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US News Best Colleges rankings

At lots of stuff, yea. At lots of other stuff, no.

I think our undergrad teaching is probably among the very best in the country. I have no doubts in the depth and range of our faculty and their abilities. I wish that had more weight in these rankings, which seem to have mostly turned into an administrative and facilities arms race.

maybe; lots of smaller, selective lib arts colleges have small classes with excellent teachers. wake just provides a D1 shine to the name.
 
I always laugh at the people on here who simultaneously think we should compete for a top 10 ranking as a national university in publications like this but also return to the days of having less than 4,000 undergrads and not grow to be bigger.
 
At lots of stuff, yea. At lots of other stuff, no.

I think our undergrad teaching is probably among the very best in the country. I have no doubts in the depth and range of our faculty and their abilities. I wish that had more weight in these rankings, which seem to have mostly turned into an administrative and facilities arms race.

I've always understood there to be a balance between teaching and research, and that was one of the reasons Wake is so far behind in research. I'm sure it could have just been an excuse though.
 
Really the most effective way to rise in these rankings is to game the system. Northeastern did something like this a few years ago to rise from somewhere in the hundreds to today 39. They didn't improve the quality of their education, they just specifically addressed criteria USN&WR used for their ranking and took measures to improve those metrics. That tactic probably won't be as effective from #50 up.

It seems we tie with Tufts a lot. It drives me crazy because I live right by that school and have a number of friends from there and really want to get ahead of them, even 1 spot.
 
maybe; lots of smaller, selective lib arts colleges have small classes with excellent teachers. wake just provides a D1 shine to the name.

ehh i'd put our liberal arts faculty CVs up against of the "smaller selective lib arts colleges with small classes"
 
this is an All-Pro LOWF post right here. well done, sir

I'm learning that there are a lot of people one here who buy into the "I can be anything I want to be if I just try" philosophy. Which, good for them. I wish I had that kind of optimism
 
My dad left Wake a little less than 10 years ago now for Ohio State. Looks like his grant funding alone from 2015 is bigger than the entire former department he worked in.

Good job, good effort, Wake. The atmosphere and leadership over there are ungood.

Well it depends on what you want. I really valued that Wake professors were more focused on teaching than research. Doesn't matter to me if that leads to a lower ranking
 
ehh i'd put our liberal arts faculty CVs up against of the "smaller selective lib arts colleges with small classes"

not sure what this post accomplishes. Wake pitches itself as an elite, small lib arts college with university resources. all i was saying is you can get the small lib art college part elsewhere
 
Well it depends on what you want. I really valued that Wake professors were more focused on teaching than research. Doesn't matter to me if that leads to a lower ranking

True.

In his case, in the grad school, it means he is able to employ a lot more grad students and post-docs.
 
not sure what this post accomplishes. Wake pitches itself as an elite, small lib arts college with university resources. all i was saying is you can get the small lib art college part elsewhere

Tiers, man.
 
I'm learning that there are a lot of people one here who buy into the "I can be anything I want to be if I just try" philosophy. Which, good for them. I wish I had that kind of optimism

It's more like the "I'm not going to improve if I don't try" philosophy.
 
There are a few schools on there that I think that pound for pound awake could jump but they have the advantage of being in large cities with more resources and can attract bigger talent based on location.
 
I always laugh at the people on here who simultaneously think we should compete for a top 10 ranking as a national university in publications like this but also return to the days of having less than 4,000 undergrads and not grow to be bigger.
Right now we're getting bigger and worse at academics.... So oooo........
 
The highest Wake has ever been ranked in US News was #23 in 2013 (Hatch started at Wake in 2005).

In addition to being ranked #27 overall, Wake is ranked #5 in Best Undergraduate Teaching and #28 in Best Value.

Correct, although it was a five-way tie for #23.

That was the year US News changed its formula to put more emphasis on graduation rate. That change no doubt gave us a little bump that year.
 
Townie hit the nail on the head for me about Wake's undergraduate experience. It was awesome in the 1970's. Would like to think it still is, but today's students will never experience the bliss of having Ed Wilson for Romantic Poets!
 
We're up to 4800+ undergrads? Every time I see the number it is creeping up. Is there as stated goal or limit?
 
there are other threads this could probably go on, but this is an interesting perspective on the rising costs of tuition https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/fancy-dorms-arent-the-main-reason-tuition-is-skyrocketing/

That's a rather strange article. It seems rather odd that at public schools faculty salaries, administrative bloat, and increased student services accounted for only a fraction - IIRC about 25% - of the reasons for the tuition increases and the real culprit was reduced state support, while at private schools the same three, faculty salaries, administrative growth, and improved student services accounted for all of the tuition increases. Do private schools pay that much better and have that much superior student services? Doesn't really add up.
 
Well since state support for private schools is already zero it can't account for any of the change.
 
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