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What are some schools whose reputations are on the rise?

By Reidmc (Reidmc) on Wednesday, July 07, 2004 - 11:01 pm: Edit

Kenyon, Occidental, Vanderbilt.

By Barrons (Barrons) on Wednesday, July 07, 2004 - 11:13 pm: Edit

USC, Wisconsin, Maryland, Tulane (got me)

By Bunmushroom (Bunmushroom) on Wednesday, July 07, 2004 - 11:23 pm: Edit

USC, Vanderbilt

By Par72 (Par72) on Wednesday, July 07, 2004 - 11:24 pm: Edit

Duke- already very high rep. but with completion of $2.5 billion capital campaign and new Prez. Duke will go higher. Others, UChicago, Colgate and Holy Cross. Colgate and Holy Cross are 2 very strong LAC's with Division 1 athletics-close ties to Ivies. Overrated-BU,BC,Emory,WashU,and Penn.

By Chriscornelluv (Chriscornelluv) on Wednesday, July 07, 2004 - 11:32 pm: Edit

Why are BU, BC and Emory overrated? And are the only schools on the rise private ones?

By Hayden (Hayden) on Wednesday, July 07, 2004 - 11:47 pm: Edit

USC, George Washington U., and U. of Maryland.

By Cornellhopeful (Cornellhopeful) on Wednesday, July 07, 2004 - 11:48 pm: Edit

Penn definitely is not overrated. BU, BC, and Emory are all private, if i'm not mistaken.

By Mysticwistful (Mysticwistful) on Wednesday, July 07, 2004 - 11:58 pm: Edit

Duke is overrated cause of basketball. Penn is underrated cause its name, "the University of Pennsylvania," sounds like a public school.

By Thekev (Thekev) on Thursday, July 08, 2004 - 12:08 am: Edit

On the rise:

Oklahoma State
Texas A&M
UC Irvine
UCSB
Reed College
Wesleyan College
Southwestern U
Mary Washington College
UMCP
Penn State
Eckerd
Rollins
George Mason
Duke
Truman State U
U of Dallas

By Mom101 (Mom101) on Thursday, July 08, 2004 - 01:51 am: Edit

Washington U, USC, Duke, Reed, Vandy, Emory, Claremont group. However, it is clear that some of these are simply a result of highly effective marketing campaigns which have raised the number of applications and thus the selectivity ratings. This has become an ugly marketing game. Give free rides to kids who can otherwise get into traditionally better schools to move up in the US News ratinds, Yuk, but it works.

By Reidmc (Reidmc) on Thursday, July 08, 2004 - 01:57 am: Edit

"Colgate and Holy Cross are 2 very strong LAC's with Division 1 athletics-close ties to Ivies."

. . .close ties to Ivies. . .What is that supposed to mean?

I'll leave the punchlines to others. . .

By Rainsparkle (Rainsparkle) on Thursday, July 08, 2004 - 09:00 am: Edit

UGA, UCLA, wake forest

By Uknowwho42 (Uknowwho42) on Thursday, July 08, 2004 - 09:19 am: Edit

"This has become an ugly marketing game. Give free rides to kids who can otherwise get into traditionally better schools to move up in the US News ratinds, Yuk, but it works."

Or maybe they do it because the kids apply for scholarships and are qualified, or are simply very qualified during the admissions process. That's basically the definition of a scholarship. Should they give free rides to less qualified, slightly above average applicants who can't get into "traditionally better schools?" That contradicts simple logic. Offer money to the best applicants. Easy concept, not a "marketing game."

By Alan5 (Alan5) on Thursday, July 08, 2004 - 09:39 am: Edit

Northeastern is on the rise. Read this:

http://www.boston.com/globe/search/stories/reprints/ahigher080803.htm

By Oldman (Oldman) on Thursday, July 08, 2004 - 10:37 am: Edit

Georgia as HOPE money has led to retention of some of the better in-state kids.

By Enarang (Enarang) on Thursday, July 08, 2004 - 12:31 pm: Edit

Babson is rising too.

By Alan5 (Alan5) on Thursday, July 08, 2004 - 04:30 pm: Edit

In Northeastern's case, better marketing is only a small part of the picture. The whole school has been completely transformed. As the Boston Globe article points out, NEU spent $500 million on new construction which has transformed the campus from an asphalt jungle into an award winning urban oasis complete with grassy quads, flower beds, fountains, sculpture, and well tree lined walkways. Northeastern now has one of the nicest urban campuses in the country. Other plans in the works include housing for 3000 more students in luxury residence halls, a new football stadium, honors center, and more research buildings (half the campus is still under construction).

In terms of academics, the school spent millions of dollars revamping the entire curriculum. This past fall, NEU switched from a short quarter based academic calendar to an academically richer semester program with a junior year research project and a senior capstone project. Students also have more opportunities to double major.

Northeastern also completely revamped it signature paid internship program (co-op) to provide students with more opportunities to work abroad and in other states. This year Northeastern is starting a paid Wall Street internship program to go along with its paid White House and NASA internship programs. Northeastern has about 3000 companies worldwide that participate in the program, including top companies like Microsoft, Sun, Fidelity, Merrill Lynch, Raytheon, and EMC. Northeastern also has plans to hire 100 new tenure track faculty and triple its research spending.

The result has been 30% increase in the number of applicants. This year NEU received over 24,000 applicants for 2800 spots. NEU acceptance rate dropped from 70% three years ago to 40% this year. The average SAT score also increased by about 100 points and is continuing to rise.

The problem is that U.S. News has yet to catch up with all the changes and improvements. But look for Northeastern to be the next GWU.

Lenk should be along any minute now with his usual garbage--LOL!

By Chapter322 (Chapter322) on Thursday, July 08, 2004 - 05:22 pm: Edit

Tulane...

It will be really difficult for some of the before-mentioned schools to go any higher (at least by much).

By Aspirer42 (Aspirer42) on Thursday, July 08, 2004 - 05:38 pm: Edit

UMCP, definitely. WUSTL I think has reached its peak in reputation, but could maybe go a bit higher. Kenyon may be on the rise, but they may just be one of those 'perpetually underrated' schools like (in my opinion) Reed, UChicago and Wake Forest.

By Dennis (Dennis) on Thursday, July 08, 2004 - 06:54 pm: Edit

Amongst LACs, I think we're seeing Midwestern schools like Carleton, Macalester, Kenyon, and Grinnell beginning to rival their elite Eastern counterparts (Amherst, Williams, Swarthmore, Wesleyan, Middlebury, Bowdoin, Bates, etc.) in reputation. Their academic quality has always been as good.

By Pattykk (Pattykk) on Thursday, July 08, 2004 - 07:07 pm: Edit

Mom101: I don't think that Reed and the Claremont group give free rides. I think there is room for a few schools to do this since the elite schools treat the low income students very well. These schools knock their more average students out of some spaces, but there are plenty of schools in the country.

By Chriscornelluv (Chriscornelluv) on Thursday, July 08, 2004 - 09:28 pm: Edit

I asked this question because I bet there are many good academic institutions that don't get the recognition they deserve either because they are public or because in the past they have been branded as a mediocre instution(this goes for private and public)and have not been able to shake the stigma. I have even wondered if the $$ signs have kept some schools in and others out. I am sure that some schools that have a prestigious reputation deserve it, but I am sure there are many schools that deserve a better reputation and do not. I also think some school receive their prestige from the athletics and not there academics. I was just curious as to what others thought.

By Collodore (Collodore) on Thursday, July 08, 2004 - 10:55 pm: Edit

Vanderbilt.

An excellent school thats overlooked either because its in Tennessee (hence South, hence conservative!) or because of igorance.

Explore Vandy, and a lot of you will fall in love with the place. The majority of students, however, are conservative.

By Thekev (Thekev) on Thursday, July 08, 2004 - 11:41 pm: Edit

*Practically every Midwestern school ever

By Taxguy (Taxguy) on Thursday, July 08, 2004 - 11:43 pm: Edit

I am not sure where I read this but some of the schools whose reputation has risen the most in the last 10 years was....drum roll..


1. Wash U St. Louis
2. Carnegie Melon
3. Univ of Maryland

There were others mentioned, but I don't remember the rest.

By Socalmom (Socalmom) on Thursday, July 08, 2004 - 11:49 pm: Edit

University of San Diego, private not the UC San Diego, although that is a fine school for math/sciences also.

By Synapse (Synapse) on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 02:39 am: Edit

Suny Binghamton's rep has increased as well. This year they got 22,000 apps up from 18,000 2 years ago and 5 years ago they werent even in the top 50 in terms of public state universities and now there 36 and rising. Its becoming known as the "Ivy of the Suny's".

By Weener (Weener) on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 04:29 am: Edit

the counselor (krista klein) in the boson globe article link was my college counselor at that san francisco high school!!! i know 5 people that applied to northeastern in my class (class of 32 students). 4 were accepted and the one who was rejected didn't even break 1000 on his SATs. i'd like to say that goucher college is a college on the rise.

By Alexandre (Alexandre) on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 08:04 am: Edit

Many schools are getting a better reputation these days. Emory, Wash. U., Vanderbilt etc... to name a few. However, in this sort of race, the rich get richer, so it is difficult to make up the ground lost.

By Dazed04confused (Dazed04confused) on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 11:23 am: Edit

Fordham is definitely on the rise. I just posted this in starting a previous post. In light of being so biased (starting Fordham this fall), the institution received over 14,000 applications this year and the acceptance rate fell below 50%. The quality and diversity of the pool are up dramatically in the past two years. And from what I saw on the Rose Hill campus, the construction is impressive, but they retained all the charm of the Gothic architecture making it such a beautiful place to attend college. There really does seem to be diversity too, which is so important in a college experience. From visiting and looking at other schools, GW, Northeastern, Marist, Lafayette, Lehigh and Delaware all seem to be on the rise too-though not as fast as Fordham

By Calif (Calif) on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 12:03 pm: Edit

LACs: Occidental, Grinnell, Denison, Kenyon.

By Calidan (Calidan) on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 12:41 pm: Edit

What about schools on the decline? I can't think of one right now, but I'll try to and post one later.

By Feenotype2 (Feenotype2) on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 01:39 pm: Edit

The schools in the South in general are rising as more people realize the South is more than just a stereotype. That includes the private universities (Duke, Emory, Tulane, Vanderbilt, etc.), LAC's (Furman, Rhodes, Sewannee, etc.), as well as the the States U's (UGa, UFl, and Ga Tech, etc.)

By Chriscornelluv (Chriscornelluv) on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 07:49 pm: Edit

I never thought of schools like Duke, Emory, Tulane, Vanderbilt, Northeastern etc...as not being prestigious. I thought they always were.

By Alan5 (Alan5) on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 09:52 pm: Edit

In the 1970s, Duke and Emory were more regional schools. Tulane and Vanderbilt have always been considered to be prestigious. In the 1980s and early 1990s, Northeastern was a regional commuter school (similar to Boston U, BC, and NYU in the 70s) but with a great internship program. Northeastern is just now getting recognition for its revamped programs and residential campus. The prestige of the school will continue to grow as the word spreads about the school's transformation.

By Par72 (Par72) on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 10:32 pm: Edit

DUKE has been a national school for over 70 years. Agree BC and BU were at best average Boston commuter schools until the 1980's. There are many schools in Boston with much better academic reputations-Harvard,MIT,Tufts,Holy Cross,Wellesley,and Brandeis.

By Alan5 (Alan5) on Saturday, July 10, 2004 - 02:21 am: Edit

I disagree, Duke was more of regional school in the 1970s. Back then, very few northerners looked at the school. A successful basketball program and improvements in academics made it more of a national institution in the 1980s.

By Chriscornelluv (Chriscornelluv) on Saturday, July 10, 2004 - 06:44 pm: Edit

Has Northwestern always had a prestigious reputation? And how prestigious is Boston College really?

By Alan5 (Alan5) on Sunday, July 11, 2004 - 09:08 am: Edit

Some History:

Northwestern was a regional school until the 1960s. The school went more national in the 1970s and expanded its academic offerings.

Up until the late 1970s, BC was a commuter school for Boston's Irish Catholic working class. The school went more upscale (i.e. middle class) in the mid 1980s. In the early 1990s, BC gained more national recognition through the success of its athletic progams (Bowl games, etc.). BC's success in sports led to a flood of applicants which made the school much more selective, boosting its ranking and reputation. BC also had several successful fundraising campaigns which boosted the school's endowment. Whether BC is truly "prestigious" entirely depends on who you ask. Among the jesuits and BC's alumni its is considered to be very prestigious.

By Taxguy (Taxguy) on Sunday, July 11, 2004 - 09:38 am: Edit

Univ of Miami has come up greatly in the last 30 years. Thirty years ago, Miami addmissions only required a pulse to be admitted. Yes, they did have some good programs such as marine biology and their med and law schools and had great climate,but it wasn't difficult to get into their undergraduate program. Today, SAT scores are averaging almost 1300 with very decent GPAs required. Miami has indeed come a long way. Perhaps its their phenominal sports success or perhaps kids are finding out about their great weather.

By Toblin (Toblin) on Sunday, July 11, 2004 - 11:28 am: Edit

The College of New Jersey. This school is coming up fast. Beautiful "Ivy like" campus. The average SAT for last years crop of freshmen was just shy of 1300. Out of state residents actually enjoy an advantage since the school is trying to increase it’s number of out of state students. The only other school NJ that’s harder to get into is Princeton, which is 12 miles down the road. (Sorry Rutgers)

By Nitroxideracer (Nitroxideracer) on Sunday, July 11, 2004 - 11:50 am: Edit

Vanderbilt has had one of the most amazing rises in the past few years or so, unquestionably.

It used to be relatively easy to get in. They accepted 61% of applicants about six years ago. This year, they accepted just 37% of applicants. The total number of applicants has gone from 6500 to over 11,000 in just five years!

Vandy's undergrad programs have gotten a ton of recognition, too. They have invested over $300,000,000 in their engineering programs in the past five years and as a result their ranking in US NEWS for undergrad engineering programs has gone from non-existant to #39, the fastest rise yet.

The Peabody School of Teaching is now #2 undergrad and #4 grad in America. Their medical school is in the Top 10. They have a Top 20 Grad. Law School and a Top 30 B-School. Their overall ranking has gone from #27 five years ago to #19 in 2003. This is an amzing climb, matched only by Wash U in St. Louis, if anyone.

Vandy has definately grown their reputation enormously in the past few years, perhaps more than anyone else.

By Thekev (Thekev) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 12:46 am: Edit

I think a rising star that will continue to rise is going to be Truman State. What do y'all think? Also Reed seems to be soaring to national acclaim.

By Sooky6 (Sooky6) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 12:28 pm: Edit

Sorry but Holy Cross and Brandeis having "much better" academic reputations than BC/BU? I couldn't let that one slip without "laughing out loud". All four have changed markedly since the '60s, as have MOST institutions of higher education. All four are excellent schools for different reasons, and clearly BC/BU benefit in recruiting because of location -- particularly BC siphoning off many of HC's best applicants on the Jesuit circuit. But to suggest that any of them are "much better" than any of the other three in terms of academic reputation, particularly in Boston, is certainly untrue. That said, most would agree that BC/BU at least have higher national standing than the other two. An hour's drive from Boston qualifies just barely, if at all, as being a Boston-area school anyway--its the same or quicker from Providence College in RI!

By Scubasteve (Scubasteve) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 12:33 pm: Edit

brandeis > bc
holy cross > bu

By Sooky6 (Sooky6) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 12:38 pm: Edit

Re: Northeastern--I think their push towards greater selectivity has been very interesting to watch. The coop program makes it very attractive to students with limited means, allowing them to earn money while they study AND come out with lots of great work experience. HOWEVER, what sets it apart from the more highly regarded universities, particularly in Boston, is its academic orientation, which is more heavily weighted towards preprofessional fields like accounting, criminal justice, nursing. I would never recommend NEU for a prospective English or history major, because I've heard anecdotally that the intellectual atmosphere for arts and sciences majors is not particularly stimulating or challenging. Because of the type of students it attracts, I don't anticipate this changing drastically even as they improve their campus and raise more money. That said, NEU is serious about building professional careers for its graduates, and for students who know what they want to do, its a good choice. Its potential for prestige is limited though I think because of its emphasis on the preprofessional -- in other words, it will never be a center for learning such as Tufts or MIT (no matter how many "flower beds" it builds!) because its mission is somewhat different fundamentally.

By Scubasteve (Scubasteve) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 03:25 pm: Edit

well said

By Alan5 (Alan5) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 07:33 pm: Edit

To Sooky6, you made some good points. But some of your assumptions appear to be based on outdated information (i.e., the old Northeastern). Here some recent changes to consider:

STUDENT BODY:
Northeastern no longer caters to students with "limited means". The majority of Northeastern students are middle to upper middleclass. As the Princeton Review points out, a large portion of the student body comes from families with "deep pockets."

CO-OP:
The focus of NEU’s vaunted co-op program has changed from "earning money" to gaining experience and knowlege sharing. Sure, NEU students are still paid for their work and many are paid very well (some students can earn as much as $30 per hour). But the real focus now is the reflection and discussion that takes place afterwards. All students are required to write about their experiences and share their knowledge of the “real world” with their classmates.

Northeastern has also expanded its connections with domestic and international employers. Students can now work for major companies in London, Paris, New York, DC, LA, Madrid, Hong Kong, Montreal, Stockholm, Sydney, etc. The majority of NEU students have several job offers by the end of their third co-op. The average starting salary for NEU grads last year was around $54,000. For Nursing and Pharmacy grads the average salary was around $80,000.


ACADEMICS:
In terms of academics, Northeastern completely gutted its old "pre-professional" curriculum last year which was light on liberal arts courses to create a new academic model. The new model combines pre-professional education with a healthy dose of liberal arts and reflective co-ops. The premise of the new model is that each of the three traditional forms of learning (liberal arts, professional education, and practical experience) can contribute to the others. If you are English major and want to explore fields like journalism, publishing, etc., NEU is a good choice (students can co-op at the Boston Globe, NY Times, and major publishing houses).

Other academic changes this year include a junior year research project and a senior capstone project. Northeastern also switched from an 11 week quarter calendar to an academically richer 15 week traditional semester calendar. Under the new calendar, students spend 40% more time on academics. Students may also chose between a four year or five year graduation track with co-op included.

Finally, Northeastern is in the process of hiring 100 new tenure track “star faculty” at a rate of twenty per year for the next five years. Read this: http://www.nupr.neu.edu/2-04/investment.html

While Northeastern’s mission is somewhat different than Tufts (primarily liberal arts) and MIT (primarily science, engineering, and business) it does have a good chance of becoming a center for learning because its new academic model basically combines the curriculum of both schools into an integrated learning model.

By the way, the flower beds sure bet the hell out of the asphalt parking lots which used to make up the old campus. Have a look at what the campus used to look like: http://www.pressleyinc.com/campus-nu.html
The change is remarkable.

The bottomline is that Northeastern's is a school on the rise. The exact altitude is yet to be determined. But Northeastern does have the fuel and $$$ to keep the afterburners going.

By Par72 (Par72) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 09:41 pm: Edit

Holy Cross and Brandeis have much higher academic profiles than both BC and BU. HC and Brandeis have been rated tier 1 schools by US NEWS since the start of the ranking systems. HC has been rated between 22-27 during that period in LAC's while Brandeis is also highly rated. HC's endowment per student,Rhodes winners,Fortune 500 CEO'S,Supreme Court,and Fed Reserve alumni, Nobel Prize winners dwarf the likes of BC and BU. Also from athletic perspective, Holy Cross enjoys the longest -over 100 year relation with the Ivies-esp. Harvard,Dartmouth,Brown,and Yale. Both BC and BU were commuter schools until the last 15 or so years.

By Firstechelon (Firstechelon) on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 - 12:17 am: Edit

Par72,

BC, like many elite universities (Duke comes to mind), has evolved over the last 30 or so years. BC's commuter reputation, which existed until 1970 (15 years? hardly), evaporated as the school shifted its focus. Duke, for example, was never a national recognized bastion of prestige until fairly recently; in the 70's, it was largely unknown outside the region. Why you choose to detract from BC for improving itself over the last 30-40 years is beyond me.

I've been looking at your posts across these boards, and many of your "points" about BC are unfounded and laughable. In fact, almost every post you've made has attacked BC in some way. Over the years, BC has reached the upper echelon of the collegiate world with a great faculty, reknown academic environment, and an ever-expanding applicant pool (one that constantly siphons applicants away from HC). Its endowment is well within the top 40. That aside, you seem to enjoy writing this off with unsubstantiated claims of "overrated" and "average". Many consider the top Jesuit schools in the country to be ND, BC, and Georgetown.

By Sooky6 (Sooky6) on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 - 08:23 am: Edit

I think you'd be very hard pressed to find many who agree with that assessment of reputation, Par72, but more power to you!

Re: NEU -- as I said, its been interesting to watch -- few universities are as rapidly evolving -- and as Boston schools, particularly BC, BU and Tufts, attract more and more students with top stats, NEU has positioned itself well to compete for above-average students nationwide. Its a very interesting model that works very well for some kids. I agree that the coop program is no longer just about earning money, and is a very valuable experience, but for many of the kids I've seen go there, $$ is a very significant factor. (FWIW, I've also heard kids say that coop breaks up their experience in a way that makes it hard to have continuity with friends and activities.) It seems to me that the action they are taking on the academic side (capstone, etc) was badly needed and should help to balance things out and improve its academic reputation. You're quite the spokesman, do you work for the University? I live right down the street from it, and go to the Beanpot every year to root for the Crimson. All's fair in love and hockey.

By Alan5 (Alan5) on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 - 07:51 pm: Edit

Thank you for your response. I am a recent grad. But I get most of my info from former professors, newspapers, and the alumni magazine.

Speaking of sports, the school has plans to build a new $40 million football stadium on campus. Construction may begin as early as next spring. The stadium will have a bubble over it so that it can be used for club sports during the winter time. NEU is also moving to the Colonial Athletic Conference in 2006. The CAA will give NEU more exposure in the south and mid Atlantic states. Other CAA schools include William & Mary, George Mason, U Delaware, and UNC Wilmington. NEU will still play in Hockey East though and will continue to compete in the Beanpot Tournament.

In terms of co-op, the school has made an effort to keep students connected with their friends while they are away on co-op through e-mail and chat rooms. Also keep in mind that now that Northeastern is a residential university, students who are working in Boston can still get together with their friends in the dorms after work and on weekends. This is a major change from the days when NEU was a commuter school.

The quality and quantity of NEU's applicant pool will continue to increase as word spreads about the school's transformation. Based on the current trend, NEU should receive about 28,000 applicants next year for 2800 spots. As previously mentioned, this may put NEU in the Barrons "Most Competitive" category. NEU just made the coveted "Highly Competitive" rating this year. NEU’s transformation has and continues to be fun to watch.

By Sooky6 (Sooky6) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 10:12 am: Edit

In my very humble opinion, if NEU is serious about improving its academic reputation, $40 million is better spent elsewhere, though I understand that sports helps a school's profile -- but it certainly won't influence guidance counselors or the professional community to place higher value on an NEU degree. They need to keep attracting and retaining brighter kids. Average SATs are probably creeping up towards higher ranked schools like GWU and Syracuse, (whose scores are also rising quickly every year), but I don't expect NEU to be considered "most competitive" by anyone in this lifetime, and frankly, that should be OK -- if they're all "most competitive", where will all the kids go?! (this is an issue I deal with all the time!!) People seem to be responding to their pitch of a well rounded preprofessional education, and I bet they will continue to be successful in that niche.

By Woogiewilly25 (Woogiewilly25) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 11:45 am: Edit

I wouldn't consider BC an "elite" university...it's a good school, but no way does i compare to schools like ND, duke, etc etc...those i would consider "elite"...ivies are their own form of "elitness"...lol...

as for a rising school...Im attending UMDCP in the fall...and it's definitely been shaping up since it's party reputation in the early 90s...it's admissions are pretty competative if you're out of state...it's got some amazing schools "Business, engineering, journalism"...Everyone who hears I'm going seems pretty impressed...and I love the school itself so...word...

By Alan5 (Alan5) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 01:27 pm: Edit

Northeastern's ambitions are two fold: (1) to become the top urban university in New England; and (2)to be recognized as one of the top fifty schools in the country for preprofessional fields like business, engineering, health sciences,architecture, journalism, and computer science. These goals are certainly attainable.

By Lenk58 (Lenk58) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 03:17 pm: Edit

There goes Alan again and again. All he does is hype NEU. Alan US News still ranks it as a tier 3 school. No biggee there. You should stop hyping NEU as the greatest. Just look at evryone of his posts. Look at profs with terminal dergrees, look at grad rates, look at peer assessment, etc

By Kriskrass (Kriskrass) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 03:26 pm: Edit

Alan5 has to be the worst when it comes to trying to pump his school. I mean if a thread asks what school is good in california for film he will still tell us all about recruitment,faculty, and possible sports stadiums at NEU. =P I mean give it a break

By Angel_Handsome (Angel_Handsome) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 03:32 pm: Edit

lol kriskrass....that was a good one!!!

By Sooky6 (Sooky6) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 03:57 pm: Edit

Oh, give him a break. He's proud of his school and wants it to keep improving. I'm sure the numbers in USNews are not news to him.

Back to OP, two that come to mind with rising reputations are Kenyon and WashU. I'd hardly heard of either back when I went to school, and now they are regularly mentioned by my students in the Boston area, which is rare for Midwestern schools. Same goes for Macalester, Grinnell and Earlham. More kids in this area are looking west as alternatives to Bowdoin, Amherst etc.

By Alan5 (Alan5) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 03:57 pm: Edit

Lenk, there you go again citing old US News rankings. Its quite obvious that you know very little about this school. For example, a month ago you claimed that NEU was a "commuter school." WRONG! And more recently you claimed that Northeastern was going "deep" into its waitlist. Wrong again!

All the stats clearly show that Northeastern is now a tier II school. This has been further confirmed by the stats published in the new Princeton Review and Barrons college guides (U.S. News is not the only source for college ratings).

I suspect that you will still be in denial when the new U.S. News Ranking come out next month. So enjoy another month of posting your usual dribble.

Virtually everyone agrees that Northeastern is a school on the rise, including the Boston Globe and the Chronicle of Higher Education. The transformation has been truly remarkable.

By Dewitt (Dewitt) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 04:02 pm: Edit

"The average starting salary for NEU grads last year was around $54,000. For Nursing and Pharmacy grads the average salary was around $80,000."

Sorry to digress, but I don't believe either of these for a second. MBA grads, perhaps. Show me a first-year nurse that makes $80,000, from ANY school!

By Alan5 (Alan5) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 04:48 pm: Edit

"Sorry to digress, but I don't believe either of these for a second. MBA grads, perhaps. Show me a first-year nurse that makes $80,000, from ANY school!"

There is a major shortage of Nurses in the Boston area. Some hospitals are paying experienced nurses over $100,000 per year. I know that its hard to believe, but its true. Read this:

http://www.highbeam.com/library/doc0.asp?docid=1G1:96989717&refid=ink_d1&skeyword=&teaser=

Northeastern nursing grads tend to have high starting salaries for the simple reason that they typically graduate with two years of full-time clinical experience (gained through NEU's Co-op Program). Some of the top hospitals will even pay for tuition.

Pharmacy salaries:

https://secure.salary.com/jobvaluationreport/docs/jobvaluationreport/jobsellhtmls/Clinical-Pharmacist-salary-job-description.html

By Scubasteve (Scubasteve) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 05:05 pm: Edit

even so you have still failed to backup your claim that "The average starting salary for NEU grads last year was around $54,000. For Nursing and Pharmacy grads the average salary was around $80,000."

"1) to become the top urban university in New England;"

That is unrealistic... I just never see it surpassing boston u (I mean to be totally honest, neu is still struggling to break away from drexel-- the other big co-op school in this nation)

By Kinglin2 (Kinglin2) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 05:07 pm: Edit

Miami University (OH)
University of Missouri-Columbia
Syracuse University

By Alan5 (Alan5) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 05:21 pm: Edit

Subasteve, NEU has already surpassed BU in a few fields like engineering, international business, and computer science (undergraduate level). NEU also has a nicer campus than BU and the advantage of the co-op program. So I would say that the school does have a good chance of either catching or surpassing BU at the undergraduate level (at least in the preprofessional fields). Northeastern also has roughly the same endowment per student ratio as BU. However, BU will always have an advantage over NEU on the graduate level becuase BU has a much larger graduate enrollment and Medical School. Graduate education is simply not a priority at NEU. Although NEU does have a very good law school.

Re: Drexel, according to the new stats published in the Princeton Review and Barrons, the gap between the NEU and Drexel has grown subtantially in NEU's favor. Northeastern also has an advantage over Drexel in location and financial resources. What's interesting is that Drexel is also a part of the Colonial Athletic Conference. The schools will now play in each other in several sports. This could lead to a good rivarly over the years.

By Firstechelon (Firstechelon) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 07:26 pm: Edit

Woogiewilly25,

Obviously we can argue over varying meanings of "elite". A guidance counselor once told me there are some 1600+ colleges where you can get a good education in this country. On that fact alone, once you break into that Top 50 list of schools (USNWR rankings), you enter the elite of the collegiate world.

If you bring schools like Harvard, Yale, Duke, Stanford, et al, into the mix, you're really talking about the "elite of the elite". Semantics, I know, but I think it's unfair to cite only a few schools as "the elites" while writing off other top schools as merely good. It's important to keep that in mind in today's climate where applicants treat rankings like the gospel and live and die by an Ivy League school.

By Dewitt (Dewitt) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 09:47 pm: Edit

Right, I'm fully aware of the demand for nurses and pharmacy grads -- but there's no way on God's green earth that the AVERAGE STARTING salary reaches those numbers. Perhaps the average salary for *employed alumni* in those fields, if its possible to collect such data, or the average offer for MBA graduates, or something -- but the average Northeastern undergrad does not make that kind of money out of college, even in those fields, I feel very safe in saying!

By Alan5 (Alan5) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 10:56 pm: Edit

"but the average Northeastern undergrad does not make that kind of money out of college, even in those fields, I feel very safe in saying!"

I happen to know a couple of recent grads who were offered that kind of money. One accepted. The other declined and decided to go to med school. So I can safely say that it does happen.

By Dewitt (Dewitt) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 11:22 pm: Edit

sure it happens, but AVERAGE? Come on. Just admit that you stretched the truth more than a little there!

By Alan5 (Alan5) on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 11:44 pm: Edit

Keep in mind that NEU does have the top co-op program in the country. Nursing and Pharmacy students get paid about $30 an hour.(roughly equal to $62,000 per year). The rate goes up as the student gains more experience. By the time that the student graduates he/she will be earning about the same as a mid level pharamacist or nurse (i.e $75,000 to $85,000).

The employers who participate in NEU's co-op program are very loyal to the school (3000 worldwide). Some have been particpating in the program for more than 30 years.

By the way, I know several students (including myself) who got their employers to pay for their tuition. My employer paid for my entire senior year of school. A few will even try to convice students to go to school part-time just that they can work more hours. But the school is focusing more on retention these days to improve its ranking and trying to get the employers to stop doing this.

By Lenk58 (Lenk58) on Thursday, July 15, 2004 - 10:15 am: Edit

It's quite funny how Alan can't help himself. he just keeps pumping and hyping. Tier 3 is still a tier 3, Alan lives in denial.

By Alan5 (Alan5) on Thursday, July 15, 2004 - 10:42 am: Edit

LOL, you and I both know that all stats show that NEU is now a Tier II School. Look the numbers in Barrons and the Princeton Review. Just accept it.