^ Was MiamiDAP’s D at that college? If it is true, she knows which one is good after all. LOL.
Why is Harvard not among the top 8? Too grad school focused as those Princeton and Dartmouth (and LAC and somewhat LAC-like colleges) fans believe?
Harvard is not among the top 8 because somebody heard from somebody’s cousin’s nephew who knew somebody that went to Harvard that Harvard is “more focused on graduate and professional education.”
Personally, I believe this to be true–with essentially the same quality of evidence.
Yup. Same Miami. As they like say, “We were a university when Florida was part of Spain” or something along those lines. (Miami OH was founded in 1809, the one in Florida in 1925).
Love and honor.
And they should … as most readers will not care about how USNews went about to compose that list. My cynical view on the integrity of the PA surveys used by USNews is that a number of responders might have thought they had to give an opinion on the UK Oxford. The secretaries who fill those forms are not that keen on details!
The school is probably remarkable in many ways, but those USNews surveys are not.
To make sweeping generalizations about “how bad undergraduate education is at major research universities” is pretty pathetic, but this isn’t the first time I read that on CC.
I had a few classes with over 300 people at a non-HYP Ivy, and they were great. I had one class that was horrible because the professor could barely speak English. Most other internationals who taught only had an accent, this guy was completely unintelligible. My major courses were excellent, almost every one, and I can only think the US must be lucky if there were even five programs across the US with that high quality of teaching and material covered, being that my major was and still is rare. I was able to take a 700-level course as an undergrad. I was able to work at some of those research facilities that my college was and is known for.
SLAC is the right thing for some people, but just because a school isn’t a SLAC doesn’t mean their undergrad education stinks. The university I attended had breadth, and I liked that breadth, and found it intellectually stimulating in a way that isn’t possible at many liberal arts or engineering schools.
I will agree that at ANY college, the department can matter greatly, as can the professor (or grad student if that’s who is teaching the class). Is it possible that less attention is paid to undergrad teaching than graduates doing research or studying for professional careers? Yes. But that is a plus to some people, to go to a college that has a vibrant research community that even undergraduates can be a part of.