Forbes top college list

Navy is notorious for having the easiest academics of the 4 service academies. Everyone who does a semester exchange there gets a 4.0, which only about 10 Air Force cadets do every semester.
 
Not sure if this means you go/went to air force, but I graduated USMA in 2010 (#7, insert obnoxious claim) and I'll generally second what you're say. I had a handful of friends who did exchanges at USAFA and USNA and pretty much all of them said they had an easier semester at Navy and a harder semester at Air Force (academically). I think gpa is generally higher at Navy because from what I've heard they dont have any intermediate grades like A-,B+,B-, etc. All A-'s would count as a 4.0 toward your gpa, and a B+, B, and B- would all be a 3.0. According to my friend who went there, this scoring helps most people. Anyway, thought I would weigh in. Beat Navy.
 
bastard. lol.

That's interesting that there are no intermediate grades, is that fairly unique?
 
I do. Say what you will, but learning about amazing things, challenging my mind to its limits, and having eye-opening experiences are far more important to me than gaining material wealth at some vague point in the future.
 
CMU is number 69............ THAT FUCKIN SHIT IS WAY OFF.

CMU is definitely a top 15 or 20 school. Thats for sure.
 
all the while pissing away your own money on mostly meaningless experiences that won't apply to your life after school.

you can teach yourself a LOT of what school will teach you. the internet is ensuring this.

for example: 12 free online courses.

http://blog.ted.com/2012/08/01/12-great-free-online-courses/

this is why I'm dropping out of a liberal arts education...a lot of pompous postgrads come out of that just because of their 'wide range of experiences in learning' (which is bullshit). schools with research opportunities, in the field experiences, and an early focus on a specific body of knowledge will propel you much further forward and can help secure a career for you.

you will learn about a wide range of topics and have amazing experiences if you choose the right field to go into.

oh, and you want to have 'eye-opening experiences'? do acid and go to music festivals. that's what a lot of the liberal arts students are into anyway. damn hippies. or on a more serious note, go travel the world. you don't have to be part of an educational institute to get a degree in life. and it's a lot cheaper than you would expect if you budget it right. take it from someone who's done it, used to think the same way you did, and then called himself on his own bullshit.

but more power to you if you want to take a wide range of classes and come out without the ability to get a job without more postgrad work.

 
Jesus Christ man, chill out.

1) I'm not pissing away very much money at all thanks to scholarships.

2) I do educate myself outside of school, but there are certain things (like the research opportunities that you mentioned) that I won't be able to provide for myself.

3) I'm going to a school (NYU) that has both research and liberal arts programs that are first-rate.

4) I do take acid at music festivals. In fact, I'm leaving in an hour to do just that. But I was talking about a different kind of eye-opening experience.

5) I am definitely planning to travel the world a lot in my life (In fact, I'm studying abroad in Italy this school year and am planning to do a lot of travelling while I'm over in Europe). After graduation, I really want to explore other corners of the globe as well.

Really all I was trying to say in the post that you quoted is that future money and job security are not my top priorities in pursuing a college education.
 
They shouldn't list the public universities at the out-of-state rate.

#210

The methodology they use definitely tilts the scale in favor of private universities.

The rankings are based on five general categories: post graduate success (32.5%), which evaluates alumni pay and prominence, student satisfaction (27.5%), which includes professor evaluations and freshman to sophomore year retention rates, debt (17.5%), which penalizes schools for high student debt loads and default rates, four-year graduation rate (11.25%) and competitive awards (11.25%),

which rewards schools whose students win prestigious scholarships and

fellowships like the Rhodes, the Marshall and the Fulbright or go on to

earn a Ph.D.

 
not sure what you mean by "lot of pompous postgrads come out of that just because of their 'wide range of experiences in learning' (which is bullshit)" (what do they come out of?) but why is it bullshit?

not everyone knows exactly what they want to do with their lives in college, and for those people liberal arts is a great option to learn a little about a lot of different things instead of a lot about a few things. it's great if you know what you want to do with your life at 18, but there's no need to bash those who don't
 
I'm merely trying to give advice and my perspective, that is what forums are for. I was very enthusiastic in my response. "pissing away" may be an extreme phrase...my bad. coffee fucks with me.

Even with a scholarship, paying thousands of dollars for school each year to not know what you want to study seems like a decision you have to make for yourself...my parents convinced me to go to a liberal arts school, I'm not going anymore because I don't want to waste money when I could learn what I'm learning there online (maybe with not as great of a discussion, but I'd get the gist of the information for free as opposed to paying thousands of dollars per class). When I do decide to go to school again, I'll be much more focused and I will be much more prepared, and probably will be hired for the career of my choice over someone who went through liberal arts school and didn't declare their major until junior year.

For example, I won't want to learn about literature if I'm going to go into engineering. Each class costs money. You can learn about books by yourself, and have discussions in a book club. Or read it for yourself and get out of it what you get out of it. Read online academic discussions about it. Read articles off google scholar. The age of information is changing how we learn..
 
not really...at all.

Fuck it though. you go to stanford, the best university in the world, by a shit ton. I wish i would have gone there.
 
I'm not sure, to be honest, and I'm basing that all on what two friends of mine who graduated from there said. Most schools I know of have intermediate grades though. Are you going there?
 
Holla. More than a little satisfying to see Middlebury lower after I didn't get in off their waitlist even though I put in tons of extra material.
 
a large part of the calculator for these rankings was post graduation success. Since elite Liberal arts colleges tend to attract kids from extremely wealthy households, they in turn produce kids who have a meh education but have unbelievable connections to get a great job. I see it all the time, living where i do. a kid will be encouraged to "follow his passion" and "explore himself" in college. so he picks a "history of the spanish in america" Major at Colorado College, spends $60,000 per year to pursue this god-awful degree, gets intenships at Morgan Stanley(they want to keep his father as a client), and then a Professional sports team's front office. Finally graduates after 4+ years, and immediatly has 3-4 interviews at top companys because his parents made some calls.

As long as you arent a fuckup in college, the education really doesnt matter, unless you are going into a technical field. It really is all about who you know, how you develop those relationships, and how good your social skills are thereafter.

But then again, most of the screennames on this site are already aware of this seeing as 95% of this site is in the top 1%.

 
Navy and AF have intermediate grades, which generally sucks. Some classes I got and 83% or so in, I received a 2.7 for that grade instead of a 3. But then to get 3.3 points you typically need an 89%. In engineering courses you have to work your ass off to keep away from that 83% range because that's generally where the average seems to fall, and it really hurts your GPA.

Dean's list at AF is a 3.0 GPA. But what do you expect when even the English majors are required to take Astronautical engineering and Physics 2?
 
Hmm i guess i was misinformed by my friends from navy. Similar story at West Point with the deans list and deflated GPA's because of the engineering track and extensive math/science courses required for gen ed. Good luck with everything.
 
To sir fryanator: There's a lot more to college than the knowledge you bank. Te ability to think critically and advanced reasoning / forming arguments is something you'll need a class and prof to obtain. And it's what the arts are all about..
 
^isn't critical thinking what you learn in high school? I don't know about you...but I was working on debate and speech arts as a required part of my curriculum.
 
Yeah a bit. But just a bit. Nothing compared to a tutorial where you're discussing things with a grad student or prof
 
lol you jelly i go to an average school, get average grades, and still worked at morgan stanley and got an amazing intern review?
 
It's probably cheaper to go to a top UK school and pay international fee's....

Plus you can get your drink on legally!

Go to Edinburgh, Newcastle, Oxford, Cambridge (both are murder to get in to though), Kings College London etc etc...

 
Rather stay somewhat closer to home, and the engineering schools up here aren't half bad ;)
 
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