MU moves up 8 spots to #75 in US News

[ChicosBailBonds]

Yes, I know the rankings are flawed, etc, etc.  For giggles and those interested, MU moved up to 75 from 83 last year.  The criteria was changed this year apparently as well.

[warriorchick]

Here's the link (thanks, Chicos)

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/data

Not to be a Negative Nancy, but it was a 7-way tie for 75th place, so it's really not as dramatic a leap as it sounds.  We are right ahead of the #82 school..

[GGGG]

Here's the link (thanks, Chicos)

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/data

Not to be a Negative Nancy, but it was a 7-way tie for 75th place, so it's really not as dramatic a leap as it sounds.  We are right ahead of the #82 school..

Tied with IU.  How fun.

Anyway good PR, and changing the criteria was a step in the right direction, but a simple step on what should be a mile long journey.

[Chicago_inferiority_complexes]

What was the criteria change?

The volatility of these rankings does not help the credibility of the rankings.

[Coleman]

Big thing I noticed here is our acceptance rate is down to 55.2%. I don't track this closely but that's as low as I ever remember seeing it. I think it was near 70% when I applied in the early 2000s.

[GGGG]

What was the criteria change?

The volatility of these rankings does not help the credibility of the rankings.

Less use of "inputs" like acceptance rate, and more use of "outputs" like graduation rate.  They also lowered the importance of peer review, but not nearly enough.

[Coleman]

Less use of "inputs" like acceptance rate, and more use of "outputs" like graduation rate.  They also lowered the importance of peer review, but not nearly enough.

I'm fine with acceptance rate being part of the equation. The kind of crap, "inputs" as you say, that should be cut out is average high school GPA because there is no way to measure that fairly across the board.

[GGGG]

I'm fine with acceptance rate being part of the equation. The kind of crap, "inputs" as you say, that should be cut out is average high school GPA because there is no way to measure that fairly across the board.

Acceptance rate doesn't tell you a damn thing about how good a school is at educating someone.  It just tells you how good people *think* it is...and how good they are at convincing you to apply.

[Coleman]

Acceptance rate doesn't tell you a damn thing about how good a school is at educating someone.  It just tells you how good people *think* it is...and how good they are at convincing you to apply.

Agreed. But it tells you about how many people want to apply there, i.e. the competitiveness. I'm not arguing how important that is relative to graduation rates, I agree with you, I think its less important. But it matters to a lot of people in terms of prestige. Overall, the more people that apply, the smarter the average student you will be able to accept.

[Tugg Speedman]

Madison is 41 this year, tied with Illinois!!!

[Tugg Speedman]

As noted above, MU was #75 in the overall national ranking

High School Counselor Ranking #69
Best Value Schools #49
Up-and-coming schools #14


Up-and-Coming Schools

In spring 2013, for the sixth year in a row, U.S. News asked the experts who respond to our annual peer assessment survey to identify institutions in their 2014 U.S. News Best Colleges ranking category that are making the most promising and innovative changes in the areas of academics, faculty and student life. All of the schools that received the most nominations from top college officials in their ranking peer group for being up-and-coming are listed here.

[warriorchick]

As noted above, MU was #75 in the overall national ranking

High School Counselor Ranking #69
Best Value Schools #49
Up-and-coming schools #14


Up-and-Coming Schools

In spring 2013, for the sixth year in a row, U.S. News asked the experts who respond to our annual peer assessment survey to identify institutions in their 2014 U.S. News Best Colleges ranking category that are making the most promising and innovative changes in the areas of academics, faculty and student life. All of the schools that received the most nominations from top college officials in their ranking peer group for being up-and-coming are listed here.

I am glad that High School Counselor ranking is as high as it is.  It is my anecdotal experience that Marquette could do a lot more in that area, especially at public schools.  Marquette should consider my kids' school a target-rich environment - 90 miles from campus, ethnically and socioeconomically diverse, home of the district's gifted program - yet it's all but ignored by Marquette, and the counselors know almost nothing about the school.  The top students basically apply to the Ivies and Northwestern, and if they don't get into any of those schools, default to University of Illinois.  Those kids should be Marquette's sweet spot. But with one exception, all of the students who enrolled at Marquette during the last four years were highly influenced by my own kids talking up the school.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Acceptance rate doesn't tell you a damn thing about how good a school is at educating someone.  It just tells you how good people *think* it is...and how good they are at convincing you to apply.

Absolutely agree, but I would argue it also factors in selectivity as well.  You make good points, however.  I think it deserves a weighting, not sure how much. 

[Tugg Speedman]

I'm glad to see MU ranking so high on the up and comers list.  That suggests US News thinks MU is doing the right thing and should continue to move up the list over the next few years.

Yes, I agree with all the warts and criticism of such a ranking system.  But the world we live in says such rankings matter, and matter a lot.

[Eldon]

Acceptance rate doesn't tell you a damn thing about how good a school is at educating someone.  It just tells you how good people *think* it is...and how good they are at convincing you to apply.

+1000

There are plenty of prestigious schools that have seemingly high acceptance rates and that's because only really smart students know to apply there.

Of course, any measure is "flawed" so to speak, but that's the nature of these ordinal scale measurements--they give us a "quick-and-dirty" glance of which schools are better than others.