2018 College Rankings

[spiderstudent17]

Spiders jump up to #23 liberal arts college in the country from #27 last year in this year's US news rankings.

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges

Highest ranking UR has gotten from US news (previous highest was #25 a few years back).

Go Spiders!

 

[SFspidur]

For the record...

2018: 23
2017: 27
2016: 32
2015: 30
2014: 25
2013: 28
2012: 27
2011: 32
2010: 30
2009: 33
2008: 40
2007: 34
2006: 34

 

[Wood Hall]

So I guess our administrators do know what they are doing after all.

 

[spider fan]

Yes perhaps? they have learned how to "game" the system. All of these rankings have to be taken with a "grain of salt."

 

[Ulla1]

Dr. Crutcher said early on that UR should be a top ten liberal arts college and his goal was to show others that was where UR belonged. He is on the way.

 

[Ulla1]

Yes perhaps? they have learned how to "game" the system. All of these rankings have to be taken with a "grain of salt."

fan, you are right to a certain extent, but students and others look seriously at the rankings for school selection and funding decisions. So, like it or not, it really is quite important.

 

[spiderstudent17]

fan, you are right to a certain extent, but students and others look seriously at the rankings for school selection and funding decisions. So, like it or not, it really is quite important.

Exactly. Perception is reality and these US news rankings are important to prospective students, funding, and general prestige of the school. Factors like alumni donations - although a small factor - has been hurting us, and is something we can do to improve our overall score. We've also plateaued at a 31-33% acceptance rate. I'd like us to try and decrease that to under 30%. That can be done either by having more students apply -- thus turning down more students. Or making the admission yield higher. Right now our yield is 25%, which means 25% of the students UR accepts will enroll. Top schools have 50-75% yield rate. To get a higher yield rate, we have to incentivize more students to choose UR, which in turns mean we can accept fewer students in the next cycle and thus lower acceptance rate.

All in all we are doing something right since we've gone up the last four years. However, as years 2007-2008 and 2014-2015 show, UR can have a sudden drop too. It's all based on random metrics but ultimately the rank is something very important and something we should strive to improve

 

[spider fan]

Agree it is better to be ranked closer to the top of the rankings than lower. Wasn't casting a value judgment on whether it was good or bad to play the game. Think the main way to "game" is to increase the number of applications by fee waivers and universal apps. Whereas "back in the day" when I applied most of my friends applied to one, two, or three schools whereas today some students apply to 10, 15, 20 or more because it is easier to do so......................which sends number of applications skyward..................

 

[iSpider]

Exactly. Perception is reality and these US news rankings are important to prospective students, funding, and general prestige of the school. Factors like alumni donations - although a small factor - has been hurting us, and is something we can do to improve our overall score. We've also plateaued at a 31-33% acceptance rate. I'd like us to try and decrease that to under 30%. That can be done either by having more students apply -- thus turning down more students. Or making the admission yield higher. Right now our yield is 25%, which means 25% of the students UR accepts will enroll. Top schools have 50-75% yield rate. To get a higher yield rate, we have to incentivize more students to choose UR, which in turns mean we can accept fewer students in the next cycle and thus lower acceptance rate.

All in all we are doing something right since we've gone up the last four years. However, as years 2007-2008 and 2014-2015 show, UR can have a sudden drop too. It's all based on random metrics but ultimately the rank is something very important and something we should strive to improve

Incentivize? Phooey!
The answer lies in reducing the number of applicants we accept. I vote that we limit admissions for the Class of 2018 (and, perhaps, thereafter) to those who qualify for athletic scholarships...maybe throw in the children of a few celebrities, an idiot savant or two, and a few budding centerfolds...and there you have it: we are in the top ten.

 

[32counter]

Incentivize? Phooey!
The answer lies in reducing the number of applicants we accept. I vote that we limit admissions for the Class of 2018 (and, perhaps, thereafter) to those who qualify for athletic scholarships...maybe throw in the children of a few celebrities, an idiot savant or two, and a few budding centerfolds...and there you have it: we are in the top ten.

Providing Kate Upton with a full ride(and a residence)as Head of Cheerleading could likely provide for many more male applicants that will be easily rejected but it could also include accepting with a much higher yield of potential MIT/UChicago/Harvard Nobel prize wannabes.
For female applicants,awarding Justin Bieber as an international superstar an analogous position as Chairman of Charm(a newly formed department) would provide similar results.I see our international applicants spike logramithically with highly selective and well heeled
students.It will be fun rejecting these kids so that we can become really,really,really exclusive.

 

[FrontRoyalSpider]

I am sure many on this board would like to see fewer Virginians, and among the Virginians we do accept anyone from Front Royal or Warren County!

 

[Spiderwiz]

I was having fun reading this thread.

 

[FrontRoyalSpider]

I am sure many on this board would like to see fewer Virginians, and among the Virginians we do accept anyone from Front Royal/ Warren County.

 

[Spiderwiz]

i was born and raised in your current locale, FRS. we lived in Frederick County but my mother worked at Warren Memorial for many years and also at the hospitals in Winchester and Woodstock. i understand all the angst;
that said, the world has changed.

 

[spiderstudent17]

Incentivize? Phooey!
The answer lies in reducing the number of applicants we accept. I vote that we limit admissions for the Class of 2018 (and, perhaps, thereafter) to those who qualify for athletic scholarships...maybe throw in the children of a few celebrities, an idiot savant or two, and a few budding centerfolds...and there you have it: we are in the top ten.

If students got into Richmond and Duke, Vanderbilt, Cornell, Georgetown, etc. and money was not a factor, most students would not choose Richmond. That is evident by the fact we have a low yield rate (really top students applying to UR as a safety for them) and also from the fact the test score averages for students that enroll are less than those who we admit. If we incentivize top students to come here with more merit-based scholarships, that would improve the overall yield rate and thus the school could accept less people. I knew many Richmond Scholars who turned down top schools to come to UR because they either got full-tuition or full ride. However, the prestige of UR is not to the point (yet) where someone would turn down more "name brand schools" to come to Richmond without some incentive I.e. Money. Hopefully as our national reputation/prestige improves through these rankings and UR gets more exposure, UR can become a school that is a desired first choice for top students like a Duke or Cornell would be.

 

[SFspidur]

I knew many Richmond Scholars who turned down top schools to come to UR because they either got full-tuition or full ride. However, the prestige of UR is not to the point where someone would turn down more "name brand schools" to come to Richmond without some incentive I.e. Money

Bingo. There is exactly one reason why I ended up at Richmond instead of Williams, and that reason was $20,000+/year.

Even schools higher than us are using merit aid heavily to sway top students...see W&L's Johnson Scholars program for a nearby example. ~10% of each incoming class gets a full ride plus $7K for a summer experience. Of course, it's easier to do that sort of thing when you have a small student body and get a $100 million gift to support it.

 

[teamrican1]

Obsessing over rankings is unhealthy. UR's primary focus at this point should be the beautification of the campus, particularly with respect to permanent structures. Nobody knows or cares what Richmond's ranking was in the 1950's but everyone remembers Boatwright Library. Instead of fretting over what some Failing News Magazine "ranks" us this year, how about we add the much needed towers and spires to the International Building? I'd love to see more walls in general too so long as they are richly adorned.

Go look up "Collegiate Gothic" on Wikipedia. What do you notice? Not a single picture of a UR building is used to exemplify the style, and this is no mere anti-UR bias at work. The other buildings are all legitimately better. We need to do better. We can do better. Can you imagine if Richmond constructed its own take on a taller version of the Ulm Minster? Who cares what ratings are from one year to the next when you have the tallest Gothic structure in the world? Prospective students could ascend the tower and enjoy breathtaking views of downtown Richmond and the James River.

 

[iSpider]

We are prohibited from erecting such a tall structure on campus by the Marxist City of Richmond Building Code.

 

[URPike]

If students got into Richmond and Duke, Vanderbilt, Cornell, Georgetown, etc. and money was not a factor, most students would not choose Richmond. That is evident by the fact we have a low yield rate (really top students applying to UR as a safety for them) and also from the fact the test score averages for students that enroll are less than those who we admit. If we incentivize top students to come here with more merit-based scholarships, that would improve the overall yield rate and thus the school could accept less people. I knew many Richmond Scholars who turned down top schools to come to UR because they either got full-tuition or full ride. However, the prestige of UR is not to the point (yet) where someone would turn down more "name brand schools" to come to Richmond without some incentive I.e. Money. Hopefully as our national reputation/prestige improves through these rankings and UR gets more exposure, UR can become a school that is a desired first choice for top students like a Duke or Cornell would be.

We provide a ton of money to help with costs. Most of it is used to attract students that help us create our predetermined class demographics instead of convincing the best and brightest to attend Richmond over some of the traditional powerhouses. Makes you wonder how much value they truly put on the rankings.

 

[teamrican1]

We are prohibited from erecting such a tall structure on campus by the Marxist City of Richmond Building Code.

I was always under the impression something like 20% of our campus fell within the jurisdiction of Henrico County. Surely that will be enough to build our masterpiece.

 

[spiderstudent17]

UR moves up to #61 best college in the country by Wall Street Journal. This combines both national universities and liberal arts colleges, whereas US news has separate categories on the type of college. We were in the 80s 2 years ago and #74 last year.

http://news.richmond.edu/releases/a...epared-.html#sm.0000vj16on1227esty9h14ppe73ny

 

[StonewallSpider]

I was curious how our Wall Street Journal ranking compared with other schools in our commonwealth and conferences.

I like how high we're ranked but some other school's rankings are a head scratcher.

Virginia
UVA #56
Richmond #61
Washington & Lee #73
William and Mary #100
Virginia Polytechnic #123
Hampton #191
VMI #194
George Mason #274
Hampden-Sydney #322
VCU #406
JMU #409
Roanoke #409


CAA
Richmond #61
William and Mary #100
Vilanova #120
Elon #145
Stony Brook #147
Deleware #149
Albany #257
JMU #409
UNH #443
Rhode Island #501-600
Towson #501-600
Maine #601-800

A10
Davidson #54
Richmond #61
George Washington #64
St. Louis #105
UMass #155
Fordham #212
Dayton #224
Duquesne #249
George Mason #274
La Salle #292
St. Joe's #322
VCU #406
St. Bonaventure #495
Rhode Island #501-600

 

[Ulla1]

I was curious how our Wall Street Journal ranking compared with other schools in our commonwealth and conferences.

I like how high we're ranked but some other school's rankings are a head scratcher.

Virginia
UVA #56
Richmond #61
Washington & Lee #73
William and Mary #100
Virginia Polytechnic #123
Hampton #191
VMI #194
George Mason #274
Hampden-Sydney #322
VCU #406
JMU #409
Roanoke #409


CAA
Richmond #61
William and Mary #100
Vilanova #120
Elon #145
Stony Brook #147
Deleware #149
Albany #257
JMU #409
UNH #443
Rhode Island #501-600
Towson #501-600
Maine #601-800

A10
Davidson #54
Richmond #61
George Washington #64
St. Louis #105
UMass #155
Fordham #212
Dayton #224
Duquesne #249
George Mason #274
La Salle #292
St. Joe's #322
VCU #406
St. Bonaventure #495
Rhode Island #501-600

JMU and vcu: top 500 baby!

 

[keefusb]

If UR wants to move up in the rankings, they need to offer more and better financial aid. My son ended up at Hopkins because they offered more money. W&L and Vassar also offered more $$$$ than UR. Whomever said that UR is a safety school for the very best students was right on the money.

 

[RCSGA]

Dropped own to #25 on USNEWS. They have a new formula..

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges

 

[spiderstudent17]

Yes, dropped down 2 spots from #23 to #25. Still very respectable.

Hoping that UR makes that leap sooner than later to jump into Top 20/15

 

[32counter]

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