This might be only interesting to Canadians, but it made me happy. 
Eat it, Mac! The following universities have said that they won't be giving any information for their inclusion in Macleans' anual ranking of universities.
* University of Toronto
* McMaster University
* University of Ottawa
* University of British Columbia
* Simon Fraser University
* University of Alberta
* University of Calgary
* University of Lethbridge
* University of Manitoba
* Université de Montréal
* Dalhousie University
Even though MacLeans has historically been very good to my university, what I've seen of their methodology seems very strange.
Strangely the U of S didn't do this. They whine about the rankings they get every year and blame it on the way that Maclean's
deals with the stats. Maybe they figure they will look better without all that competition.
As long as my alma mater keeps showing up in the top 20 list by US News & World Report every year, I'll be happy. Of course, I couldn't possibly have gotten into the school (or paid for it) without a track scholarship, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy having it on my resume.
To be perfectly honest the university rankings issue, though a newstand hit, is not a favourite of the any university. Common sense tells us that ranking universities with arbitrarily thought up stats is bound to be problemmatic at the very least. Kudos to these universities for not participating in this sham of an excuse for journalism.
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Wow, that's uhh... most of all major Canadian universities in total. Without those, any future report really won't have any credibility.
I go to UVic and see they didn't abstain. Possibly because they received such good marks last time...
Uvic and Queen's Uni are the two big absences from that list, that I noticed.
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My old univeristy was not even listed. Memorial University is the largest one in the Atlantic provinces and it was not even listed in the past survey I read.
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Wow, some of those are tops in the country.
What is the methodology that MacLean's uses? I've never given it much thought.
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There are universities in Canada? Next you're going to tell me that Saskatoon is a real place.
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People are taking a wide variety of factors and crunching them down into a single numeric value to compare things on an arbitrary level? *gasp* Next thing you know, they'll try to do it to movies or even games.
If prospective students are basing their decisions solely on ranking, they're just going to end up disappointed. I can't really comment on their methodology, but it's not like Maclean's is going to leave them out since a lot of the data is public.
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I get your point but a 50-60$ purchase or 2 hour/20$ movie sitting doesn't have the same financial consequences that a university enrollment do.
I've never read a Macleans, do they just list universities and their 'score' or do they have some reason text on why it's better in some areas vs others ala a game or movie review.
Finally, many students (parents even) would base their decison on other factors than some score in a magazine/book. Does the school have a good get out of rape policy? Is drinking encouraged? Is there an actual attendance policy? These were things that were important to me, and hopefully one day, my children.
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Who wants an attendance policy?!
whuu?
I should hope so! what else is college for??
what? like actually got to more than 50% of those 8am classes? pfftt.
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Personally I don't think Universities should have attendance policies, if you don't go you will fail out anyway. Thats life, and I think a very important lesson to learn. As for the other two questions you posed, I don't think you'll ever get a straight answer, at least not from anyone in charge, and probably not even from the students. Maybe you'd get a good answer about drinking, and that might be useful. I'd rather have my kids goto a place that gives them all the freedom and all the responability, while having a decent net to help get them back on thier feet.
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I'm glad to see these universities standing up for themselves like this. MacLean's used to be a good news magazine and when I was in high school, the university rankings were helpful (though I ended up not going.) In the last few years, it's just become a cable-news inspired sensationalist rag that's more concerned with what hype they can generate than with real journalism. The university rankings I've found to just be getting lazier and for years, there's been allegations of bribery going on (though I think you hear that claim for almost any ranking system such as this.) The rankings can be a guideline to be sure, but I hope no one is basing their choice of post-secondary education solely on them.
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In all honesty I only went to maybe 3 classes of an 8am course that was all year and still managed to get a decent mark.
I'm against University attendance policies anyway. I had no choice to go to highschool, university is my choice let me decide what I want to do.
Also, in Canada University and College are not the same thing.
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The first one was a joke, bad taste sorry. Yes I believe in colleges not having attendance policies but some do and knowing if it has one or not is something that would weigh in my choice. My 2 year college didn't have one but I did have a class where the teacher had one, I dropped the class.
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I've had quite a few teachers with attendance policies. I show up regardless (unless it is at 8:00am) but it still irks me. The two 200 level courses that I have taken both toook attendance yet the smaller 100 level didn't.
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I had a couple classes at UNBF where they took attendance for a while, but that was it. I think it's a way for profs to decide if they should let more people into the class because the people who registered didn't show up.
Last I looked, Maclean's did include campus life (read: drinking) as part of its ranking. When I was choosing where to go, they said flat out that UWO was a great party school. Of course, that was in the early 90's, so I have no idea if it still is.
Edit: Oh, and Dr J, MUN is listed under "comprehensive", not "undergrad."
Quotation is a serviceable substitute for wit. - Oscar Wilde
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur. (Whatever is said in Latin sounds profound.) - Roedy Green
As it was explained to me, the idea behind attendance policies was for government loans. Getting thier bang for the buck, as it were. Whether this holds any real weight, I do not know.
But I agree with you.
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Gotcha. I did not read the article itself. I probably should have been more clear and said that I read a different article in MacLean's where students ranked the universities and MUN did not show up from what I saw. My bad, I should have been more clear.
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You missed University of Waterloo, if you wish to include big hitters.
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Your ire sets their soul afire?
I'm pretty sure, statistically, coffee increases violence more than marijuana....I'm going for my second cup and when I get back I'm bringing a shovel.
I doubt too many people used Maclean alone to make up their minds about which school to go to... but it did prove a single source to at least pick a pool from..
The value Maclean had was that it was one of the only visible benchmarks for the schools to see how they were doing compared to their competitors.. the additional pressure to look good in the ratings should have helped them to provide better services to their students, (unless of course bribing was becoming the norm instead).
I am guilty of not doing the research I should have before going to university and spending 4 years of my life there... any tools to make future students make an informed decision is a good thing in my books.
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