@collegemomjam - You must visit UVA if you’re going to Richmond! About an hour away and definitely worth it!
Oh, wise ones. Do you think Lawrence University is one its way “up”?
https://www.lawrence.edu/
My sense is that Lawrence is holding steady. Always very well respected in its own region and on the radar beyond that for the serious music crowd, but not necessarily set on clawing itself above the fray in the national rankings. And not in an area (like Colorado ) that has increasing appeal among young people.
@collegemomjam Love Love Love UR!! D18 ended up at Vandy and she also considered UVA very hard but is thriving in Nashville in just the one week there. That being said URichmond was truly her 1st choice. It really is that underrated college that will be making headlines I think very soon. Science Dept especially Chemistry is fantastic, excellent Business school and the Jepson School of Leadership is amazing. Close to DC so interviewing and interning on the Hill are options. Has a great sense of community and the City of Richmond is just vibrant! The campus is just picturesque and there are some great tradition. It was the hardest school to turn down. Good luck with your search!
@Silivon Whatever collegeraptor is, it’s not a reliable or valid source of information. All three of the “top three colleges in the Northwest” it has listed, are not in the Northwest. If I were you, I’d seek my data elsewhere.
Tomorrow is new usnews update, any last minutes guess?
Back in May, on pages 12 and 13 of this thread, I suggested that UGA was making great strides to improve the school. I listed several factors to indicate why I thought it was a school “on the rise” (from huge increases in donor contributions, large construction projects to update the Terry Business School and other buildings on campus, steady increases in GPA and Standardized scores required for admission the last few years, rise to #16 last year on National Public School Rankings, and more. @jym626 responded to my post, saying it was old news and that UGA had made strides 15 years ago with the addition of the Hope Scholarship and answered that UGA was essentially not on the rise. He also suggested UGA was not underrated and that I was referring to the graduate school, which I was not.
Last year marked the fifth consecutive year that the freshman class set a record for academic qualification. Class of 2021 enrolled with an average high school GPA of 4.0 and a record average ACT score of 30. Forbes recently ranked UGA at No. 17 in its 2017 list of top colleges that dominate academically and athletically. Kiplinger ranked UGA No. 10 on its most recent list of 100 best values among public colleges and universities, and The New York Times ranked UGA at No. 10 among public universities doing the most for low-income students in its 2017 College Access Index.
I am happy to report that UGA moved from #54 last year on US NEWS College Rankings to a tie at #46 in the US NEWS 2019 latest released rankings today for undergraduate universities. The previous year, it had been #61. So in the last three years, UGA has moved from #61 to #46. I don’t put all stock in rankings but I think that’s a pretty big jump and indeed validates my earlier posts that UGA is in fact an undergraduate program that was previously underrated and now IS on the rise.
USNews must be thrilled to know so many people are hooked to their rankings.
I gotta say, it boggles my mind, but it’s not the first thing to do so.
@Creekland, I am not one to put all stock in rankings. However, it is one metric to consider when making claims that a school is “on the rise”. I only mentioned it among many other factors why I felt UGA was on the rise. I predicted back in May that based on those many factors, that the ranking would improve, but another forum member disputed my claims. Since @Silivon posted yesterday about the USNWR rankings coming out today, I checked it out and was pleased to see that my prediction had in fact come true. Again, not that the move up in the ranking is the proof of my premise that UGA is an underrated school on the rise. My other points speak for themselves. No doubt there are other schools that also improved significantly on the USNWR ranking, which is one indication of many (IMHO).
@Brantly LU is solid - STEM is stellar and Conservatory is also known nationally.They have a forward thinking Admissions office that is a bit ahead of the curve in moving its strategy to recruit where the are more High School Seniors then in the ‘birth derth’ home environs or the midwest. They have just welcomed one of the largest classes ever. Hard to say they are rising but definitely on solid ground.
@Nomorelurker - I’ve been saying UGA is on the rise too. However, my opinion was simply based on the number of kids in NJ who seemed to have taken an interest. Whereas USC and 'Bama are very popular southern state schools, UGA seems to be climbing the interest ladder now.
There were significant changes in the USNews methodology. Accordingly, movement between the 2018 and 2019 USNews rankings may not be a useful indicator of schools on the way up.
@eb23282, UGA has done a great job in the last three to five years to make the school more competitive academically. The Honor’s Program had a record admission for 2018 of over 700 students, which I believe is over 10% of the total Freshman class. This bodes well, as per @socaldad2002 earlier post on page 17 on this thread. The minimum ACT for early Honors admission was a 34 and regular Honors admission was around a 32 or 33, although the school won’t confirm those numbers. The university provost is also committed to hiring more high quality faculty so class size will be reduced. Of course, class sizes are already reduced for Honor’s level classes.
The other schools you mentioned also have very strong Honor’s programs. It doesn’t hurt to have a strong athletic program for students who are interested in football and other collegiate sports :-).
@Hapworth suggested earlier on this thread that UGA was fairly unknown until they were in the National Championship last year. Wish it were not so, but sometimes a strong athletic program gets the attention of students. One thing we need is more out of state diversity, so I am glad to hear @eb23282 that students in NJ are being recruited. UGA also has many students from Texas who were not in the top 7% in their high school class and could not get into UT. But there will always be a high in state population due to free tuition via the Hope Scholarship and Zell Miller. Athens is a great college town and very safe, with a stronger football program now than the Longhorns. And, the economy is booming in Atlanta, where there is a very robust UGA alumni network.
Athens is a really pretty college town.
@Nomorelurker - the vast majority of schools are showing continued improvement in the stats of their incoming class, thanks to ridiculous number of schools many students are now applying to which allows for increased selectivity, and the fact that UGA (and Tech) take the state vals and sals as auto admits. And its really unfortunate that some are so glued to the many various and sundry ranking lists that do little more than sell magazines.
That said, good for UGA for focusing on education and community service.
@Nomorelurker re; your post #506 here:
from your own post #193 from several months ago
when you reference the MBA, that is a masters degree, conferred from their Graduate school- hence my response then stating that you were referencing graduate school. Terry gives a BBA to graduates of the undergrad program. So yes, you ** were **talking about the graduate program. Maybe not intentionally, but you were.
And UGA should be proud of the improvement in its graduation rate of Pell Grant recipients, which for many large schools/universities apparently accounts for a boost in rankings based on changes to this year’s USN’s methodology
@jym626, Yes, in my May post, I also mentioned that the Terry MBA program rose as well. However, most of those original posts I made were regarding the undergraduate university. I threw in some other pluses about Terry MBA. The three new buildings completed this year for Terry on the UGA Athens campus will host both the undergrad and graduate business schools.
Aside from that, UGA has many strong UG programs, study abroad, Honors Program, and other indicators that it is on the rise (see earlier posts). I think my broad point has been validated based on the many factors already mentioned earlier, and it does not hurt that USNWR has moved UGA up in their rankings from #54 last year to #46. The prior year was #61 or 62.
It is another topic as to whether the rankings mean anything or to what degree. Again, I suggest that USNWR is one metric among many factors to consider.
But you erroneously called me out in post #506, claiming you did not reference the graduate school when in fact ** you did /b. Just pointing out your confusion.
And please note the explanation reported by many re: the Pell grant graduation rate that accounts for some of the boost in the large U’s rankings. Its a good thing, but recognize it for what it is.
There is nothing wrong with UGA. Its a fine school and quite a bargain. But its best to honor the strengths of many schools making strides in a number of areas. JMO.
US News has published 2019 rankings, so this may shake things up. U of Cal Santa Barbara got a boost,
and UCLA outranks Berkeley this year. Look up your favorite college !
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities