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US News 2024 Rankings (Wake #47)

Yeah I think it matters for grad schools and/or first job out of school. Beyond that the only time it comes up is in passing conversation and most of the time when I say I went to Wake they're like "oh Tim Duncan and Chris Paul" (80% of the time that's the response) or "good school" then we move on talking about whatever else was going on. We haven't pulled the rankings up together to look and giggle
 
Wakeforest22890 said:
Yeah I think it matters for grad schools and/or first job out of school. Beyond that the only time it comes up is in passing conversation and most of the time when I say I went to Wake they're like "oh Tim Duncan and Chris Paul" (80% of the time that's the response) or "good school" then we move on talking about whatever else was going on. We haven't pulled the rankings up together to look and giggle
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My response is always “it was good to (or for) me” and leave it at that.
 
I was like 0-5 in the UK when I tried using Tim Duncan and Chris Paul as references for Wake Forest/Winston. No NBA fans in that cohort. I think 3 of them were familiar with Charlotte as a city, but they didn’t know why.
 
Back in the early aughts, I was one of those naive teenagers that put too much credence in the rankings. I had no idea what formula went into the output, but I was determined to get into the 'best school' possible.

I fear that there's still a large swath of impressionable teenagers, invested parents, and career counselors who use these rankings as a proxy for some grander idea. Or as a short-hand comparison between two schools. And within that context, it sucks for Wake Forest to drop 18 spots. It's insane that this matters, but it will likely impact future admissions and school perception amongst the next generation.
 
First jobs can be important.

There is a certain set of people who comment positively on Wake when they find out I went there. I doubt that would happen as much with a lower ranking. That has no impact on my career. (I did get one job in large part because of my law school, but that job sucked so the jokes on me.)

As a parent of high schoolers rankings are one resource to reference. There are so many choices that I think lists do get used by students interested in highly competitive schools. At least as a starting point. Hopefully they understand the limitations of the rankings.

As this thread shows, people value different things for college. If a student really wants small class sizes and does not care about having first gen college students as classmates they can adjust appropriately. Or maybe they just want the best ROI. There are lists for that.
 
myDeaconmyhand said:
I was like 0-5 in the UK when I tried using Tim Duncan and Chris Paul as references for Wake Forest/Winston. No NBA fans in that cohort. I think 3 of them were familiar with Charlotte as a city, but they didn’t know why.
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In Southern France last year, in a chemist shop in Arles, we stood in line behind two older American ladies who were shocked that the pharmacy tech did not know where the state of Alabama was. "You don't know Alabama?!?! Do you know SEC Football? Roll Tide? War Eagle? That's us, that Alabama!"
 
Alabama rushtok is probably more internationally well known than Alabama football rn
 
It does seem like this is something that should have been phased in over a few years.
 
KennyRogersRoast said:
As a parent of high schoolers rankings are one resource to reference. There are so many choices that I think lists do get used by students interested in highly competitive schools. At least as a starting point. Hopefully they understand the limitations of the rankings.
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I'm sure this has been covered (my utter lack of interest as to where we are ranked precludes me from reading the entire thread), but here's where I see the risk (to WFU; not to those of us who graduated more than 0 years ago): assuming the kid can get in to either, as a parent why would you send your kid to a ridiculously expensive school ranked significantly lower (by the ranking that, for better or worse, matters most) over a less expensive, higher ranked school?

It would be like choosing SMU over UT. There may be reasons why you'd do that, but I can't think of a single good one.

If I were WFU I'd be (even more) worried that I'm trending toward a school for rich kids who didn't get into some less expensive, equally or better ranked school. Sure, there's a number most of us would pay to allow our kids to have a similar experience, etc. at a school we love. But that number is not $50K+ per year.
 
Kent said:
If I were WFU I'd be (even more) worried that I'm trending toward a school for rich kids who didn't get into some less expensive, equally or better ranked school. Sure, there's a number most of us would pay to allow our kids to have a similar experience, etc. at a school we love. But that number is not $50K+ per year.
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I mean that’s not gonna happen wake admissions would be able to weed those sorts of rich dumb folks out by their low SAT oh shit…
 
WFU may be worried that their plan to become a school for rich kids who didn't get into some less expensive, equally or better ranked school has hurt their rankings.

My suspicious is they agreed on a specific balance years ago and are in the process of tweaking it going forward.

This article on Trinity College from four years ago explains how institutions seek to balance admitting wealthy kids with other academic and diversity goals.
www.nytimes.com

What College Admissions Offices Really Want (Published 2019)

Elite schools say they’re looking for academic excellence and diversity. But their thirst for tuition revenue means that wealth trumps all.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
 
I still get the “good school” comment when people find out I went to Wake, and it’s definitely viewed that way by my college age kids and their friends.

The brand is associated with impressive academics, at least in most parts of the country. I wonder how long it will take before that “cache,” for lack of a better word,starts to fade. In other words how long will that reputation carry on before people start saying, “Yes, but actually it’s barely top fifty according to usnwr; it’s not really on par with Duke, Virginia, etc like I thought.”

I have to believe that divide between perception and (usnwr’s) reality will exist for quite some time among the general population. If you didn’t go to Wake or don’t actively have a child applying to colleges, this week’s news doesn’t even register. It’s still the same, “Oh, you went to Wake Forest; good school.” That might persist for at least half a generation. Maybe much longer if usnwr’s own cache starts to fade.
 
I think that is what will happen. I got the “good basketball” comment well into the era of unwiped ass, but I do not think I have heard it once in the past few years.

I looked at rankings as a high school student. I had options to go to higher ranked schools, but Wake was relatively close. That is no longer true. Sitting here today I cannot get into my high school mind to know if it would have made a difference.
 
Kent said:
I'm sure this has been covered (my utter lack of interest as to where we are ranked precludes me from reading the entire thread), but here's where I see the risk (to WFU; not to those of us who graduated more than 0 years ago): assuming the kid can get in to either, as a parent why would you send your kid to a ridiculously expensive school ranked significantly lower (by the ranking that, for better or worse, matters most) over a less expensive, higher ranked school?

It would be like choosing SMU over UT. There may be reasons why you'd do that, but I can't think of a single good one.

If I were WFU I'd be (even more) worried that I'm trending toward a school for rich kids who didn't get into some less expensive, equally or better ranked school. Sure, there's a number most of us would pay to allow our kids to have a similar experience, etc. at a school we love. But that number is not $50K+ per year.
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As someone who's kid started at a small, private school that's more expensive than less expensive, higher ranked schools, I can say he made the decision for the following reasons.

Location
Career and Internship Possibilities
Size of Classes
Hands-on Interactions with Students

I think all but 1 would've been the same or better at smaller, cheaper regional liberal arts schools, but he wanted to be in a big city.
 
At least now we can say, "hey, we're in the same conference as Stanford, Duke, and Cal!
 
BirdinBama said:
At least now we can say, "hey, we're in the same conference as Stanford, Duke, and Cal!
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Yeah but their fans will be chanting “Safety school!”
 
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