Annual Princeton Review bashing

[GreatDanes06]

PR does it's annual UAlbany bashing. Stupid magazine:

 

#13 Long Lines and Red Tape

#7 Professors Get Low Marks

#2 Professors Make Themselves Scarce

#18 Lots of Hard Liquor

#20 Party Schools

#5 Is It Food?

#1 Campus Is Tiny, Unsightly, or Both

#10 Dorms Like Dungeons

#12 Least Happy Students

[scrabbleship]

My they are early this year...

 

Why does it seem like UA-bashing is a competitive sport? Did we somehow screw up in some past life? Someone must have some theory...

[UA_MA_2000]

Are those national rankings? If so, my gosh ... .

[ATL_DANE]

Those rankings could have been from the '95 edition... it's the same thing every year. I mean EVERY year. There is nothing new here. SUNY is underfunded. It has too many campuses and can't keep them all looking the way they should be. Many other SUNY campuses get slammed. We talked about Texas and other states giving free admission to the top 10% of students so those kids are happy, SUNY kids are pissed they didn't get into Cornell (not me Ithica is a hole).... yada yada yada. nothing new here. We all know the problems lets hope Spitzer acts boldly.

 

Break ground on a beautiful new football stadium this year and all is forgiven. I'm a happy and generous alum

[scrabbleship]

Spitzer will NEVER act, he is too elitist and egotistical to act.

 

John Faso would have acted, and it's a pity the state GOP didn't pick him until Spitzer had a massive advantage which couldn't be beaten.

[madDOG]

PR does it's annual UAlbany bashing. Stupid magazine:

 

#13 Long Lines and Red Tape

#7 Professors Get Low Marks

#2 Professors Make Themselves Scarce

#18 Lots of Hard Liquor

#20 Party Schools

#5 Is It Food?

#1 Campus Is Tiny, Unsightly, or Both

#10 Dorms Like Dungeons

#12 Least Happy Students

 

man, you'd think we could at least get one positive ranking. no wonder we're #12 with "least happy students"...a-holes at these garbage rags give us these terrible ratings all the time.

[UAalum72]

T-U finds room to publish this

UAlbany party ranking falls

[ASP Guy]

T-U finds room to publish this

UAlbany party ranking falls

 

 

I can't for the life of me understand how anyone can think ua's campus is the most "tiny" or "unsightly" campus in any survey group.

 

I hate the princeton review.

 

We should do an "unscientific survey" of magazines and give princton review rankings.

[ATL_DANE]

There is no bashing going on that isn’t self-inflicted. Princeton Review doesn’t rate us, our own students do. This is not the same as the US News ratings, which is using objective criteria (even if you disagree on the criteria). Those ratings are based on criteria that are well documented. We can make improvements if New York leadership so chooses… it’s not like it’s a surprise as to what they’re rating us on. As far as Princeton Review, my view is these students should go to another school if they don’t want to be here. The school is good and getting better… gradually. I do firmly believe New York leaders understand the problems and will put the resources and leadership to right the situation. If they stop arguing about Trooper Gate for 10 minutes, we can fix this situation.

 

Despite my better judgment, here is another article on the topic. If you ask me, we get off better than Stony Brook

 

http://www.nypost.com/seven/08212007/news/...best_and_bl.htm

 

 

ps, I wish you guys got this passionate about athletics. This is a UNY athletics board after all.

[scrabbleship]

There is no bashing going on that isn’t self-inflicted. Princeton Review doesn’t rate us, our own students do.

 

And as any professor can tell you, they typically use a small sample size to make these ratings. All it takes is a few freshmen who hated Albany who are a month from ditching the place for Hofstra or Stony Brook and it skews the results considerably.

 

Case in point: The 2004-05 survey period was in the days following Fountain Day and some then-floormates of mine went on about "giving Albany a chance of being the #1 party school. Add these to the jaded people leaving and it's a recipe for negativity.

 

We can make improvements if New York leadership so chooses… I do firmly believe New York leaders understand the problems and will put the resources and leadership to right the situation.

 

1) Improvements won't happen.

2) Leadership is not there unless we toss Silver or Bruno in the Hudson.

3) Spitzer is a downstate who doesn't give a damn about SUNY.

 

Georgia really does blind you from the pit of corruption that should be a part of Ontario and Connecticut instead.

[olddog71]

Let's forget the rankings and ratings.

 

College is what each student makes of it. If you are a marginal student in a marginal program, you will probably not like the school.

 

From my own personal experience, I did what I wanted at UA, but I am sure that I had certain opportunities there that I would not have had if I had attended a "higher-ranked" institution.

 

Those of us who have been away from UA for a while have an extra insight on how far UA has progressed than people who are currently attending. I am very pleased with what I experienced and accomplished at UA, and I could care less what someone or a group of someones unaffiliated with UA have to say about it. End of story.

[GODANESGO]

There is no bashing going on that isn’t self-inflicted. Princeton Review doesn’t rate us, our own students do.

 

And as any professor can tell you, they typically use a small sample size to make these ratings. All it takes is a few freshmen who hated Albany who are a month from ditching the place for Hofstra or Stony Brook and it skews the results considerably.

 

Case in point: The 2004-05 survey period was in the days following Fountain Day and some then-floormates of mine went on about "giving Albany a chance of being the #1 party school. Add these to the jaded people leaving and it's a recipe for negativity.

 

We can make improvements if New York leadership so chooses… I do firmly believe New York leaders understand the problems and will put the resources and leadership to right the situation.

1) Improvements won't happen.

2) Leadership is not there unless we toss Silver or Bruno in the Hudson.

3) Spitzer is a downstate who doesn't give a damn about SUNY.

 

Georgia really does blind you from the pit of corruption that should be a part of Ontario and Connecticut instead.

 

What exactly makes you think Spitzer ignores SUNY as much as you do, other than you being a Faso/Republican supporter? First off, his SUNY/NYS higher ed budget this year was the best we have seen in years (in terms of financial supprt) and was a much needed change from the previous 12 years.

 

Second, the Governor has formed a State Commission on Higher Education, with the mission to examine the entire SUNY and CUNY systems. This type of research/review of these systems has not been conducted in nearly 30 years. The Commission includes the Assembly and Senate Higher Ed Chairs, the Chancellors of SUNY and CUNY, the Presidents of SU, NYU, Union, UB, Binghamton, etc, the President of UUP, etc etc. While it's obviously premature to speculate on their final report (due in June 2008), the fact that the Commission (and the future on SUNY and CUNY on the national and international scene) was formed as a priority of Spitzer's first year at least shows that he is looking to address some of the issues facing NYS' public higher ed systems.

 

How do you see yourself as such a strong supporter of UAlbany if you're so negative and pessimistic about so many of the aspects and issues associated with it?

[scrabbleship]

What exactly makes you think Spitzer ignores SUNY as much as you do, other than you being a Faso/Republican supporter?

 

First, I'm actually a Libertarian moderate. Second, I think the state is overdue for a Upstate governor (Pataki didn't count) given how downstate governors have hurt this state. Third, Spitzer did as well as he did because he got an obscene head start in fundraising and campaigning while the GOP was trying to find a tomato can candidate. That election was over even before the Republicans chose between Faso and Weld for their candidate, is that really a fair election?

 

My thoughts are that Spitzer gets so bogged down in other stuff that it appears that SUNY is an afterthought. The four university centers have buildings that are reaching middle age and are in need of improvements but the money for that seems bogged down in things like Troopergate which take attention off of the state of our universities. Also, I think Spitzer doesn't realize that on paper it's embarrassing that the university center a mere 5 miles from the Capitol will be going years without a president because SUNY Central down the hill is twiddling their thumbs. Who knows of any other state who would allow such a thing to happen.

 

Since it looks like the TU is not publishing yesterday's letters to the editor (they jumped from Monday to today), there was one about how financial aid has lagged severely behind tuition and how that needs to be fixed. If Spitzer was serious about education, why hasn't he put in a scholarship system a la the Hope Scholarship in Georgia? That should have been one of his biggest priorities!! Instead bright minds may end up bankrupt or doing bit jobs to pay back their loans.

 

At the same time, I try to stay optimistic about UA but all I see is everyone else crapping on the school. Princeton Review makes us look bad, US News makes us look bad, our rivals make us look bad. If there was one school that deserves the trophy for "Most Disrespect", it is us and it sickens me that we get more disrespect from the outside than we really deserve (which is none). Even Bing, which has more future students of Hofstra and Stony Brook in its halls, gets less disrespect than us. How did we ever warrant all of this disrespect? How do Bing and Buffalo seem impervious to it?

[alum73]

for s'ship, every silver lining has a cloud.

[UA_MA_2000]

Somebody take away his shoelaces ... (just being silly and teasing); I have enjoyed reading the posts in this thread!