U.S. News & World Report

[StallionsModelT]

Its a boat race vs other really fast boats that are not standing still. Just because we have improved doesn't mean we will move forward.

I agree, it's an ongoing competition for which we are currently ranked #58.

Look at the schools ranked #40-#57. Given this state and this city's unquestioned prosperity as well as that of our own alumni, there is absolutely no reason we can't surpass over half these schools.

Ultimate goal should be somewhere between #30-#40, with our B-school the best in the SW.

I know internally that is the long range goal for SMU. We should be the Duke/Boston College/USC of the Southwest.

[gostangs]

A business school's reputation is based on the MBA program. Our undergrad program is better on a relative scale than our MBA. If you want our entire school to rise we need to pump some more money into the MBA program for scholarships and programs.

[RGV Pony]

Id much rather my smu MBA as opposed to most others. That said there are several improvements that could be made

[RebStang]

Looks like they put it out early... and we went down to #61. What kind of lag is there in the data?

[SoCal_Pony]

Looks like they put it out early... and we went down to #61. What kind of lag is there in the data?

What the Heck?

I just randomly selected 5 peers.

#47 Northeastern has 13,000 students and $700M endowment
#51 University of Miami has 11,000 students and $900M endowment
#52 Pepperdine has 3,500 students and $800M endowment
#57 UConn has 18,000 students and $400M endowment
#61 Clemson has 17,000 students and $600M endowment

#61 SMU has 6,000 students and $1.4B endowment

I don't follow this closely, but it is unacceptable that SMU cannot crack the Top 50.

SMT, we are going in the opposite direction that you predicted (and I would have thought as well) Care to elaborate?

[SoCal_Pony]

Comes out with its 2015 rankings next Wednesday. Care to predict where we will wind up? I say we move up but not enough to crack the top 50. I predict #52.....

You started this mess...

Care to elaborate as well?

[RebStang]

Looks like they put it out early... and we went down to #61. What kind of lag is there in the data?

What the Heck?

I just randomly selected 5 peers.

#47 Northeastern has 13,000 students and $700M endowment
#51 University of Miami has 11,000 students and $900M endowment
#52 Pepperdine has 3,500 students and $800M endowment
#57 UConn has 18,000 students and $400M endowment
#61 Clemson has 17,000 students and $600M endowment

#61 SMU has 6,000 students and $1.4B endowment

I don't follow this closely, but it is unacceptable that SMU cannot crack the Top 50.

SMT, we are going in the opposite direction that you predicted (and I would have thought as well) Care to elaborate?

Makes absolutely no sense to me... To be honest, it sometimes feels like they manipulate their methodology to ensure certain outcomes throughout the rankings.

Another thing that stood out to me is that almost every SEC school dropped despite several posting record setting student quality numbers. That fits with the conventional wisdom that US News loves to clobber public universities in their rankings and favor privates... but, this year's rankings just don't make any sense to me.

[NavyCrimson]

I've learned years ago that a lot of these rankings are pure, unadulterated BS. Have to look at the schools within the schools. So what & on with life?!

Build the endowment w/ more scholarship $$$s.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Oh well, maybe next year.

[StallionsModelT]

Makes no sense. We achieved a billion dollar fundraising campaign (still ongoing) and 25% alumni giving for the first time in school history. I get that other schools are doing great things as well but I do not see how big state schools like UCONN and Clemson would be on par with SMU and Dallas.

I think some of this also should go back on RGT. He's great at raising money but he's been here so long. I really wish both parties would agree to go in a separate direction. SMU needs some new blood.

[CalallenStang]

63

You think we move down? Really?

We did better than I thought.

[CalallenStang]

Makes no sense. We achieved a billion dollar fundraising campaign (still ongoing) and 25% alumni giving for the first time in school history. I get that other schools are doing great things as well but I do not see how big state schools like UCONN and Clemson would be on par with SMU and Dallas.

I think some of this also should go back on RGT. He's great at raising money but he's been here so long. I really wish both parties would agree to go in a separate direction. SMU needs some new blood.

How do those schools do on alumni giving percentage? IIRC that stat kept A&M up pretty high previously.

SMU graduates too many entitled AHs who have the attitude of "I paid the school so much when I was there, why would I give back?"

[friarwolf]

Comes out with its 2015 rankings next Wednesday. Care to predict where we will wind up? I say we move up but not enough to crack the top 50. I predict #52.....

You started this mess...

Care to elaborate as well?

Clearly, it is the fault of June Jones............

I am very surprised and pissed. Look, I am a fan of RGT and what he has done at SMU. SMU has done a lot of things right to be attractive to better students as evidenced by our SAT scores. However, I have been critical of Turner through the years of being way too accepting of his Dean's marginal performances. SMU is delivering a higher class of student to our different schools and it is clear that our professors and Dean's are not teaching and developing them at the required level. Our business school is a great example. The average SAT score for a Cox student is over 1400 and the rankings of the school continue to drop - hell, UTD is ranked ahead of us. Yet, Niemi is still the dean. Unacceptable..........

This has to be a wake up call. The rolling average thing is a weak excuse. We are sliding in the rankings and it is Turner's job to demand better performances of his dean's and professors. The business school is our bell cow and Niemi is letting it starve. He needs to go - now. That should send a message to the other deans that no one is safe. Pretty new buildings and a beautiful campus have done all they can. It is past time for increased academic rigor driven through the Deans to be demanded.........If Turner can't bring himself to drive this initiative, he needs to go..............

[StallionsModelT]

Makes no sense. We achieved a billion dollar fundraising campaign (still ongoing) and 25% alumni giving for the first time in school history. I get that other schools are doing great things as well but I do not see how big state schools like UCONN and Clemson would be on par with SMU and Dallas.

I think some of this also should go back on RGT. He's great at raising money but he's been here so long. I really wish both parties would agree to go in a separate direction. SMU needs some new blood.

How do those schools do on alumni giving percentage? IIRC that stat kept A&M up pretty high previously.

SMU graduates too many entitled AHs who have the attitude of "I paid the school so much when I was there, why would I give back?"

We had a higher giving percentage among alumni than anyone in the state at over 25%. I want to say A&M was closest at 19%.

[CalallenStang]

Makes no sense. We achieved a billion dollar fundraising campaign (still ongoing) and 25% alumni giving for the first time in school history. I get that other schools are doing great things as well but I do not see how big state schools like UCONN and Clemson would be on par with SMU and Dallas.

I think some of this also should go back on RGT. He's great at raising money but he's been here so long. I really wish both parties would agree to go in a separate direction. SMU needs some new blood.

How do those schools do on alumni giving percentage? IIRC that stat kept A&M up pretty high previously.

SMU graduates too many entitled AHs who have the attitude of "I paid the school so much when I was there, why would I give back?"

We had a higher giving percentage among alumni than anyone in the state at over 25%. I want to say A&M was closest at 19%.

Thanks. I know that Clemson was at 28% in 2010. IMO a school like SMU ought to be able to hit the 40% mark. 3 out of 4 alumni still aren't giving anything - that is insane to me.