US News and World Reports Rankings

[soonerscuba]

#108. Maybe if we drop 15,000 students, go private and move north we can be as vastly overrated of an institution as Notre Dame.

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/t1natudoc_brief.php

[Okla-homey]

#108. Maybe if we drop 15,000 students, go private and move north we can be as vastly overrated of an institution as Notre Dame.

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/t1natudoc_brief.php

I simply cannot understand their methodology. Lots of subjectivity, smoke and mirrors if you ask me.

That said, Tulsa #91, OU #108. heh.;)

[SicEmBaylor]

Heh, Oklahoma State is third tier and not even on the list.

[SicEmBaylor]

I simply cannot understand their methodology. Lots of subjectivity, smoke and mirrors if you ask me.

That said, Tulsa #91, OU #108. heh.;)
Ah, 91. That's cute. ;)

[OCUDad]

Interesting methodology. Not sure I'd use some of those criteria to rate a school as "good" or "bad," but then I'm no expert on academia.

[SicEmBaylor]

Interesting methodology. Not sure I'd use some of those criteria to rate a school as "good" or "bad," but then I'm no expert on academia.

Their criteria does suck and is mostly bunk. I've known a couple ivy leaguers and they tell me the only hard part is getting in.

[Okla-homey]

Heh, Oklahoma State is third tier and not even on the list.

Just think if T. Boone gave some of his bazillions to akademiks at Pokey. They might even crack the second tier.:D

[garland sooner]

11 of 12 Big XII schools made the cut.

[hairGel]THAT'S GARBAGE!!!

[Okla-homey]

Their criteria does suck and is mostly bunk. I've known a couple ivy leaguers and they tell me the only hard part is getting in.

especially Yale. You can go there, take all pass-fail courses, choose any combo of courses you want (b/c "required courses" are regressive and old-fashioned), and at the end of four years, have a gold-plated degree. sheesh.

[SicEmBaylor]

especially Yale. You can go there, take all pass-fail courses, choose any combo of courses you want (b/c "required courses" are regressive and old-fashioned), and at the end of four years, have a gold-plated degree. sheesh.

Yep.
This is the honest to God's truth. I had a friend down here whose father went to Cornell and his father told me that all they did in his junior level Honors English class was sit around reading Playboy magazines and discussing the "articles."

****, I can do that on my own for like 3.95 and save myself the cost of tuition.

[royalfan5]

Nebraska is the best school ranked 91st.

[SicEmBaylor]

Nebraska is the best school ranked 91st.
I don't know. I could make a compelling case for Clark University.

[Okla-homey]

Ah, 91. That's cute. ;)

yeah, but SMU and Rice of C-USA put the wood to ya!;)

[fadada1]

sorry folk, no SUNY school is better than OU.

for those of you that don't know what SUNY is... State University of New York.... then pick a town. and how old is this?? SUNY Binghamton isn't even a SUNY anymore.

[SicEmBaylor]

yeah, but SMU and Rice of C-USA put the wood to ya!;)
I'll admit to Rice being a better school all around, but SMU is definitely iffy in my book.

[Vaevictis]

I simply cannot understand their methodology. Lots of subjectivity, smoke and mirrors if you ask me.

Cannot understand or cannot justify?

The measurements are pretty... meh.

25%: Ranking poll.
20%: Retention.
20%: "Faculty resources"
15%: Student Selectivity
10%: Financial Resources
5%: "Graduation Rate Performance"
5%: "Alumni Giving Rate"

The screwy part about these is that I am quite certain that almost all of these are highly correlated with each other. Student selectivity is going to be highly correlated with retention, alumni giving rate and graduation rate performance, and financial resources are going to be highly correlated with faculty resources and probably alumni giving rate and student selectivity.

It mostly boils down to "How rich is the school," "How rich is the student body," and "How many potential students do you deny?"

As such, soonerscuba's initial comment ain't far wrong. We'd gain a hell of a lot of spots if we started rejecting 80% of our applicants and raised tuition to $18k/semester.

(EDIT: And one thing you'll also notice is that the ONLY component that MAY take into account actual academics (peer evaluation) is well, a peer evaluation and only counts for 25%)

[Harry Beanbag]

Their criteria does suck and is mostly bunk. I've known a couple ivy leaguers and they tell me the only hard part is getting in.


Which is proven by their 95%+ graduation rates.

[SanJoaquinSooner]

11 of 12 Big XII schools made the cut.

[hairGel]THAT'S GARBAGE!!! did TT make it?

[OklahomaTuba]

This list is stupid because they don't measure schools program by program.

[SicEmBaylor]

This list is stupid because they don't measure schools program by program.
I think that's why they have separate program rankings while this represents overall rankings.

Each has its purpose. :rolleyes:

[SanJoaquinSooner]

The cool thing is, from a world perspective, the United States probably has 70 of the top 100 universities in the world. How can that be, since our k-12 system is no longer the envy of the world? Because U.S. universities are free to hire the best in the world without the interference of gov't bureaucrats.

There is no cap on visas to hire the best and the brightest. There is no gov't mandated "credential" to become a professor - like there is for public K-12. The pool of potential university labor is huge!

When gov't bureaucrats stay the phuck out of the way, and allow organizations to hire the best, then the organizations become the best.

[Vaevictis]

There is no cap on visas to hire the best and the brightest. There is no gov't mandated "credential" to become a professor - like there is for public K-12. The pool of potential university labor is huge!


Heh, imagine that. I wonder what's stopping our public school systems from hiring all PhD's too. I mean, other than the fact that we're unwilling to allocate the funds to double or treble (or quadruple, in some places) salaries so that the schools might actually be able to attract all PhD's.

[SanJoaquinSooner]

Heh, imagine that. I wonder what's stopping our public school systems from hiring all PhD's too. I mean, other than the fact that we're unwilling to allocate the funds to double or treble (or quadruple, in some places) salaries so that the schools might actually be able to attract all PhD's.

Having a PhD doesn't make one "highly qualified" according to the gov't, and you will not be issued a teaching credential based on a PhD alone.

[SicEmBaylor]

Having a PhD doesn't make one "highly qualified" according to the gov't, and you will not be issued a teaching credential based on a PhD alone.
Right, in some states with teacher shortages, they'll give a teaching certificate to anyone.

There are a lot of necessary changes to improve the quality of our k-12 education system. I think eliminating the "education degree" is one of them. The very best teachers I had in HS were the ones who had degrees in the subject or field that they were teaching.

[Vaevictis]

Having a PhD doesn't make one "highly qualified" according to the gov't, and you will not be issued a teaching credential based on a PhD alone.

I assure you that it isn't a lack of "teaching credentials" that stops most otherwise qualified people from being k-12 teachers. And certainly not anyone with a PhD; anyone capable of earning a PhD is capable of earning a "teaching credential" if they were motivated to do so.

[Lott's Bandana]

How long before the #2 school gets beat?

[King Crimson]

all that is wrong in the american educational system, public and private, is encapsulated by the existence of and fascination with the US News rankings.

i don't have any answers, so don't ask me. the inmates run the asylum. all i do know is everyone is a bogus expert on two things: food and higher education. myself included.

[bluedogok]

I think the Playboy Top 10 Party Schools rankings are probably more accurate than the USN&WR rankings.

[King Crimson]

This list is stupid because they don't measure schools program by program.

this is a big part of it.

[SicEmBaylor]

But they also do program and graduate rankings.

I'm not a fan of them either -- I'm just sayin'.

[King Crimson]

But they also do program and graduate rankings.

I'm not a fan of them either -- I'm just sayin'.


who has the best PhD program in Rhetorical Studies: Stanford, Texas, Michigan, or Iowa?


go to the site and you tell me.

[King Crimson]

you are a hot young stud in organizational communication and once you finish your Ph.D from this school's org comm program you will be making 6 figures a couple year in right off the bat as an in-house corporate consultant, if that's what you want to do:

"this school" is:

a. Harvard
b. Virginia
c. Arizona State
d. Cornell

[Harry Beanbag]

you are a hot young stud in organizational communication and once you finish your Ph.D from this school's org comm program you will be making 6 figures a couple year in right off the bat as an in-house corporate consultant, if that's what you want to do:

"this school" is:

a. Harvard
b. Virginia
c. Arizona State
d. Cornell


I'll say C since it really has nothing in common with the other three schools.

[47straight]

especially Yale. You can go there, take all pass-fail courses, choose any combo of courses you want (b/c "required courses" are regressive and old-fashioned), and at the end of four years, have a gold-plated degree. sheesh.


Yale law school is even worse about that. No actual law whatsoever.

[SteelClip49]

#108 is generous. Gaylord College is a fine example of how poor their standards are. Many of my classmates transferred from OU, like me, to get the same experience but better education. Gaylord College has all the money and state of the art technology but their curriculum and staff is nothing compared to the mass comm department at UCO.

[Ike]

Higher Ed. is one of the few institutions in the country that is primarily rated based on what goes in rather than what comes out.

[SanJoaquinSooner]

The reputation component of the rankings is influenced by research productivity of the faculty. Do they publish in the most prestigious journals? Are they awarded prestigious research grants?

At the top universities, a professor does not gain tenure and promotion by putting energy into designing really, really good lesson plans for undergraduates - but rather by building a reputation as a scholar in the field.

[OUDoc]

CRAP! Now I can't be a doctor anymore.


Wait... it doesn't matter at all. Maybe it just makes me a ****tier doctor.