<p>Oh yay it’s sock puppet time!</p>
<p>I find it very strange and very hard to get inside the head of someone who would invest such negative energy in attacking a university. What could a school have done to someone to provoke such ire?</p>
<p>NJDad68: The answer to your question is probably Rejection is such a bliss and the impact is Huge?..perhaps he has tried to get in to Tulane but no luck for whatever reason(s)? anyhow, I know there is a kind of doctor for such a malady if needed.</p>
<p>NJDad and Okla2012 - It is hard to say what motivates these people, but I do know that in order to get a high score on the Critical Reading portion of the SAT, you have to be able to understand what has been written.</p>
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<p>I think that is all the refutation we need of this person.</p>
<p>Not getting in the middle of this, but something you guys should know about the CDS and class rank (I didn’t read all of the above posts so if this was mentioned, apologies)…</p>
<p>When class rank is reported, it is only reported for those students WHO SUBMIT CLASS RANK…many, many high schools around the country have eliminated it…you cannot report class rank on the CDS from an “artificially created” rank based on a GPA created within a university…if the high school does not report it, it can’t be recorded as a statistic…</p>
<p>Take Vanderbilt as an example…I think they are up to 98% top 10%…but, I think only 30-40% of their freshman class submits class rank…see?</p>
<p>CDS GPA reporting is a whole different story…it is supposed to be UW GPA but I know for a fact, there are manipulations on that; not a standard measure at all…some schools don’t even report it on their CDS…</p>
<p>Rodney - So true. So getting back to the original intent of this thread, it all adds up to saying that the parameters USNWR uses are unreliable and flawed, even putting aside the fact that any rating system for universities is inherently so. I am certainly not saying that universities should be free from scrutiny, assessment of some kind, and analysis. But in the end one can quote raw numbers (faculty:student ratio, research funding, retention rates, and on it goes practically forever) and each one is subject to nuances, manipulations, or just being a bad measure because of externalities.</p>
<p>I guess what originally really bothered me about this thread, besides the fact that it seemed to imply the OP was overly concerned about where a school ranked by USNWR (which he clarified he isn’t) was the title asking why Tulane was ranked so “badly”. Now apparently he meant relative to its other stats, and hence the in-depth discussions regarding the flaws in their methodology. But if, magically, one could have some kind of absolute assessment of universities and a school was ranked 50th out of a few thousand, that really isn’t bad at all.</p>
<p>But again, what makes a university the “best”, or more likely one of a handful of “bests”, is if it is a fit for that student academically, socially, aesthetically, and whatever other criteria are important to that student. For a great many students that is Tulane, for even more it is not. But of course that is true for virtually all schools.</p>
<p>All these antics, all this bobbing and weaving, all these personal slurs, and the net result is that we have yet another person claiming to “know for a fact” something he cannot or will not substantiate. This is progress?</p>
<p>Tulane’s motivations in massaging its admissions stats, or in casting its free apps to the winds, aren’t susceptible to fact checking or quantification. (What we say about them can only be opinions.) The UCD stat, on the other hand, most certainly is. </p>
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<p>Oh yes, Katrina, the fall-back when all else fails. It was indeed a nasty storm! How many more years are you going to use it as your answer to any question you don’t like? </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/american-university/1012119-test-optional-29-a.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/american-university/1012119-test-optional-29-a.html</a></p>
<p>Meanwhile, back to the main topic: It’s perfectly okay if you don’t like the USNews rankings, or that you’d do them differently if you were running them. So would many of us. But I’d have better reasons than the notion that my ‘favorite school’ isn’t ranked as highly as I think it should be. </p>
<p>We can argue their methodology until the cows come home–Lord knows it’s been done to death here on CC–but at the end of the day the fact remains that the nation’s best colleges and universities are indeed at or near the top of the USNews rankings and no sane observer disputes this. At most we’d just want to rearrange them a little bit to match our own particular preferences. </p>
<p>No sane or serious observer has ever promoted the notion that a top-10 school actually belongs around #50 or that a school ranked around #50 actually belongs in the top 10. The reason is simple: while the details and specifics are arguable, the overall cast of the results is valid and rational. </p>
<p>You are on record many times as saying that only “Harvard (and sometimes Stanford, and Yale) and a few other schools” are actually superior to Tulane, but despite over 6000 posts about Tulane you’ve yet to deliver anything solid upon which to rest your assertions. The reason is simple: your assertions do not rest upon anything solid. And no, Katrina doesn’t explain that either.</p>
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<p>My citing of Katrina relative to retention is a mathematical fact, so I will cite it for as long as it continues to play a factor in the USNWR calculations. You are the one bobbing and weaving.</p>
<p>I would love to see where I said that only Harvard was superior to Tulane, lol. The phrase itself is actually meaningless.</p>
<p>Can’t you use the search feature? Not only do you say it, you say it in so many ways and in so many places. And yeah, it’s pretty meaningless. </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/tulane-university/1087019-question-about-tulane-e-mails.html?highlight=harvard+few+other#post11993590[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/tulane-university/1087019-question-about-tulane-e-mails.html?highlight=harvard+few+other#post11993590</a> </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1084780-what-your-perception-tulane.html#post11972065[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1084780-what-your-perception-tulane.html#post11972065</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/tulane-university/1034572-so-excited-i-got-admitted.html?highlight=harvard+few+other#post11502830[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/tulane-university/1034572-so-excited-i-got-admitted.html?highlight=harvard+few+other#post11502830</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/american-university/1012119-test-optional-29-a.html?highlight=harvard+few+other#post11320796[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/american-university/1012119-test-optional-29-a.html?highlight=harvard+few+other#post11320796</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/954256-prospective-philosophy-major-questions-chance-me.html?highlight=harvard+few+other#post10757349[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/954256-prospective-philosophy-major-questions-chance-me.html?highlight=harvard+few+other#post10757349</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/903365-help-give-me-some-insight-my-college-choices.html#post10159003[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/903365-help-give-me-some-insight-my-college-choices.html#post10159003</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/tulane-university/812508-louisiana-admissions.html?highlight=harvard+few+other#post9125947[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/tulane-university/812508-louisiana-admissions.html?highlight=harvard+few+other#post9125947</a></p>
<p>And more. What I do notice is that you travel all over this site inserting Tulane into discussions of better schools. Also that you think Harvard is some kind of Holy Grail. All your opinions and you’re welcome to them. What you’re not welcome to is your own facts. So how’s that UCD fact checking going?</p>
<p>Wow, speaking of Tulane and rankings, I see you also claim that Tulane’s business school is ranked 12th in the nation. I don’t suppose it would be productive to ask for a cite for that ranking either, would it? It’s just something else you made up, right?</p>
<p>Because here are the major rankings:
BusinessWeek has it at #56
[Business</a> School Rankings and Profiles: EMBA, Executive Education, MBA, Part-time MBA, Distance MBA](<a href=“Bloomberg - Are you a robot?”>Bloomberg - Are you a robot?)
USNews has it at #43 (not bad!)
[Best</a> Business School Rankings | MBA Program Rankings | US News](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-business-schools/mba-rankings/page+2]Best”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-business-schools/mba-rankings/page+2)
And Forbes puts it at #52
[Best</a> Business Schools - Forbes.com](<a href=“Forbes List Directory”>Forbes List Directory)</p>
<p>Wow, I have to say that is unbelievable. You prove again that you cannot read at all, or at least comprehend what you are reading.</p>
<p>The one titled Tulane e-mails? That was strictly about how difficult it is for most schools to predict how many will actually attend.</p>
<p>Perception of Tulane? I specifically say it is in a tier below the top 20, and only that perceptions of schools vary quite a bit. That is certainly controversial.</p>
<p>So excited I got admitted? Pretty much the same thing, that once you get past the top tier, reputations of schools vary quite a bit by geography.</p>
<p>Test optional? Mostly another discussion about the rankings methodology, nothing about how Tulane compares academically with Harvard or other schools.</p>
<p>Prospective Philosophy Major? I was specifically addressing a list of schools the OP provided and only said that they all offered a wide variety of courses. I said nothing along the lines of what you are incorrectly attributing to me.</p>
<p>insight on college choices? I have no idea why you posted that one. Again it was just a list the OP provided, and I said they were all good.</p>
<p>Louisiana admissions? I simply stated a fact that Harvard and Yale of single digit acceptance rates.</p>
<p>Thank you for posting these for everyone to read so they can see absolutely and completely that you are here to do nothing but make trouble.</p>
<p>BTW, I do not consider Harvard a Holy Grail, but I do acknowledge it is a standard that is recognized by nearly all.</p>
<p>I just saw your post about the business school. I would have to look again, but I am pretty sure that was Entrepreneur Magazine that ranked it 12th for entrepreneurship. It has been awhile, so I may not remember that exactly right. But since you are so good at misquoting and taking out of context just about everything I have said, I won’t bother to respond any longer. You have made it easy for everyone to see how wrong you are.</p>
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<p>Awesome, then you can use *mathematics *to show how a storm in 2005 is affecting retention in 2012. That’s just using your own words. Remember, use mathematics.</p>
<p>Actually it was ranked 4th for entrepreneurship and Bloomberg ranked it 12th for quality of graduates. [Tulane</a> University - Business School Jumps 10 Spots in Ranking](<a href=“http://tulane.edu/news/newwave/111810_business_school.cfm]Tulane”>http://tulane.edu/news/newwave/111810_business_school.cfm)</p>
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I explained it quite clearly already. By retention I mean retaining students to graduate within 6 years, which is 80% of the 20% factor USNWR uses for the retention calculation, the rest being freshman retention.</p>
<p>Let’s be real here. Asking you to substantiate your wild assertions about Tulane (which, as has been shown, you liberally pepper about this entire website) is, according to you, “making trouble”. </p>
<p>Given that you haven’t substantiated a single one–and you’ve had many opportunities–it becomes clear that you are merely retailing collegiate snake oil. Now you get all emotional when you’ve painted yourself into a corner. </p>
<p>Time and time again, you mention “Harvard and a few others” as the only schools which outrank Tulane in any meaningful way. Are you now denying it, with the facts staring you in the face? </p>
<p>I took the time to list a number of examples, and you would have us believe that by summarizing them you’ve somehow refuted them? Not hardly. Let’s just add them to the list of unsubstantiated assertions. They’re your stock in trade it would appear.</p>
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<p>Nice! Then it should be a simple matter to show me.</p>
<p>You use mathematics, correct?</p>
<p>Edit: FC edited his post after I responded. I still don’t see a mathematical explanation of Katrina’s effects.</p>
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<p>So, Tulane says that Bloomberg Businessweek ranks them at 35th and Bloomberg Businessweek says that they rank them at 56th. Whom shall we believe? (Neither of those is 12th by the way)</p>
<p>[Business</a> School Rankings and Profiles: EMBA, Executive Education, MBA, Part-time MBA, Distance MBA](<a href=“Bloomberg - Are you a robot?”>Bloomberg - Are you a robot?) </p>
<p>Please show me these other rankings.</p>
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Wow, I didn’t think I had to do it all for you. 6 year graduation rates (GR) are 16% of the USNWR formula, everything else (EE) is 84%. So in the most simple terms (for your benefit) 0.16GR + 0.84EE=ranking calculation. USNWR says they don’t simply use the most recent year for GR, but instead takes the last few years and averages them. Since the Katrina entering class of 2005 would have graduated in 2011, last year was the first year it would have been part of the USNWR calculations. But since Tulane cannot report a number for that year, it goes in as zero. It will remain part of the calculations until 2011 is no longer used by USNWR for this factor, another 2-3 years. Simple enough for you now?</p>
<p>Everything else you have said people can read the actual posts and judge for themselves who has the credibility here.</p>
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<p>Why does it “go in as zero”? Doesn’t it stand to reason that Tulane (or its champions such as yourself) would have contacted USNews with an explanation? Doesn’t it stand to reason that USNews might have heard of Katrina too? And isn’t it true that Tulane’s major drop in the rankings predated Katrina anyway? </p>
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<p>I guess this means you’re not going to substantiate anything else you’ve said, huh.</p>