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Posted

^You are comparing the nation's 9th largest institute of higher learning and also "one of the nation's top 63 public research universities" with a corporate training program that tells people how to efficiently fry wafer thin meat patties?

 

 

Ray "I know someone is going to ask 'which is which,' so there I beat you to it" Izard

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Posted

The negative talk about USF is because they are ALWAYS in the news locally (duh!)...state cuts, job losses, not accepting new students due to shortage of teachers, blah, blah...last I checked that's happening ALL OVER! I honestly have NO complaints on my education there.

 

No... I think the negative talk about USF's undergrad programs is more related to its academic reputation and standards. Growing up in Central Florida MOST of the best students end up at UF... if you can't get into Florida (which gets harder and harder every year) then you go to UCF or FSU... then there's USF sort of at the bottom. I'm not saying it's fair, but there is truth to that statement.

 

Obviously grad programs are different as they vary from school to school, I'm strictly speaking about USF's undergraduate reputation.

Posted

^Yeah, I witnessed the downward trend of USF during my high school, college, and now my brothers college years. When you graduated in my year ('99) in Florida your first choice was UF, then FSU, then USF, then UCF. For my brother who graduated high school in '06 the hierarchy was UF, UCF, FSU, USF.

 

This is politics and sports rivalries aside...purely on an average academic basis.

Posted

^That is an interesting trend in Central Florida. The University of Florida has become increasingly selective over the past years and it's REALLY benefiting UCF. A lot of people I know growing up were all about being a Gator, but after UF has gotten so extreme on admissions they've chosen UCF as their second choice instead of FSU. I really think the more intense of a school UF becomes the better UCF is going to become as a result of so many talented students being turned away. While in most college rankings FSU is still put ahead of UCF, I think that over time this could cease to be the case.

 

The biggest problem for UCF IMO is that their transfer admissions are so absurdly easy that a lot of.... "less academically inclined" students are still getting degrees from that school. As far as I know UCF has an open door policy for students with a 2.0 or higher gpa from any Central Florida community college. If they could stop letting in so many people I think they would become a lot more respected in the long run.

 

 

Whatever... I'm a Gator and proud of it!

Posted

^A similar thing is happening here in Ohio. Ohio State is really tightening up on admissions because they want to compete more with Michigan on academics. Of course, they'll never "catch up" with Michigan, but they are trying.

 

One of the Florida schools, I think it was UCF, opened a medical school recently. They've got an brilliant strategy to attract the top students: It's free. I dunno how long it'll stay free, but that's a great way to bring in the best for your first few classes.

Posted

^^OSU was so unbelievably "uptight" with me when I called them to gain more information about their version of my intended degree. When I went to visit U of IL- Chicago they had members of the faculty and staff meet me with me and answered all sorts of questions and showed me around the section of campus where most of my classes would be. I tried to set this up with the Department at OSU and they were like "Oh, we don't do that here."

 

Cleveland State University (CSU) has had "Open Enrollment" in the past where there were no admissions requirements at all and even now is fairly easy to get into for undergrad, yet several of our departments are nationally ranked. Our Masters of Public Administration program (in the same school as my major) is ranked 2nd in the country. In my field it is "Highly Recommended" that you take undergrad and grad school in different Regions. I know other fields are like that too. The problem is, all universities look the same online

 

BTW- Many schools are "getting harder to get into" as national enrollment is up significantly. This was forecast even before the current economic situation, although the actual increase has been higher.

 

If I were going along my originally scheduled path of going into Urban Planning- Transportation, then USF would be a great choice as they are one of the few schools to have a full Transportation Design Center. Since I have decided to go for my Ph. D. and remain in the college-field for my career I now have to re-evaluate ll of my previous choices to determine if they will work as research schools- especially considering the somewhat unique focus of my research.

Posted

^ I wasn't trying to compare it in THAT manner, more like in a brand name sort of way.

 

Busch reminds me of beer, and also Hamburger University is to help train workers into Managers at McD's.

 

Sorry, if I totally sounded like an idiot.

Posted

I'm at USF! And it is awesome! You can't hear the coasters. Actually, if you are on the road just north of the park you can't hear it, Kumba is very faint. And there are very few places where you can see the coasters. In my dorm (Juniper-Poplar) you can see the tracks from the 4th-7th floors. And there are some parking garages where you can see them. And don't pick the school just because you are close to a theme park. I have been to Busch Gardens about 4 times and I've been here 6 months, granted, if I had a car, I'd go more often . And this is actually a good school, unlike what Elisa said . Sorry Elisa, but UF is not a school high on my liking list. We do have good grad programs. Not the best, but they are still great.

Posted

^&^^ They are both listed in Princeton Review's Top 366 Schools and while that is a large number keep in mind that is out of over 4,000 schools in the US alone. In my field, the interesting thing about UF is that their "Specializations" or "Concentrations" are in pairs or trios. What would be two or three different Specializations at other schools are lumped together into one at UF meaning you cannot go as in depth on any single topic. Granted for some there is an advantage to that method.

 

I'll admit my #1 choice is still UIC (and yes I know how to get to SFGAm without a car already) but at this point of winter in the north its hard not to think how wonderful it would be to go to school somewhere warm. I also need to be prepared with more than one option and as I said in my field and specialization there are not that many schools to choose from.

Posted

^That's funny because my major doesn't come up as existing on that site and furthermore most articles I have read say that one of the main reasons for the GRE, G-MAT, L-SAT, and other such tests is because some schools "such as Harvard" are easier on grading to boost their figures.

Posted

I realize that it is different for grad school but USF does have a really bad reputation in Florida. Also - I would imagine that it would have very little name recognition outside of Florida.

 

Are you planning on going into Academia? Would the reputation be a concern?

Posted

^^I'd call it a safe bet to say that a degree from Harvard is going to look better on a resume than a degree from most other schools in the country...

Posted

^Yep, and you have to be an A student to get into a place like that. Grading on a nasty curve would not be fair to those students who are going to apply to grad/professional schools where their GPA can make or break their applications. These are students that would bust the curve anywhere else.

Posted

^&^^ Are you basing your statements on the school's reputation or actual documented facts?

 

Sure a degree from Harvard would look great on your resume, even better than many other schools- in some programs, but not all. Its just like having Gucci stamped on the back of your jeans may make your butt look better. When in actuality it just means that you had the dough to pay for the name versus getting the same quality at a cheaper price.

 

There are only 71 schools in the country offering the umbrella program of my degree. If you list out every division and every concentration you are going to get a different list for each. In overall Urban Planning, Harvard ranks 7th; however, in Urban Research it isn't in the Top 10, but Cleveland State University is 2nd. Which is part of the reason we have nationally known professors in our school- including Norm Krumholz, named one of the Top 50 Planners of all time. In Transportation Planning Portland State (OR) and UCLA rank high. Within the respective fields, professionals know who the top schools are. These ratings are based upon lists compiled by agencies which only rank Urban Studies programs and are compiled by people working in those fields. Other agencies such as the APA choose not to rank programs but only list schools which they feel qualify to be listed.

 

^^^To some extent reputation is important for the field of academia I am going into; however because it is so specialized there are only a small pool of schools open to me and as such it doesn't really matter which one I go to. Again, Harvard isn't one of those schools, so their reputation in other fields is useless to me.

Posted

^So pick whatever school works best for you. How important can rankings really be to you if you were going to let being next to BGT factor into your decision?

 

I'm not really sure anymore if you are asking for our advice or just trying to justify your decision to go where you want to go.

 

I was merely responding to your comment about Harvard. Joe was just trying to help you out, and you went out of your way to discredit his link by mentioning Harvard? Without a doubt, Harvard is one of the most prestigious universities in the country. I'd be willing to bet on the fact that if both myself (a alum of a California State school) and someone else who was a Harvard alum applied for the same job...that degree from Harvard is going to put me at a disadvantage.

Posted

^I am actually not so much "into" rankings actually. I go more on the advice of professionals in my field (including my professors). Proximity to BGT or any other major theme park would be a tie breaker at best, still I don't know if I would want to spend the next five years living some place that I don't like. For example, being an "Urban Guy," I think that Gainesville would drive me crazy- but I can't be sure.

 

Unfortunately I cannot afford to personally visit every school that offers my program, so yes I am soliciting for information on faraway schools. I mentioned its proximity to BGT to keep it topical.

 

My point with Harvard and your last comment is simply this: Your statement certainly applies to many of the fields Harvard covers, but not all of them. Professionals in each field are knowledgeable as to which schools are presently the leaders in their fields. At times it takes awhile for things to shift. Portland State's incoming Masters students in my field have an average GPA of over 3.7 and if that trend continues they will rise quickly in prominence. My comment about Harvard being an "easy grader" was taken from a book written by a former upper level executive of ETS, the company which produces the GRE and other similar tests.

Posted
Not for nothing, but I frequent several music, movie & horror sites & I have NEVER seen a group of picky, over-dissecting group of forum members then the ones on TPR...a shame because as a Floridian around several theme parks (I also work at Howl-O-Scream seasonally just for kicks), I like to frequent these boards to see the latest & greatest...stuff like this is a BIG time turnoff...I often wonder why I bother posting at all!

 

I'm expecting some "don't let the door hit you on the way out" comments...it seems that is the general attitude around these boards. I didn't realize I had to use grad-school thesis paper written verbage to post about flippin' THEME PARKS on the FLY no less!

 

I feel you.

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