1) I am not from Houston. I moved here for school. 2) The baristas and bartenders I know are friends of mine who went to UT/ATM. 3) My point about UH's business school was exclusive from my personal story about why I came to UH, I believe UH's business school is quite healthy and does well for itself.
Agreed, great post. I also think to become a top tier UH has to knock someone within the top 50 down, and right now I think UH isn't even in the top 100. They have a long way to go. Baylor University has the same aspirations, they were ranked 52 when I started in 2002, and their vision was to become a top tier in 2012, 10 years to move up 2 spots. I think you guys thinking UH will move up 50+ spots within a few years is ridiculous. Every school is having the same "top tier" plan, not all will make it.
There's a couple different definitions of Tier 1 floating around in this thread. What UH is gunning for is "Tier 1 research institution", which means they have $100 million in research funding per year. Right now Rice, UT and A&M are in that league. Then there's "Tier 1" as defined by the US News and other ranking services. I don't think UT is anywhere close to that, and achieving that would literally be a decades long process. Rice and UT are both Tier 1 "US News", and maybe A&M, but I'd have to check
Highly doubt UH ever becomes a tier 1 school, if it does, you'd need to have the same credentials as UT to get in. That's kind of hard for an average student... I don't see it happening. And by the time it does, most people here who are in high school/college will be in the middle of their careers.
Once again, the point needs to be reiterated that UH is trying to get to a tier one RESEARCH INSTITUTION status. There is a common misconception floating around this thread that the tier one status UH is trying to attain is the same as a top 50 status according to US News. This is not a question of attracting more undergrads to the school, its a question of attracting and retaining grad students. In its actions, UH has made it clear that this shift is going to benefit the grad community more than anyone else. However, I will make the point that UH is making strides in improving the overall campus. Small, but noticeable, changes include new parking garages, new businesses and plans for a totally revamped University Center by 2014. UH is not trying to compete with UT and A&M for students, they are strengthening Texas' ability to compete with New York and California.
There are several mis-conceptions in this thread. 1) I don't think the question is to compare the current UH with UT or AM. Of course the majority prefers the later as of right now. The question is to compare UH once it achieved tier1 status vs UT and AM, who are already tier 1 schools. 2) Will UH ever become tier 1? You can't say that it can't until you know what tier 1 means. 3) Does UH have to knock off someone else from top 50 to become tier 1? I think the answer is no. I think US News lists 171 or 181 as tier 1 school, the number is not fixed. The classification of tier 1 school has certain criteria, you just need to meet them. Some of them are research money, number of degrees / especially doctorate programs offered, top notch faculty ... 4) UH trying to become tier 1 does not mean it wants to compete directly with UT & AM. When and if it becomes tier 1 school, it will help solve many things, a few of which are a) the problem with admission at UT. Right now, top 10% students take up 81% of the freshmen admission. b) To keep top students in Texas... 5) Will admission and graduation standard be raised? Of course over time they will be. When it does happen, the avg Joe just go to other not-tier 1 schools. UH becoming tier 1 only helps raise the standard for Texas Univ and higher education as a whole. It gives everyone from Texas a boost. I think everyone should support it.
Her degree is in chemical engineering. Now you tell me that she went through all that schooling at Rice just to teach high school?
The problem here is that Tier-1 status is a technical designation - most people don't know what Tier 1 is, let alone what schools would be in Tier 1. For example, I don't think people really see Baylor as a worse school than UT or A&M - but it's not a Tier 1 school. The problem UH has is reputation and the commuter school issue that other people have raised. Getting Tier 1 status is a nice boost, but it doesn't really solve most of the reasons that people go to a UT or A&M or Baylor as opposed to a UH or UNT. That's not to say they are bad schools at all - it's just the Tier 1 designation isn't the thing that will change how they are viewed in comparison.
Maybe because she has a soul and a passion for teaching instead of working in the industry? In fact, one of the reasons that America is falling behind in the technology race is because our education system is lacking significantly. I'd say we need more secondary school teachers with her credentials.
As much as it pains me, I have to agree with texxx. Rice is an amazing school and damned hard to get into, for a reason.
