gatorade

First of all, no need to be hostile. I simply passed along criticisms that my friends shared with me, nothing more than that. I never said that these views represented the student body as a whole. But sometimes, its good to hear from both extremes, otherwise you have tyranny of the majority where the average student thinks its x good, so it must be x good.

Second of all, being the stat genius that you are, I'm sure you know what a biased sample is. A biased sample is a sample where every member of the population does not have an equal probability of being included in the survey, aka it is not a completely random selection. If you had read the UCUES survey description, you would have realized that they do not employ a random selection technique. Instead, they invite any students who wish to participate. Therefore, the sample is biased... and the survey is biased. So I don't see the need to "trust" it.
The sample is not the only thing that is biased about this survey. The mere fact that every participant in this survey knows the purpose of this survey (it will be publicly displayed.. could improve/hurt reputation of school.. could change school policies.. vested interest in making sure berkeley looks good to college prospectives.. etc.) biases his/her response in the survey.

Before criticizing others, make sure you know what you're talking about. I never said the student body as a whole feels the same way my friends do. All I did is state my friends' opinion that Berkeley is overrated followed with issues they personally faced at Berkeley. And I hope you take Stat 101 again. Clearly, Berkeley hasn't taught you enough!

dyip10

The response rate is only 52% and like gatorade pointed out is nonrandom. A survey that interviews only 52% of the population can only be successful if it is random. If it is nonrandom, it should probably incorporate at least 75% of the population.

Allorion

*chuckle*

I haven't entered college at this point. I was merely on the tail end of finishing AP Statistics.

I suppose you're right that I was a bit hostile. I was having somewhat of a bad day at that point.


As for the sample however, I suppose you're right that there's voluntary response bias and positive response bias. I would say, at the same time though, that it is does give more responses. It is correct to say that it doesn't necessarily center around the population proportion. Larger samples, though, generally allow for greater approximation of the proportion--though in this case, it is possible it is inaccurate due to a systematic error induced.
In general, I wanted to give another perspective on the matter.

But you are right that my response was more heated than was called for. My apologies.

nathanmlee

ucsd...for sciences at least...cmon, they have the #2 biomedical engineering program...it's one of the fastest rising fields of work in the technological world and #2 for being a public school? beating out all the east coasters and top level schools! yayee for tritons!!!

College_Here_I_Come!

In terms of top schools (undergraduate focused)...

Underrated:

Cornell and UPenn. In the eyes of the common public (at least from my POV, take my statements with a grain of salt if you disagree), both schools tend to be the butt of the Ivies. I'm going to Cornell next year and believe it or not, I've actually had more than a few people who told me something along the lines of: "Cornell? That's the worst ivy ever! Surely you could have aimed higher?" Haha, funny yet sad at the same time. Same with some of my buddies who got into UPenn.

Overrated:

JHU . Comon... they may have strong programs, but I've spoken with many of my father's friends who are involved in bio/pharmaceutical companies who insist that JHU science majors are about as qualified, if not less, as their counterparts who come from not as prestigious schools.

MIT. My father has trained some engineers from MIT. He said that while the graduates (2 BS, 1 MS, 1 PhD I think...) all had exceptional knowledge of the theory and thinking patterns, all were severely lacking in problem solving skills, practical lab application, etc. etc. that limited their lab production.

Note: the graduates mentioned from MIT and JHU may have been at the bottom of their class who barely graduated... I do not know how they did in their respective schools, I only know that they graduated from them.

thethoughtprocess

Penn is awesome, no one seems to rag on it like Cornell

GentlemanandScholar

Gatorade says, about Berkeley:
"here are some of the complaints: administration treats undergrads like dirt. professors treat undergrads like dirt because they don't want to teach. school set up for grad students."

Not that this is true, but it could be said about all research schools.

batman628

um....MIT is definitely not overrated..

Katharos

overrated: Northwestern

underrated: Chicago

The rivalry continues.

FFAgirl06

I agree with the people earlier who said most State schools are underrated, specifically those in the Midwest, including:

U of Illinois
U of Iowa
U of Minnesota
U of Wisconsin
Kansas State
Colorado State
Oklahoma State
U of South Dakota
Ohio State
Iowa State

I may be biased because I'm going to Iowa State, but alot of people tend to think "ooh midwest. it must be in the middle of nowhere. must be ag schools." Yes, most of the schools mentioned above are the top agriculture schools in the country, but its not all farmers around here. U of Iowa has one of the top med schools/pre-med programs in the country, but they're overshadowed by prestigious privates. Colorado State, K-State, and Iowa State are excellent engineering and math/science schools, but again they're overshadowed by the "more elite".

And for the most part we've got better sports teams the the "elites"

Go Cyclones!

batman628

uh i dont think northwestern is overrated..but UChicago is DEF. underrated. the fact that NU is ranked higher doesnt have anything to do with chicago being ranked lower

futurenyustudent

Katharos I concur.

oceanblue22

hi! i really need help! i thought since you mentioned tufts you know somehting about it and could help, i accepted tufts' offer of admission, but barnard just got me off their waitlist..where should i got-- i was gonna major in International Relations and minor in Media and Communications at Tufts....help!~

batman628

i think boston college is kinda underrated too.

knaufy

Northeastern is SO underrated. It's an amazing school, but its close proximity to all of those incredibly selective and prestigious Massachusetts schools belittles it.