"Tier 1" vs. "Tier 4" vs. ?

Anthony Pina · May 3, 2004

Re: Re: "Tier 1" vs. "Tier 4" vs. ?

Originally posted by BillDayson
It's important to remember that the US News rankings are for undergraduate programs. That's why you find schools like Pepperdine cracking the top tier doctoral ranks even though their graduate programs aren't very extensive, while major research universities like Arizona State or the University of Hawaii only make the third tier.
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Bill,

I just quoted this small section, but I think that your entire post is right on the money! Excellent stuff.

I have also used the US News Best Graduate Programs, but I like that one even less.

Tony

Anthony Pina · May 3, 2004

Originally posted by Dennis Ruhl
I can't remember all the criteria for the Maclean's magazine rankings in Canada but one is average grade of students admitted.

The average grade of a high school graduate in Alberta is 13 % lower than Ontario even though Alberta students score higher on standardized exams and half the Alberta students are streamed into a non-university entance programs. There are nothing like SATs in Canada.

Another measure is federal research grants received by the school. Alberta is perpetually in political opposition to the government and for any federal money to actually filter west of the Lakehead is rare.

Result - first four schools are from Ontario plus McGill in Montreal.

Choosing and weighing criteria slightly differently could lead to vastly different results.

Rankings are interesting on a gross basis but to say the 1st is better than the 5th is probably not meaningful.

My school the U of Alberta was 5th of 15 doctoral/medical schools. As they are all provincially funded I doubt the quality of education differs much between the 1st and 15th.

Just a note, there are a lot less Canadian universities per capita than in the US and on average they are much larger. Other than a few small exceptions they are government funded.
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Interesting stuff, Dennis. I agree that it is difficult, if not impossible, to establish what would be a significant differnence among the rankings (another issue that I would put as #7 on my inititial post). Your observations about Canadian universities are enlightening.

I don't think that I could put much credence in using grades as a variable. Your example of the disconnect between grades and test scores demonstrates why.

Tony

Anthony Pina · May 5, 2004

Originally posted by Anthony Pina

Interesting stuff, Dennis. I agree that it is difficult, if not impossible, to establish what would be a significant differnence among the rankings (another issue that I would put as #7 on my inititial post). Your observations about Canadian universities are enlightening.

I don't think that I could put much credence in using grades as a variable. Your example of the disconnect between grades and test scores demonstrates why.

Tony
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"differnence"? Geez, I didn't realize that I stutter when I write.

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"Tier 1" vs. "Tier 4" vs. ?

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