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04-22-2008, 07:07 PM
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#1 | | Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Threads: 35
Posts: 504
| Overrated or Underrated?
Based on its U.S. News ranking of 28th, do you guys think UNC is overrated, underrated, or accurately ranked by the publication?
Discuss... | 
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04-27-2008, 06:34 PM
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#2 | | Member
Join Date: May 2007 Location: Northwestern '12
Threads: 13
Posts: 504
| Accurately I guess... the US News rankings shouldn't be given too much creedence, however. | |
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04-27-2008, 07:20 PM
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#3 | | Member
Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Miami, Fl. Gender: Male
Threads: 28
Posts: 435
| creedence? | |
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04-29-2008, 12:00 PM
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#4 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2005
Threads: 3
Posts: 36
| I think about 23-25 range is accurate for UNC. put em' right along the rankins of Michigan, UCLA and UVA. The ranking Southern Cal above UNC looks awkward (USC - Less history, recently rising but mostly due to alumni pouring money in). | |
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04-30-2008, 10:53 PM
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#5 | | Member
Join Date: May 2007 Location: Northwestern '12
Threads: 13
Posts: 504
| wow, it's an internet forum and i made a typo... get over it | |
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05-01-2008, 12:13 PM
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#6 | | Member
Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Miami, Fl. Gender: Male
Threads: 28
Posts: 435
| I agree with scott. With history ranging back to 1793, UNC is the oldest public university in America-thus, deserving to be ranked among Mich, Berk, and UVA. | |
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05-04-2008, 11:50 AM
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#7 | | Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Threads: 35
Posts: 504
| seriously???
what does history have to do with anything when it comes to the US News rankings?
and besides from its founding to 1900, UNC only had a few hundred students and was a virtual backwater in academia. it's not like UNC has always been the large research institution it is today since its founding. Almost all of the school was housed in the five buildings around the old well, until the school started expanding southward in the 1920-30s.
shouldn't those one hundred years of virtual inactivity be discounted? the UNC we know today is about 80 years old.
if the status of schools is determined by how old they are then several colleges would ranked in the top thirty that don't deserve to be. salem college, rutgers, university of delaware, college of charleston, hampden-sydney college just to name a few, were all founded before UNC. do they deserve to be ranked up there with UVA, and UMich too?
the point: how old a college is does not matter when it comes to their ranking | |
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05-04-2008, 06:25 PM
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#8 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Bcreek, OH
Threads: 12
Posts: 136
| we're not saying that history is the sole determining factor, only that it IS a factor. A college that has national landmarks and a lot of tradition certainly makes it a lot more legit, trusted, and attractive for students than one that was started only 70-80 years ago. there is no ONE factor that makes or breaks a school's credibility, so it is true that having a long history doesn't mean it is a good school but it certainly does play a role in how its critiqued. | |
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05-04-2008, 06:52 PM
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#9 | | Member
Join Date: May 2007 Location: Northwestern '12
Threads: 13
Posts: 504
| "A college that has national landmarks and a lot of tradition certainly makes it a lot more legit, trusted, and attractive for students than one that was started only 70-80 years ago."
Since when are legitimacy, trustworthiness, and attractiveness criteria in the U.S. News rankings? | |
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05-04-2008, 09:49 PM
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#10 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: UNC'12
Threads: 27
Posts: 262
| Since when is US news rankings the only way to evaluate colleges? | |
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05-05-2008, 01:59 PM
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#11 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: SoCal
Threads: 141
Posts: 2,904
| I think it's pretty accurate. Saying it should be above Berkeley is a bit...out there, but I'd say it's probably in the right spot among publics.
1. Berkeley
2. UVA
3. Michigan
4. UCLA
5. UNC
Yeah, I'd say that's about right. I think Cal is pretty much on its own level, then slightly below it are Mich and UVA, then slightly below that, UCLA and UNC. But they're all obviously great schools. | |
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05-05-2008, 04:06 PM
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#12 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Aug 2006
Threads: 14
Posts: 124
| in the current rankings ucla and umich are tied for 25th | |
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05-05-2008, 06:15 PM
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#13 | | Junior Member
Join Date: May 2007 Location: Denton, Texas
Threads: 88
Posts: 274
| i think its overrated | |
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05-05-2008, 09:22 PM
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#14 | | Member
Join Date: Jan 2008
Threads: 25
Posts: 379
| ^ I am also from Texas, and I have to agree that UNC is somewhat overrated in terms of college rankings (I'd put it in the low 30s), but underrated by the average layman outside of the east coast.
To be perfectly honest, before I had looked at the USNWR Rankings, I had no clue that UNC was nearly as highly ranked as it is. Frankly, I only knew UNC from its basketball and lacrosse programs. | |
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05-05-2008, 10:30 PM
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#15 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Texas
Threads: 95
Posts: 1,379
| You all do realize USNWR is a huge joke right? Focus your attention on which school has the strongest, most reputable program in which you would like to major and stop worrying about overall school rankings.
For instance...if you were interested in Petroleum Engineering, you will find most of the top programs are not at schools ranked in the upper echelon according 'US News'. But if you graduate from one of those programs, you will be inundated with high-paying job offers and will be set for future grad school admissions. | |
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