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New US News and World Report College Rankings Out

Hornius Emeritus

By Hornius Emeritus
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phdhorn

phdhorn 6224

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UT in Top 10 (#10) Engineering, and up into the Top 10 in Mechanical (#10); others are up there (Chem #4, Civil #6, Computer #8, EE#10, Environ. #7).

Aggy made top 10 in about 3 categories... but the kicker is that they tied UT with #1 in Petroleum Engineering.

Expect that to go up on their wall, and since they're listed first in the PE rankings, they're really the true #1 over the sips.

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Guest Lobo

Guest Lobo

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Each year, the percentage of alumni donating to the university becomes a bigger and bigger factor.  And almost every year, UT gets worse at that. 

Also not helping, our graduation rates are significantly up but they put a long hold on how they absorb that fact into the rankings.  

Plus, we have a lot of dead weight undergraduate departments.  But that's another thread.  

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J.R. Juniors Junior Jr.

J.R. Juniors Junior Jr. 1107

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Penn State and Pitt tied for #57.  That ought to knock PSU grads off their high horse in that part of PA.

U. of Colorado down at #104, tied with USF(!!!).  Didn't they used to be ranked higher?

OU and KU #130, KSU #160, Oklahoma State #192, Texas Tech #218.  Let's hear it for Big 12 academics!

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SimonBolivar

SimonBolivar 10961

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2 minutes ago, J.R. Juniors Junior Jr. said:

Penn State and Pitt tied for #57.  That ought to knock PSU grads off their high horse in that part of PA.

U. of Colorado down at #104, tied with USF(!!!).  Didn't they used to be ranked higher?

OU and KU #130, KSU #160, Oklahoma State #192, Texas Tech #218.  Let's hear it for Big 12 academics!

Hey don't bang on Tech. They beat WVU!

 

Texas- 48

Baylor- 79

TCU- 97

Iowa State- 121

Oklahoma- 130

Kansas- 130

Kansas State- 160

Oklahoma State- 192

Texas Tech- 218

West Virginia- 228

 

If I were a Texas fan this is the #1 problem I'd have with the Big 12.

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Guest Lobo

Guest Lobo

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Even if you take your burnt orange blinders off, the fact UT has barely moved in the last 10 years despite tectonic shifts in state support, private philanthropy, corporate support, higher graduation rates, departmental/degree rankings zooming up the charts, international prestige that few publics enjoy, grant and research and foundational collaboration not seen outside of but a handful of schools, supercomputers, telescopes, rover landings, cancer research, a medical school permeating into every facet of campus, a campus physically adapting to the needs of the 21st century student and lab and professor, and so many other things I'll start another thread on...we're somehow one of the most 25 or so respected universities in the world with the AAU, Carnegie, and all international ranking bodies.  But this one magazine that clings to this like Time magazine clings to its "Man of the Year" award or Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue (which is when I cling to myself)...that it's still a conversation piece is crazy to me.  

But then I remember...students like me...open it up (online or at CVS...again U.S. news, not SI) and still depend on it simply because their parents know the asset.  It carries weight because its baggage has been with us so long, when we literally bought one at Hudson News and stuffed it in our baggage.  It serves a purpose, nobody wants to be a sore loser, but it's an archive wrapped in a relic.  When the nation's leading system and campus heads meet each year, the U.S. News rankings don't come up.  About 5 years ago, they broke down the analysis and realized it was so flawed for all involved, it wasn't worth addressing as a collective.  And so it was left to rot on the vine, just like their library subscriptions to the hard copy version even years before.  

That said, we have so much going for us now...I can't even track what's happening...

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phdhorn

phdhorn 6224

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Really, any University ranking system is nothing more than a crapshoot (yeah, even that world rankings thing).  There is no way to objectively measure the "ranking" of a school that applies across the board.  Even moreso as you expand the range (i.e. U.S. vs. world).

The U.S. News rankings have greatly improved in the past 10 years or so, and actually I think they're pretty good now.  They look particularly for student outcomes and retention (because that stat is in itself comprised of a buncha important substats), then faculty resources, then expert opinion (peer surveys, etc.), and then student excellence and financial resources ("donations" are way, way down in its list of primary factors).  It actually is quite extensive and thorough, and really doesn't rely on dubious things like weird bribery shit or anything like that. Sure some factors such as efficiency, cost, bang for buck, etc. factor into it which might slightly affect the pure academics, but remember this is geare for people searching for colleges which best might fit them and is constructed at least a little with that in mind.  But its pure academics are still pretty good.

I think it's about as good as it can get, because it's the most thorough one I know for U.S. schools.  You can read about how they do it:
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/how-us-news-calculated-the-rankings

Yes there are a lot of holes and places to fling shit at, but hey it's a pretty good effort from my perspective as a former academic.

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jimmyjazz

jimmyjazz 46479

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My viewpoint is a snapshot, and dated at that, but I probably had 6 professors in grad school at UT.  I would conservatively rate at least 3 of them as "world class", not only in terms of their bona fides as experts in their fields, but as educators.  I was expecting a much more hands-off "don't bother me" approach to teaching, but these folks were very dedicated.  I'll put my degree at UT up against any similar degree in the country.

Edited by jimmyjazz
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52-80

52-80 19281

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6 hours ago, DaysOff said:

I thought Brandeis was a high school in San Antonio, but apparently it's a university better than Texas. Rankings are dumb, but I think we're still a top 10 football team.

It's where Jewish girls go to learn how to be Jezebel bloggers

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Guest Lobo

Guest Lobo

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6 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

I think it’s funny that people make fun of the SEC for academics because other than Texas, the Big 12 is full of retards 

Kansas, Iowa State, and TCU are much more respectable than we like to give them credit for.  Most of the others are just glorified community colleges that we have to pretend are educating student-athletes.  It's a fucking farce we all agree to prop up in order to make ridiculous money in football (and sometimes hoops and hardball).  

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Guest Lobo

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they beg the question, if they have so many UT departments and programs ranked so high, how does the overall school finish so much lower?  Retention?  How fucking heavily weighted is that?  There's a reason the AAU no longer even talks about that rag.  

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VolenteHawk

VolenteHawk 495

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10 hours ago, Lobo said:

they beg the question, if they have so many UT departments and programs ranked so high, how does the overall school finish so much lower?  Retention?  How fucking heavily weighted is that?  There's a reason the AAU no longer even talks about that rag.  

I don’t mean for this to sound homerish but it might. Retention and graduation rate have always killed KU in these ratings, because until recently they had to accept anybody with a pulse as long as they were a graduate of a Kansas high school...and most schools in Kansas suck. The regents tied KU’s entrance requirements to all the state schools, so if you could get into Fort Hays State you could get into KU. KU fought it for years, because it limited out of state entrants and led to a staggering amount of dumbasses with no chance of graduating or even making it to their junior year. That finally changed but only went into effect 3 years ago. You still don’t have to be an elite student to get it, but the full on dumbasses are better weeded out. With no change to the academic quality, I’d expect a sharp uptick in rankings as the 2016 freshmen graduate and classes behind them advance just given the calculation.

 

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Liquor and Poker

Liquor and Poker 3659

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Does Texas still get fucked in the rankings for teaching people how to care for themselves instead of providing dozens of “counselors” and “advisors” to tend to their every need?

Way back it seemed like these rankings were written by helicopter moms who worried their little angels might not get to class without a surrogate parent to carry them.  

Edited by Liquor and Poker
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Izhmash

Izhmash 563

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23 hours ago, phdhorn said:

since they're listed first in the PE rankings, they're really the true #1 over the sips.

Curious to evaluate the career paths of both schools.  I know a shit ton of UT engineers that don't practice formal engineering.  Mgmt consulting, business, law, etc...

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phdhorn

phdhorn 6224

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Just now, Izhmash said:

Curious to evaluate the career paths of both schools.  I know a shit ton of UT engineers that don't practice formal engineering.  Mgmt consulting, business, law, etc...

You've just described my kid. ME at UT, jr.,  but is increasingly liking project management or finance.  He's interviewing this week summer jobs with Accenture and other consulting firms. He loves the work.

He could still be a hard core engineer, he already has an offer after college, but he's leaning toward more of a financial based career.

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52-80

52-80 19281

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55 minutes ago, Bateshorn said:

Bates at #21 in National Liberal Arts, I'll take it.  I keep hoping we can break into the top 20, but never manage it.  Pomona dropping to #5 is a big move.

Colby at #11 chaps my ass.  Fuck the mules.

I got my first Masters at Bates.  Was only 12.

Good times.

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fattyflattie

fattyflattie 4639

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4 hours ago, phdhorn said:

You've just described my kid. ME at UT, jr.,  but is increasingly liking project management or finance.  He's interviewing this week summer jobs with Accenture and other consulting firms. He loves the work.

He could still be a hard core engineer, he already has an offer after college, but he's leaning toward more of a financial based career.

This is the only way to do it imo. Well, there’s value at putting in your years needed to get your PE and then going into management, too.  But most of the engineers I work with went either straight into mgt or got there as soon as they got tired of being an underpaid and under appreciated cad monkey.  

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tx 3 putt

tx 3 putt 77934

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4 hours ago, Izhmash said:

Curious to evaluate the career paths of both schools.  I know a shit ton of UT engineers that don't practice formal engineering.  Mgmt consulting, business, law, etc...

Small school engineering chem e degree here. I’ve worked 0 days as a chem e and pretty much 0 as an ‘engineer’. It’s very easy to find a non engineering business  career path with an engineering degree 

i often joke that I have no idea what Chem e’s do. God bless those nerds for making me money though 

Edited by tx 3 putt
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52-80

52-80 19281

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17 hours ago, fattyflattie said:

This is the only way to do it imo. Well, there’s value at putting in your years needed to get your PE and then going into management, too.  But most of the engineers I work with went either straight into mgt or got there as soon as they got tired of being an underpaid and under appreciated cad monkey.  

jockeying powerpoints for accenture probably isnt the way to do it tho

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'stache

'stache 21907

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On 9/9/2019 at 12:59 PM, SimonBolivar said:

If I were a Texas fan this is the #1 problem I'd have with the Big 12.

Why does the listicle rankings of your sports opponents matter? The Big 10 is the only athletic conference that pretends to care about academics (spoiler: they don't really).

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