Bradley University is once again ranked among the nation's Top Universities

[tornado]

http://www.bradley.edu/inthespotlight/story/?id=147198

http://twitter.com/#!/bradleyu/status/98162915152105472

[TheGuy]

The rankings are based on The Princeton Review's survey of 122,000 students attending the colleges included in the book. Topics range from assessments of their professors as teachers to opinions about their financial aid and campus food.

Bradley was cited for focusing on providing students with “everything they need to be successful.” Students surveyed said, “Bradley is all about teaching the individual student” and “developing one’s intellect for what comes next.”

No offense, but surveying current students about their university is the wrong way to go about judging a top list of schools. Why? Everyone thinks their school is awesome. Also, how would a current student know that BU provides them with everything they need to be successful if they haven't gone out in the world yet to try and build success.

A better judge would be a cost benefit analysis surveying alumni of those schools and things such as job placement in their fields and pay.

Look, there is no question that I am an ISU guy, but I have a ton of respect for BU academics. Just my opinion on that type of survey.

[Future Walk-On]

No offense, but surveying current students about their university is the wrong way to go about judging a top list of schools. Why? Everyone thinks their school is awesome. Also, how would a current student know that BU provides them with everything they need to be successful if they haven't gone out in the world yet to try and build success.

A better judge would be a cost benefit analysis surveying alumni of those schools and things such as job placement in their fields and pay.

Look, there is no question that I am an ISU guy, but I have a ton of respect for BU academics. Just my opinion on that type of survey.

I agree with you that this method is not good. However, not everyone loves their school......I hear all the time about people wanting to transfer from BU or ISU to somewhere but financially or academically they are stuck.

[tornado]

This is only one of many studies that have used all kinds of criteria..and Bradley consistently rates very high among all schools and certainly among similar mid-west schools.

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[FlyingSpaghettiMonster]

No offense, but surveying current students about their university is the wrong way to go about judging a top list of schools. Why? Everyone thinks their school is awesome. Also, how would a current student know that BU provides them with everything they need to be successful if they haven't gone out in the world yet to try and build success.

A better judge would be a cost benefit analysis surveying alumni of those schools and things such as job placement in their fields and pay.

Look, there is no question that I am an ISU guy, but I have a ton of respect for BU academics. Just my opinion on that type of survey.

Bradley was definitely a good school for me, and I recommend it. I have a graduate degree and was extremely well prepared. From my experience I absolutely do not recommend my graduate school and would have told you that while I was there. The education at that school was good, but the treatment of students by the administration was unfair (to be nice). Bradley was very fair within my field, and students were treated with the respect that they deserved. Surveying current students certainly has some validity IMO. I, however, did not realize how good Bradley was until after I graduated and could compare my education to that of students from other schools.

[Future Walk-On]

Bradley was definitely a good school for me, and I recommend it. I have a graduate degree and was extremely well prepared. From my experience I absolutely do not recommend my graduate school and would have told you that while I was there. The education at that school was good, but the treatment of students by the administration was unfair (to be nice). Bradley was very fair within my field, and students were treated with the respect that they deserved. Surveying current students certainly has some validity IMO. I, however, did not realize how good Bradley was until after I graduated and could compare my education to that of students from other schools.

what grad program

[TylerDurden]

I did my undergraduate work at BU, then coursework for my MBA at another private, nationally ranked, Midwestern university that was a "research" institution.

The difference was night and day.

BU tends to have faculty with practical, real-world experience that share those experiences with students. Very valuable, IMO.

The other university, which typifies many other research-driven universities, was stocked with faculty who had very little, if any, experience outside of the classroom. Their "knowledge" was extrapolation from observation -- but not actual work in the business world. It was all theoretical, which has value, but that value certainly didn't equal the cost of the program...besides, I learned the theory as an undergraduate

Essentially, BU taught me every concept and theory that was taught at the MBA level at this particular institution, but in a more practical way, again, IMO. I felt as though I was paying for some letters to put behind my name because I wasn't gaining any insight or knowledge that I didn't receive at BU. Although I did make some nice contacts.

I suppose my point (admittedly bias) is that BU and similar schools provide an extremely valuable education for their students, one where the knowledge immediately can be applied to a first job and beyond. Research-based institutions tend to value grant dollars more than classroom teaching and provide a wildly different educational experience for their students.

You certainly can receive a good education at many schools, but after experiencing for myself the style of a research school, I can assuredly say that I wouldn't trade the knowledge and practical training I received at BU.

Different strokes for different folks, I suppose.

While I also consider the methodology questionable for this particular listing, I have no doubt that BU offers an education that should rank among the nation's best - albeit markedly different from many others on the list.

[SFP]

Tyler I have to agree. BU gave me a discipline on critical thinking something that a lot of schools mess up on. There is no way you come out of a 4 year school with enough knowledge to be successful but if they teach you on how to look at the world you have a much better chance.