2017 Princeton Review rankings for SMU

[tristatecoog]

"The most recent class entering in 2017 having an average act of a 30, their middle 50% act range is a 29-33."

The average Highland Park HS ACT score was 27.6 last year so a somewhat above average HPHS student would be in the bottom quartile at SMU.

What was the 2015 and 2016 entering class stats? I am curious about the progress from '15 to '16. Student retention is also very high.

[midwestpony]

"The most recent class entering in 2017 having an average act of a 30, their middle 50% act range is a 29-33."

The average Highland Park HS ACT score was 27.6 last year so a somewhat above average HPHS student would be in the bottom quartile at SMU.

What was the 2015 and 2016 entering class stats? I am curious about the progress from '15 to '16. Student retention is also very high.

For all information i would recommend checking out the common data set. Every school posts them and they have entering class information and such. These are what a lot of ranking sites like us news will use. HEre is the link for the smu ones:https://www.smu.edu/Provost/IR/Statistics Just click on the common data set tab and there are stats going back to 1999. I know my class fall 2014 -may 2018 had a middle 50% of 27-31 and the past two classes have had a 28-32 middle 50%. The data is pretty interesting. I know the 29-33 isnt listed yet as the 2017 common data set will likely come outbetween november-february, but I am a tour guide and thats what they have been saying in info sessions.

[tristatecoog]

MWPony, great stats in the common data set.

Fun takeaways comparing 2016 entering class vs. 2006:
-- '16 Texans dropped by 60 or 9% while Californians increased by 86 to 205. Florida is #2 with 75. OK, LA and AL were replaced in the Top 10 states with CT, NY and CO. Hope Hicks!
-- Average ACT increased from 26.5 to 30.
-- Acceptance rate has declined from 54% to 49% and yield has declined from 33% to 23%. Be a strong applicant and show interest to get admitted/aid.
-- Bucking a national trend, men are enrolling a lot more. Incoming women dropped 3 to 752 but men increased 154 (!) to 770. It's not like SMU added a football team. Hoops is popular but really? Maybe the difference lies in the next stat...
-- In 2006, ethnic makeup was 71% white. In 2016, it was 58% white. [UT is about 38% I believe.] Hispanic gained 3% and 2+ races/undisclosed was 4%. Trending with the changing US demographics. However, the percentage of (full paying?) international students increased from 8.0% to 14.6%. More international men? Asian percentage dropped from 6.7% to 6.2%. I expect that to pick up a bit when SMU breaks the top 50.

The world is becoming more international so adding more of those students is savvy. Also good for the bottom line.

[midwestpony]

US News is out:

Rice: 14
UT Austin: 56
SMU: 61
Texas A&M: 68
Baylor: 75
TCU: 78
UTD: 145
Texas Tech: 176
Houston: 192
DBU: 202

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

Kind of disappointing though we only fell a spot or so due to ties. I still think next year will be better. Need to increase retention rates and national presence as the grad rate and national high school counselor rank really didn't work in our favor.

Personally retention/graduation rates can rise if there is more/better on campus housing - all major schools generally ave 3 and 4 year requirements.

Counselor ranking - needs to advertise more to counselors.

[gostangs]

I don't think we do a very good job of advertising our student quality. Counselors and others are clueless about this apparently. We aren't going to add on campus housing for a long time unless we finance it off balance sheet.

I think it is also time to think about a change at the top. Need new blood.

[tristatecoog]

TX public schools did comparatively better this year. They all fell last year.
Rice at #14. Very impressive.

[deucetz]

US News is out:

Rice: 14
UT Austin: 56
SMU: 61
Texas A&M: 68
Baylor: 75
TCU: 78
UTD: 145
Texas Tech: 176
Houston: 192
DBU: 202

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

Kind of disappointing though we only fell a spot or so due to ties. I still think next year will be better. Need to increase retention rates and national presence as the grad rate and national high school counselor rank really didn't work in our favor.

Personally retention/graduation rates can rise if there is more/better on campus housing - all major schools generally ave 3 and 4 year requirements.

Counselor ranking - needs to advertise more to counselors.

We need new leadership. Additions to facilities is only a success for a mediocre universities. Have Turner in a fundraising position and get a president that has helped manage a top 25 private school--at this point even one that has managed a top 50 private school would be an improvement. Texas universities aren't academic (beyond Rice)--at least with the metrics US News uses. There has been 30 years of data of what the magazine values, it shouldn't be hard to use the criteria to get better.

UCONN is ranked ahead of us.

[friarwolf]

What kills us every year is the peer assessment. My fear is we are considered a conservative school and thus get dinged for it by our peers. Either that or our peers are lazy and just continue to think of us based on our long term reputation. Or both..........

[friarwolf]

Agree that it is past time for Turner to retire but he just re-upped for 5 more years so get ready for more of the same.......

[gostangs]

BYU is pretty highly ranked - so I doubt it is the conservative thing.

I just think we don't spend any time or money telling people where we are on student quality - and that is a big mistake.

[midwestpony]

I agree with gostangs there are many people doing the assessment across the country who do not know especially when a school like SMU is changing so quickly. There is also the guidance counselor score factored in to the scoring and the issue is that where i am from in ohio and many of the states in the midwest and northeast counselors are simply unaware. MArketin efforts should be focused at these folks.

In regards to my earlier statement on facilities and the like that was refuted - there is a high correlation between on campus living and graduation rates. Especially when the on campus living is providing a community for a lot of kids who dont have community elsewhere. The more on campus living the more active these people will be. Also when they are on campus mental illness is easier to be notied by neigbors and friends. Things like depression and homesickness. I am interested to see if our retention increases with the two year on campus living. Hopefully more is built and a 3 year policy can be implemented. Im not saying in 5 or 10 years even, but just down the line.

[tristatecoog]

If you did a comparison with higher ranked schools like Tulane, Miami and Boston U, I wonder where SMU falls short. Spending per student? Counselor rep? Retention/grad rate? Incoming stats? Even Pepperdine is now solidly ahead but they were tied with SMU. I just don't see Fordham as a comp to SMU. Maybe Syracuse but it's pop demographics must be hurting.

[RGV Pony]

I really think it's as some others mentioned the peer assessment. My daughter is at BYU and peer to peer on incoming freshman SMU had a higher average GPA and higher average ACT. % admitted was 49 SMU 53 BYU. Like SMU, BYU has a law school but no medical school.

[tristatecoog]

I really think it's as some others mentioned the peer assessment. My daughter is at BYU and peer to peer on incoming freshman SMU had a higher average GPA and higher average ACT. % admitted was 49 SMU 53 BYU. Like SMU, BYU has a law school but no medical school.

I presume US News doesn't use BYU's sub-30% 4-yr grad rate due to the preponderance of students doing a mission. Only $13K in total cost per year?? Is there a commitment to tithe all future income to the church? BYU is special and students are well trained.

What about two other urban/suburban competitors...GW and Villanova?
Acceptance rates: SMU (49%), GW (40%) and Nova (44%)
4-yr grad rates: SMU (68%), GW (76%) and Nova (86%)
Student/teacher ratio: SMU (11/1), GW (13/1) and Nova (12/1)
If those stats are true, the other two seem worthy of higher rankings.

For kicks, here are two local private Us.
TCU (#78) -- 38% accepted, 63% grad rate, 13/1 ratio and $37K in debt. [SMU has $30K on avg.]
Baylor (#75) -- 40% accepted, 58% grad rate, 15/1 ratio and $45K in debt.

Wow, why is Baylor higher ranked than TCU? Better counselor ratings? Higher incoming stats?
What is it about TX universities (other than Rice) and their graduation rates? Southwestern is 66%.

[gostangs]

Not 100 pct sure but I think all numbers are trailing 5 year averages - so the poor Baylor grad rate might be recent, but helped by a trailing rate that is higher.