained you better than that, your counter example was acceptance rates. If people recognize improvement/status through acceptance rate, they definitely do so through rankings and more so. </p>
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<p>yes but people will not see or realize it. My contention has always been about perception and it’s leading effect on reality. Not on what actually is, Columbia has not improved because of the rankings. </p>
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<p>a) you’d be surprised how many people quote that year’s ranking, and contend that US news forced caltech down from it’s rightful spot on top. </p>
<p>b) Caltech is a small school that most haven’t heard of, so when some no-name institute of technology topped Harvard, yale, princeton, it was more surprising and thus less credible to average joe.</p>
<p>Most of what you said is accurate, but as an outside observer I’d just like to make a few more comments. It is great that Columbia broke through the top 5 on USNRW, but lets not forget that it still has a ways to go (along with most of the other top 15 schools) before it is actually top 5 in the public eye (and by public I don’t just mean the clueless masses). This holds true for any school at this level whether it is Columbia, Penn, Duke, or Caltech. Regrettably, it will be a long time before most people consider the top 5 to be anything but HYPSM. So while you are all celebrating (and you have no reason not to be happy), just keep in mind how you all probably felt about schools like Penn and Caltech when they made their jumps in the ranks.</p>