Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The Dallas Morning News' editorial page today was about how Dallas needs a Tier One school. It says it's determined by what research a school does. Texas has 3 Tier One schools - UT-Austin, A&M, and Rice.
I have no problem with the way they rank the schools, since it is standard across the board. My problem is the top 100, by their standard, is too many. My point is, who cares if you are in the top tier if you are ranked number 39. Is there another ranking system, besides businessWeek?
Considering that there are over 4000 colleges/universities in the United States, I'd say that being in the top 100 would be choice.
There is the Princeton review, which is actually a rather thick book at 592 pages (as opposed to the flimsy US News magazine).
There are def. some exceptions to this (Dartmouth for example) but some top tier schools have the attitude like:
a) you're lucky to be here, I don't have to be nice and
b) undergraduates (and even graduate students) are not why they are there. Professors in those schools are truly researchers at heart. Some of them despise teaching (they are required to do it, by the way).
I would say basically think about what your goals are. If you want to pursue a certain career, yep, you might have to suck it up, be competitive, try to work with the narcissist with the big name. If you are more laid back (or more healthy, as some would suggest) you might choose a smaller, friendlier school.
Oh, for the original question, reputation, money, research output, contribution to the field, etc determine tier. From what I understand, they actually send out rating sheets to voters (who are in academia), and those votes determine the tier.
It isn't an MBA program. It is some lame program that you don't even need a Masters in. Hence, the reason for me not willing to be competitive. It holds no benefits for me. It is like getting a masters degree in interpersonal communication. It might be good to know but it isn't really all that important.
Quote:
Originally Posted by itlchick
I would say basically think about what your goals are. If you want to pursue a certain career, yep, you might have to suck it up, be competitive, try to work with the narcissist with the big name. If you are more laid back (or more healthy, as some would suggest) you might choose a smaller, friendlier school.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
