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Which is exactly the point--if someone has never heard of the school it can't possibly be a good school. I'm sure there are schools near every poster on this list that they consider good schools that the rest of us have never heard of, does that mean they are bad schools in reality?
I don't think anyone said that. But the "top 50" should be recognizable to most people.
It can mean different things depending on the schools being compared. All things being equal, the more rigorous the program, the lower the retention rate.
In that case, the CCs must be the most rigorous schools of all.
In that case, the CCs must be the most rigorous schools of all.
You must have missed the "all things being equal" part. The average quality of Harvard students and the average quality of CC students are radically unequal.
You must have missed the "all things being equal" part. The average quality of Harvard students and the average quality of CC students are radically unequal.
You're making it up as you go along. I've never seen a methodology that looks at lower retention/graduation rates as "good". It usually means students are simply dropping out.
you must have missed the "all things being equal" part. The average quality of harvard students and the average quality of cc students are radically unequal.
You're making it up as you go along. I've never seen a methodology that looks at lower retention/graduation rates as "good". It usually means students are simply dropping out.
That happens when you compare apples and oranges. CCs have lots of slackers, Ivy League schools are packed to the gills with go-getters. It makes no sense to compare their graduation rates. Comparing TAC with Ivy League schools, however, while not at parity when it comes to admissions, is close enough for an apples-to-apples analysis. Perhaps TAC admits the top ten percent of students, and Harvard the top 1 percent (both are guesses), but at that level the students of both are extremely motivated and prepared for the same level of coursework. We would expect the more rigorous and challenging school to have a higher attrition rate.
Last edited by WesternPilgrim; 12-13-2012 at 09:22 PM..
That happens when you compare apples and oranges. CCs have lots of slackers, Ivy League schools are packed to the gills with go-getters. It makes no sense to compare their graduation rates. Comparing TAC with Ivy League schools, however, while not at parity when it comes to admissions, is close enough for an apples-to-apples analysis. Perhaps TAC admits the top ten percent of students, and Harvard the top 1 percent (both are guesses), but at that level they are both extremely motivated and prepared for the same level of coursework. We would expect the more rigorous and challenging school to have a higher attrition rate.
But this has always been the case. Harvard's graduation rate was just 48% in 1910, down from 62% in 1900. I refer you to a study called "The Attrition Tradition" which documents the historically low graduation rates of America's elite universities until recent decades.
But this has always been the case. Harvard's graduation rate was just 48% in 1910, down from 62% in 1900. I refer you to a study called "The Attrition Tradition" which documents the historically low graduation rates of America's elite universities until recent decades.
What difference does it make what Harvard's graduation rate was in 1910? The overall college graduation rate has been about 50% for at least the last 50 years.
What difference does it make what Harvard's graduation rate was in 1910? The overall college graduation rate has been about 50% for at least the last 50 years.
Well, as Harvard's graduation rate has climbed to unprecedented heights, other trends have been occurring simultaneously:
- The move to ultra-selectivity on the basis of test scores and academic achievement rather than wealth and social status
- The demise of a rigorous core curriculum
- Grade inflation
- The dropping of final examinations
All of these indicate that Harvard's present high graduation rate has nothing to do with educational quality, contrary to the claims of my interlocutors, and everything to do with admissions quality and the decline of academic standards.
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