WRAL Sports Fan

RE: Another wuffie myth blown up.

^ None of those schools made the list this year, though. Looks to me like they tweaked the study and improved it.

RE: Another wuffie myth blown up.

Except that it wasn't

^ None of those schools made the list this year, though. Looks to me like they tweaked the study and improved it. 

- Posted by heelman1973

Did you read the article the gentleman wrote? The study was based on a "workload manageability" score on some website called CollegeProwler, class size, SAT scores, and ratings on RateMyProfessor.com. Hardly the stuff of peer-reviewed scientific greatness, but then again, that's probably why nobody cares what it says. Certainly not the good students at Ohio State, Wisonsin, Florida or Penn State, who have the misfortune of being listed this year. But especially Wisonsin, who faces the indignity of being listed twice. 'Cuz I know when I think of slackers, it's those Wisonsin students I think of first... *rolls eyes*

As an aside, each of the 4 schools I listed, PSU, OSU, UW, and UF are ALL listed in the top 60 schools in the country by USNWR.

RE: Another wuffie myth blown up.

^ Which just proves that an easy workload does not, by itself, cause a school to have a low USNWR rank. State is one that just happens to have both. I'm sure there are others.

RE: Another wuffie myth blown up.

^ Which just proves that an easy workload does not, by itself, cause a school to have a low USNWR rank. State is one that just happens to have both. I'm sure there are others.  

- Posted by heelman1973

So what you are saying is that a school can be easy AND good? That a light courseload doesn't negate a high USNWR ranking? I'd tend to think that you can be one or the other, but not both. Would Harvard enjoy the reputation it does if once you got in you could coast by? Does Wisonsin deserve a Top-20 ranking if it's easy once you get there?

I'm late to this thread and since we're adults we can agree to disagree, I just don't put a lot of faith in subjective online surveys. If you want to determine academic rigor, why not simply ask students how much time they spend on homework, at the library, in the labs, etc?

RE: Another wuffie myth blown up.

^ Which just proves that an easy workload does not, by itself, cause a school to have a low USNWR rank. State is one that just happens to have both. I'm sure there are others.  

- Posted by heelman1973

So what you are saying is that a school can be easy AND good? That a light courseload doesn't negate a high USNWR ranking? I'd tend to think that you can be one or the other, but not both. Would Harvard enjoy the reputation it does if once you got in you could coast by? Does Wisonsin deserve a Top-20 ranking if it's easy once you get there?

I'm late to this thread and since we're adults we can agree to disagree, I just don't put a lot of faith in subjective online surveys. If you want to determine academic rigor, why not simply ask students how much time they spend on homework, at the library, in the labs, etc?  

- Posted by swedish.chef

Not that it matters chef but I did defend the Pack on this and gave my reasons on the article posting. You have good points and there are others you have not considered but it's really not a great article because it's just too narrow in focus and somewhat subjective.

RE: Another wuffie myth blown up.

^ Which just proves that an easy workload does not, by itself, cause a school to have a low USNWR rank. State is one that just happens to have both. I'm sure there are others.  

- Posted by heelman1973

So what you are saying is that a school can be easy AND good? That a light courseload doesn't negate a high USNWR ranking? I'd tend to think that you can be one or the other, but not both. Would Harvard enjoy the reputation it does if once you got in you could coast by? Does Wisonsin deserve a Top-20 ranking if it's easy once you get there?

I'm late to this thread and since we're adults we can agree to disagree, I just don't put a lot of faith in subjective online surveys. If you want to determine academic rigor, why not simply ask students how much time they spend on homework, at the library, in the labs, etc?  

- Posted by swedish.chef

Not that it matters chef but I did defend the Pack on this and gave my reasons on the article posting. You have good points and there are others you have not considered but it's really not a great article because it's just too narrow in focus and somewhat subjective.  

- Posted by Black Mamba

I saw your post and was pleasantly surprised by it, and agreed with your assertions. My point was that in 2011, this "study" listed Johns Hopkins, Cal, Villanova, UCLA, Illinois, USC, Pitt and Carolina as the least rigorous schools in the country. That's such a ridiculous conclusion it doesn't even merit a response. (Even ABC'ers should acknowledge Carolina has a top Dental School, Pharmacy School, Journalism School, and several others I'm probably forgetting.) They used the same flawed approach this year, with only slightly less outlandish results...

RE: Another wuffie myth blown up.

Do you make swedish meatballs? We could use some at Cameron. The concessions smell like the bathrooms.

RE: Another wuffie myth blown up.

I don't even know one bothers with this discussion. If don't already know that Davidson is the top academic school in the state, followed by Duke, UNC-CH, and NCSU - in that order - then you never went to a major university and your opinion is meaningless.