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Tears Nole Tears (“Offcial”)

OK, let's get down to business...

In the 2022 US News & World Report rankings...

There were 36 private universities ranked ahead of F$U. 8 of those private schools are Power 5.

There were 18 public universities ranked ahead of F$U. 13 of those private schools are Power 5 (and 4 of the 5 non-P5 schools were UC schools).

Florida ranked #28. Miami and F$U were tied at #55.

So let's do a deep dive inside the numbers, shall we. But first, a screenshot:

1648763560259.png




First, we have the "Outcomes" factors, which make up 40% of the score. Unfortunately, all of these factors are impacted by Miami being such an expensive private school. I knew plenty of students, even in the 80s and 90s, who left school over the cost, not the academics. The weighting of certain factors is very heavy. I am not sure what accounts for us having the "lowest of the 3" 6-year graduation rate, but the highest "predicted graduation rate". Maybe people who leave Miami graduate elsewhere? If so, we are getting dinged for being expensive. Shockingly, the percentage of students who borrowed, and the amounts owed, are much lower than I expected.

Second, the "Expert Opinion" factor makes up 20% of the score. Who knows how this was compiled, but we need to boost this a couple of tenths.

Third, the "Faculty Compensation" factors make up another 20% of the score. Apparently, we need to pay more, rely less on adjuncts, and try to get a few more Ph.D's. I'd say this is also a common occurrence at urban private schools, bringing in adjuncts with knowledge to teach, instead of just using academics. How F$U (with the worst student-faculty ratio) has so many small classes, I'll never know. Maybe it's the Circus School.

Fourth, the "Financial Resources" rank is another 10% of the score. UM does DAAAAAMMMMN well here. Credit goes to Foote and Shalala. F$U...well, we already knew this was true, now we have the evidence that they are broke.

Fifth, the "Student Excellence" factors make up 7% of the score. Feels like this should be weighted more than things like "faculty compensation", but what do I know? I'm just an unfrozen caveman lawyer. Honestly, this is an area where we could boost ourselves to near-UF levels by just re-downsizing back to 8 or 9 thousand full-time undergrads.

Finally, the "Alumni Giving" factor makes up 3% of the score. Seems like this is a double-count of the "financial resources" rank, but I guess the other one includes "non-alums" (where Miami does well) and this one is "alums" (where Miami does not do as well). The Miami numbers speak for themselves, and is at least partially explained by Miami being an expensive private school. Buuuuut...having winning sports teams helps. I laugh at F$U, the alums seem to give money, yet the school is broke. Wasted money.

Anyhow, enjoy and discuss.
 
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TheOriginalCane said:
OK, let's get down to business...

In the 2022 US News & World Report rankings...

There were 36 private universities ranked ahead of F$U. 8 of those private schools are Power 5.

There were 18 public universities ranked ahead of F$U. 13 of those private schools are Power 5 (and 4 of the 5 non-P5 schools were UC schools).

Florida ranked #28. Miami and F$U were tied at #55.

So let's do a deep dive inside the numbers, shall we. But first, a screenshot:

View attachment 180719



First, we have the "Outcomes" factors, which make up 40% of the score. Unfortunately, all of these factors are impacted by Miami being such an expensive private school. I knew plenty of students, even in the 80s and 90s, who left school over the cost, not the academics. The weighting of certain factors is very heavy. I am not sure what accounts for us having the "lowest of the 3" 6-year graduation rate, but the highest "predicted graduation rate". Maybe people who leave Miami graduate elsewhere? If so, we are getting dinged for being expensive. Shockingly, the percentage of students who borrowed, and the amounts owed, are much lower than I expected.

Second, the "Expert Opinion" factor makes up 20% of the score. Who knows how this was compiled, but we need to boost this a couple of tenths.

Third, the "Faculty Compensation" factors make up another 20% of the score. Apparently, we need to pay more, rely less on adjuncts, and try to get a few more Ph.D's. I'd say this is also a common occurrence at urban private schools, bringing in adjuncts with knowledge to teach, instead of just using academics. How F$U (with the worst student-faculty ratio) has so many small classes, I'll never know. Maybe it's the Circus School.

Fourth, the "Financial Resources" rank is another 10% of the score. UM does DAAAAAMMMMN well here. Credit goes to Foote and Shalala. F$U...well, we already knew this was true, now we have the evidence that they are broke.

Fifth, the "Student Excellence" factors make up 7% of the score. Feels like this should be weighted more than things like "faculty compensation", but what do I know? I'm just an unfrozen caveman lawyer. Honestly, this is an area where we could boost ourselves to near-UF levels by just re-downsizing back to 8 or 9 thousand full-time undergrads.

Finally, the "Alumni Giving" factor makes up 3% of the score. Seems like this is a double-count of the "financial resources" rank, but I guess the other one includes "non-alums" (where Miami does well) and this one is "alums" (where Miami does not do as well). The Miami numbers speak for themselves, and is at least partially explained by Miami being an expensive private school. Buuuuut...having winning sports teams helps. I laugh at F$U, the alums seem to give money, yet the school is broke. Wasted money.

Anyhow, enjoy and discuss.
Click to expand...
Chris took one prereq class at Miami with about 80 kids. By his sophomore year, most of his classes had at most 15 kids most under a dozen. I can guarantee you the prereq classes at Florida or FSU are well above 100 and in some cases in large auditorium setting above 250. There are so many bull**** classes you have to take at the big state schools. Everybody knows everybody within the Engineering school at Miami. As for adjuncts, they are usually the much better teachers since they bring industry experience and they are not worried about tenure and publishing. The PhD's are there to do research. Teaching can be a nuisance in many cases.

When US News and World Report changed the metrics, Miami's rankings started to slip. I do remember there was internal discussion on whether Miami wanted to play the new metrics game. Probably needs to be a balancing act.
 
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Pentagon Cane said:
Chris took one prereq class at Miami with about 80 kids. By his sophomore year, most of his classes had at most 15 kids most under a dozen. I can guarantee you the prereq classes at Florida or FSU are well above 100 and in some cases in large auditorium setting above 250. There are so many bull**** classes you have to take at the big state schools. Everybody knows everybody within the Engineering school at Miami. As for adjuncts, they are usually the much better teachers since they bring industry experience and they are not worried about tenure and publishing. The PhD's are there to do research. Teaching can be a nuisance in many cases.

When US News and World Report changed the metrics, Miami's rankings started to slip. I do remember there was internal discussion on whether Miami wanted to play the new metrics game. Probably needs to be a balancing act.
Click to expand...


Yeah, I think the only classes that I took at Miami that were large were (a) the first-year Chemistry class (full of Engineering and Pre-Med students) and (b) the History of Rock (music, clearly an elective). Most of the classes I took at the Learning Center (large lecture hall classrooms) were only 1/4 to 1/3 full. The only other large classrooms like that were in the Science building. Oh, and the 1L classrooms in the Law School. But for undergrad, the vast majority of classes seated less than 50.

When I was doing my LL.M. in Tax at Florida, I was flipping around on the cable channels and saw this wacky guy teaching a Business Law class. Turns out, his class is super-popular (he dresses up in costumes) and so many people have to take business law classes, that he broadcasts his classes on TV, and you don't even have to cram into his huge classroom.

I agree, adjuncts are particularly good in business, law, and engineering. I would also add UM's programs in Music (mostly engineering and "industry", which reinforces what I just said about business and engineering), Architecture, and Nursing. UM is more "academic-heavy/adjunct-light" in the College of Arts & Sciences.
 
TheOriginalCane said:
Yeah, I think the only classes that I took at Miami that were large were (a) the first-year Chemistry class (full of Engineering and Pre-Med students) and (b) the History of Rock (music, clearly an elective). Most of the classes I took at the Learning Center (large lecture hall classrooms) were only 1/4 to 1/3 full. The only other large classrooms like that were in the Science building. Oh, and the 1L classrooms in the Law School. But for undergrad, the vast majority of classes seated less than 50.

When I was doing my LL.M. in Tax at Florida, I was flipping around on the cable channels and saw this wacky guy teaching a Business Law class. Turns out, his class is super-popular (he dresses up in costumes) and so many people have to take business law classes, that he broadcasts his classes on TV, and you don't even have to cram into his huge classroom.

I agree, adjuncts are particularly good in business, law, and engineering. I would also add UM's programs in Music (mostly engineering and "industry", which reinforces what I just said about business and engineering), Architecture, and Nursing. UM is more "academic-heavy/adjunct-light" in the College of Arts & Sciences.
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Chris was fortunate as a Foote Fellow he got out of a lot of the bull**** cognates. His electives were almost all ROTC. LoL, love Miami. They have already ****ed up his diploma. He is graduating with a B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering with a minor in Physics and Aeronautical Engineering. It is supposed to be a minor in Aerospace Studies. He said, "Dad, getting the school to fix it correctly is a major bureaucratic ordeal." I told him make them fix it...lol.
 
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OriginalCanesCanesCanes said:
I was wrong about it being a major factor I was directly working off memory, but it is a factor, and… what is key is that academic factors are way less than 50%
Click to expand...


Yep. We beat F$U in the important/relevant categories, and somehow their alum fund-raising and some other bullsh!te offsets that nonsense.
 
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