Changes in PA ranks since 1995

College Search & Lists
1

<p>Since 1995, there has been relatively little change in the PA ranks of most of the top-ranked national universities. A couple have moved up smartly-Emory (up 7 places but still ranked a comparatively low 25th in 2008) and U Chicago (up 6 spots) while a few have moved down, eg, Duke and UCLA (both down 6 PA ranking spots). </p>

<p>In your view, does the PA data presented below accurately reflect the changes that have taken place in the college world since 1995?</p>

<p>Note: I did not have 1995 data for some colleges that score well on this measure (U North Carolina, U Illinois, U Texas, U Washington, U Wisconsin, USC) and thus I could not include their relative change up or down since then, but all scored well in 2008. </p>

<p>Improvement or Decline in PA Rank since 1995 , PA Rank in 2008 , PA Rank in 1995 , School</p>

<p>+7 , 25 , 32 , Emory
+6 , 8 , 14 , U Chicago
+4 , 22 , 26 , Wash U
+4 , 32 , 36 , Notre Dame
+3 , 1 , 4 , Princeton
+2 , 5 , 7 , UC Berkeley
+2 , 12 , 14 , U Penn
+2 , 25 , 27 , Vanderbilt
+2 , 25 , 27 , Georgetown
+1 , 7 , 8 , Caltech
+1 , 16 , 17 , Dartmouth
+1 , 16 , 17 , U Virginia
+1 , 19 , 20 , Carnegie Mellon
+1 , 19 , 20 , Rice</p>

<p>0 , 1 , 1 , Harvard
0 , 1 , 1 , Stanford
0 , 1 , 1 , MIT
0 , 8 , 8 , Columbia
0 , 8 , 8 , Cornell
0 , 14 , 14 , Brown</p>

<p>-1 , 5 , 4 , Yale
-2 , 16 , 14 , Northwestern
-4 , 8 , 4 , Johns Hopkins
-4 , 12 , 8 , U Michigan
-6 , 14 , 8 , Duke
-6 , 19 , 13 , UCLA</p>

<p>na , 19 , na , U North Carolina
na , 25 , na , U Illinois
na , 22 , na , U Texas
na , 25 , na , Georgia Tech
na , 32 , na , U Washington
na , 22 , na , U Wisconsin
na, 25, na, USC</p>

2

<p>Dang, Duke and Chicago swapped. Sucks for Duke.</p>

3

<p>Emory would fall in the ranks if they included the students from “Oxford College at Emory” (lower scoring kids who get to transfer after two years).</p>

4

<p>I would be more fearful of a ranking where schools move up and down on a yearly basis. Most of these schools have been around for hundreds of years. Would you expect a school’s reputation to change a lot in 10 years?</p>

5

<p>Wow, Hawkette. It seems like a lot of your “favorites” (i.e. Emory, Notre Dame, Wash U, Vanderbilt, and Georgetown) have improved their PA scores…while the Ivies, Johns Hopkins, and UMich, which you so frequently criticize have lost standing in the PA realm…</p>

<p>What’s your problem with the PA score again? Of all the schools that have benefited most from increased PA scores, your favorites are at the top of the list.</p>

<p>Or are you really just upset with Duke’s loss?</p>

6

<p>It would be interesting to see the change in the actual PA score. Hypothetically, jumping 7 spots in the 20s-30s may involve only a change of .1 or .2 points which would be insignificant. Next year, Emory might fall 5 spots if it loses .1 point.</p>

7

<p>ken285,
The Peer Assessment rankings that we see today on the 5.0 scale were first done in 1998. The rankings in 1995 were done in a straight numerical ranking.</p>

<p>norcalguy,
I have heard comments such as your before about how academia changes slowly and I truly wonder how true this is. I will grant you that the top colleges should maintain their scores and positions, but it would seem to me that with the greater numbers now attending colleges and the greater productivity of college faculties across a greater swath of colleges, that the PA rankings would reflect some of this. For example, would you guess that Northwestern has gotten better or worse relative to HYPSM over this period of time? On the downside, do you think that the relative quality of the undergraduate education has gotten better or worse at UC Berkeley over this period of time? </p>

<p>I’m not sure what the right answer and different folks will interpret the PA scores differently, but I am trying to better understand all of the various opinions.</p>

<p>UCB,
Yeah, I think Duke is getting screwed in the PA rankings. Their recent .2 drop in score was due to what again? Was the faux lacrosse scandal the reason?</p>