81–90 of 90 posts
Why is there such a fixation on university rankings in the United States? Postsecondary rankings don't seem to matter as much in other Western countries.
The professional connections pay for the tuition and much more.
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> where > 90% of the class failed. I can't imagine this happening in a college class where the instructor get to keep his class next year.
U.S. State college, a fairly well respected one, happening now. Chemical Engineering. They have no idea how to operate "online/remote". And that matters for classes like Fluid Dynamics, Organic Chem, Differential Analysis, etc. Is there some realistic path for me to escalate?
Regardless, you should think hard before accepting at the "top" university that will take you. Many times it's better to be a big fish in a small pond than vice versa. Also, in terms of learning, it's really about the access you can get to the ten or so percent of the faculty that actually worth anything. Figure out who they are and go after them. Also, network, network, network. Smart or not, everyone you meet in sc…
Yes, this is seldom considered. For example, if you plan to graduate with a BS in physics, would you rather be in the top quartile at Cal Poly, or the bottom quartile at Cal Tech?
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Australia here. Universities consistently market their national ranking here. As a staff member I've found management consistently pushes things that will raise their ranking. As a student initially at a high ranked university, I found I got a better education by switching to a much lower ranked university.
> As a student initially at a high ranked university, I found I got a better education by switching to a much lower ranked university. That’s interesting. I’ve consistently heard the same sentiment from ex-students and alumni of certain highly ranked Canadian universities (undergrad) as well. They’ll generally complain about a lack of student support and restrictive policies at these institutions, making it needlessl…
In contrast, when I moved interstate and transferred institutes, despite being at a much lower-ranked university I received (subjectively) better tuition and support from low and high-level staff. I was even (enthusiastically) given the opportunity to contribute to active research in my vacations.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Melbourne [2] 3yrs Mech Eng undergraduate student first-hand experience.
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> As a student initially at a high ranked university, I found I got a better education by switching to a much lower ranked university. That’s interesting. I’ve consistently heard the same sentiment from ex-students and alumni of certain highly ranked Canadian universities (undergrad) as well. They’ll generally complain about a lack of student support and restrictive policies at these institutions, making it needlessl…
Also, which rankings are meaningfully measuring student experience and give it weight? I know some send around questionaires, but for the things I looked at it seemed a minor concern.
The justification we're given for higher ranking is overseas students are more likely to chose a university based on these (domestic students are more likely here to go to whichever university is closest). Due to fee-capping on local students, international students have become a big source of income for universities here. Whether it is accurate to do so or not, the universities keep insisting on higher rankings to attract those students.
Median starting salary / median cost to attend.
Sure, there are other considerations such as. If it will get you into a better grad school or something, but for most it’s really this simple.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
U.S. State college, a fairly well respected one, happening now. Chemical Engineering. They have no idea how to operate "online/remote". And that matters for classes like Fluid Dynamics, Organic Chem, Differential Analysis, etc. Is there some realistic path for me to escalate?
> Is there some realistic path for me to escalate? Is the instructor an ad junct? Those are cheap and replaceable. They make maybe ~1/10th of what your average FAANG engineer makes because the labor supply is extraordinarily over-saturated. Enough complaints will probably get them fired, if that's what you're looking for, but realize you're probably putting someone with no prospects and no savings out on the street a…
I think they're useful-ish, but it's important not to get too focused on specifics. For example I did a stint in policy and I'm reminded of how everyone insisted for a long time that "top" law schools are the "top 14" or T14 for short. This is historically the measure used since Georgetown was in DC, and the children of the elite must be "top tier" regardless of if their school ranked outside top ten on every officia…
That’s not where T14 comes from. > There exists an informal category known as the "Top Fourteen" or "T14," which refers to the fourteen institutions that regularly claim the top spots in the yearly U.S. News & World Report ranking of American law schools.[8] Furthermore, only these fourteen schools have ever placed within the top ten spots in those rankings.[9] Although "T14" is not a designation used by U.S News its…
>There have been rare exceptions to this, however, such as UCLA School of Law appearing in the top fourteen instead of Cornell and Northwestern in 1987 and University of Texas School of Law displacing Georgetown in 2018, although the significance of these changes has been debated.
People select measures for a number of reasons. It's perfectly possible the single and only reason T14 is used is for the reasons you lay out.
OTOH I have personally had conversations with people who argued that the T14 is a measure of merit when Georgetown was in the T14 then "debated the significance" of the measure when Georgetown dropped out of the top 14 in 2018.
It was not clever or endearing.
https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2014/08/26/how-northeast... > Freeland swept into Northeastern with a brand-new mantra: recalibrate the school to climb up the ranks. “There’s no question that the system invites gaming,” Freeland tells me. “We made a systematic effort to influence [the outcome].” He directed university researchers to break the U.S. News code and replicate its formulas.
graduated from there. totally agree with what's in that article. at 18 I was swept away by the "allure" of their rapid ascent and aggressive re-development of campus (which has continued to this day) and went there, despite the insane cost. faculty were generally pleasant to interact with, the education was probably average. job prospects were mediocre - alot of competition in boston and NU is in a lower tier, compar…
I've also heard some good things about NEU cybersecurity.
I'm not familiar with the other departments.