<p>Miami University dropped to 77th in the new USNWR ranking, a drop of 11 spots from last year. I am not a huge believer in the rankings but this drop was a bit of a surprise.</p>
<p>Miami University ranked No. 34 among the top national public universities in the country in the newest rankings from “U.S. News and World Report”. The magazine also ranked Miami No. 77 among national universities, public and private. It cited Miami for its 81 percent graduation rate and 90 percent freshman retention rate.</p>
<p>Congrats Miami!</p>
<p>Congrats for what? Those stats are considerably lower than in the past. They used to be in the top 25 of national public universities and the top 50 overall. I have no idea what happened. I am not a Miami basher, in fact my son graduated from there and my D is considering applying as well. I just can’t figure out why the numbers have dropped other than the acceptance rate increasing. No one should make a decision to attend a college based on their USNWR ranking but I would like to know why it has continually declined. Some times it is for a good reason.</p>
<p>As is often advised, the USNWR rankings are only a starting point. Prospective candidates should also look at Miami’s majors, the institutional support they get, facilities, etc. Take for example Miami’s interior design program with a [#9</a> ranking](<a href=“http://www.miami.muohio.edu/news/article/view/6600]#9”>http://www.miami.muohio.edu/news/article/view/6600) in the nation. This ranking alone should not be the determinant, just a starting point in researching why that program is thougth of so well. </p>
<p>Continuing with the interior design example, one’s research should also involve comparing and contrasting it to similarly ranked programs like UC’s DAAP. Doing the research, you will find that the experience and philosophy Miami offers is very different from an equally highly ranked program.</p>
<p>Best advice, look at all these rankings like the stats for a car. Nobody, hopefully, buys a car just on the published stats. There’s no substitute for taking the car out for a test drive.</p>
<p>I haven’t explored the rankings this year, so I don’t know exactly what happened, but in the past, changes in ranking have often had to do with USNWR changing their grid, rather than the school changing anything. I think USNWR likes to mix things up just to keep it “news.” Otherwise, the rankings wouldn’t change that much from year to year.</p>
<p>I looked briefly at the rankings this year, and noted that several of the tippy top schools were schools my D considered and dropped from her list for one reason or another. Just because a certain school gets a certain ranking does NOT mean it is the “best” school on a personal level for anyone.</p>
<p>More food for thought on rankings:</p>
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<p>D is junior there, we have never known the ranking, why bother, she liked the school and has been very satisfied with her choice. Was not even #1 on her original list of colleges.</p>
<p>Actually, I think rankings can matter, and I think it would be wise for Miami to work on maintaining their public perception. Those of us who value Miami should also spread the word! Why?</p>
<p>Higher rankings attract more students which then allows colleges to be more selective in creating well-rounded, highly qualified classes. It can attract better professors.</p>
<p>Higher rankings can sometime (arguably) attract well-educated, (perhaps better compensated) parents, and motivated (perhaps more “successful”) students which result in higher endowments. </p>
<p>Higher rankings can open doors for graduates. My graduate degree is from another well-known, well-respected college. I liked it, and it was probably a good fit, but I honestly don’t think it was that much better than many other unknown programs. In fact, the notoriety for my particular major actually developed more after I left. However, I still have occasional opportunities open because of the reputation of both the school and the degree. </p>
<p>Miami deserves a similar reputation. I think it much better to have people say “oooh, that’s a great school” when reviewing my resume, than “where’s that? in Florida”?</p>
<p>Congrats to Miami University for being so highly ranked among the more than 1400 schools that U.S. News & World Report collected data from!</p>
<p>You know you’re a good school when haters come out of the woodwork to denigrate you lol.</p>
<p>Miami attracts enough high caliber students. When we went to Honors Saturday informational session, everybody who we have asked there was valedictorian from private school and so was my D and her future roomate. D’s classes are very tough and do not need to be any tougher either. Ranking is for those who do not want to do deeper research, it is very superficial indication of a good “fit” college.</p>
<p>^^ dad<em>of</em>two: Haters? We are Miami haters? That is an odd thing to say since almost everyone that posted on this thread, myself included, have kids that have either attended Miami or are considering Miami. Why would we bash our own school? The truth, whether you like it or not, is that the USNWR rankings have become important to many families and they unfortunately can rely on these rankings. The fact that it has steadily declined over the years raises some questions that should be answered.</p>
<p>kjofkw makes a great point as to why the rankings matter, whether we like the system or not. My D will make her decision solely on her campus experience, sitting in on classes, meeting with a professor, not based on these rankings, but it is naive to assume that everyone will do the same thing.</p>