<p>I know must people don’t care abotu rankings or whatever but I was curious where you guys think BC will end up after the new US news rankings come out in August.</p>
<p>In my opinion, BC’s rank will be right around the same as it is right now, if not lower. According to a heights article, BC accepted more students and reserve the same amount of seats in the freshman class as the previous few years. This means that BC’s yield will most likely drop, which is a major component of the USNWR rankings. We’ll see what happens though.</p>
<p>^^Uh, yield was dropped as a criteria for USNews ~4 years ago. Regardless, the numbers for the class of '14 will not be available until they all show up on campus in Sep-10. Thus, the numbers for '14 will not be incorporated into USNews until its Aug '11 edition.</p>
<p>I doubt that BC’s position in the rankings will change significantly. In order for it to rise, the schools above it would have to “fall” and I just don’t see HYPMS and the other elite schools doing that. :)</p>
<p>well BC doesnt really need to overtake HYPMS… it’s the Georgetowns and UCLAs and Johns Hopkins that BC is just behind</p>
<p>Although rankings are not the #1 factor for D who is currently making her decision, they are a fairly significant consideration. She loves BC and was asked to be part of the honors program; however, she was also accepted at schools ranked higher than BC. As the person paying that $50K + pricetag, I’m just wondering if from a cost-benefit standpoint it’s a good choice. It’s somewhat perplexing to me why a school like BC whose acceptance rate is relatively low is only ranked #34. Some of the schools ranked above BC have me scratching my head and wondering, “Really???”</p>
<p>jc40, the USNews Rankings, as everyone knows, is VERY biased. I’m not saying that the top, lets say, 50 schools, are not ranked properly, but who is to say that school A is one spot better than school B because of peer assessment (25%, let me repeat, 25% of the raw score).</p>
<p>Dear jc40 : My oldest was faced with the choice between Cornell, Georgetown, Williams, and Boston College (Honors Program). Given this set of schools, you can argue that we faced a similar “ranking versus value” question. Perhaps, these thoughts can help you.</p>
<p>Let’s start with the US News methodology used to establish their rankings. As I sit on the Board of Advisors for another university, these data points are well known by the Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 schools.</p>
<p>25% = Peer Assessment
20% = Retention and Graduation Rates
20% = Faculty Resources
15% = Student Selectivity
10% = Financial Resources
5% = Graduation Rate Performance
5% = Alumni Giving</p>
<p>When you think about it, how many of these elements really discuss your child’s happiness at a university? While we all like to think about those 15+ hours spent per week inside the classroom, the fact is that the week contains 153 other hours and a good university fit needs to think about that 90% of your time, not just the 10%.</p>
<p>Boston College affords the student with a gorgeous campus, a rigorous and nationally known sports program, a very dedicated teaching faculty, strong research opportunities (particularly in the sciences) for undergraduates to work with graduate students and professors, small classes (15) for the honors program, a strong liberal arts core, strong alumni ties (particularly in business), location advantages (Boston/New York corridor), a rigorous vision for campus growth (the ten year plan), three years housing (minimum) for all students, strong graduate progress rates, and many others. </p>
<p>For our selection process, Cornell seemed incredibly remote; Williams made Cornell seem urban. Cornell carries the Ivy League label while Williams portal housing system and tutorial system are great social and academic advantages. Georgetown’s housing situation is more limited although the DC/Georgetown area is attractive for longer term political sciences and similar.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, all of these top institutions will become a $50,000 per year investment. Only you can determine the value proposition versus the US News rankings.</p>
<p>jc40:</p>
<p>Since your D applied to at least 7 of the 8 Ivies (what happened to Columbia?), prestige is obviously a much larger factor than fit. Given that the Northwestern admission appears to be a “disappointment,” BC is probably too plebian for your family…probably not worth the $50k.</p>