The unofficial online home for fans of the Old Dominion University Monarchs. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

(01-19-2021 04:55 PM)monarx Wrote:  

(01-19-2021 02:46 PM)MONARCHSWIN Wrote:  

(01-18-2021 03:10 PM)BigBlueMonarch Wrote:  PT and Nursing used to be in the top 50 nationally. No idea where they may rank these days

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I don't know about today, but 4 years ago, the acceptance rate into the PT program was about 10% of those who applied. I believe that PT is moving from a masters program to a doctorate program.

Wow. Thats quite selective. Especially considering acceptance to ODU in general is around 80%.

The dental program is also very tough. I heard 10% there as well.

(12-17-2021 08:04 PM)TedHead Wrote:  School of Health Sciences could use the donations. Their about to get a brand new facility at Hampton and 40th.

(09-14-2020 11:19 AM)monarx Wrote:  

(09-14-2020 10:57 AM)Monarchblue Wrote:  

(09-14-2020 10:43 AM)BigBlueMonarch Wrote:  

(09-14-2020 10:35 AM)12thmonarch Wrote:  

(09-14-2020 10:27 AM)monarx Wrote:  Good news/Bad News

ODU comes in as the 258th best college in the US. If Im reading it correctly, we are back ahead of Regent. Which makes me glad because they bragged in their press release last year that they ranked higher than us.

The bad news: ODU comes in as the 258th best school, which while still ranked, is a drop from a few years ago. We really need to crack the top 200. For comparison:

GMU: 143
UAB:153
VCU:160
UCF: 160
Towson: 196
GSU: 216
ECU: 217
UNCC: 227

We do pretty well against CUSA teams though. Ranking higher than MTSU, Marshall, La Tech, WKU and FAU.

Terrible look if its just academics being evaluated for these rankings.

Academics has almost NOTHING to do with US News Rankings. I have completed their ranking survey and ended up throwing it in the trash because that is what it is....rubbish. There is no real data in the rankings other than admission rate. The bulk of the rankings are based on perception ratings, so people like guidance counselors and college admission officers are asked to share how good they think a school is. There is ZERO correlation to how good of an education you will get at any institution in the US News Rankings.

This may all be true, and the rankings may be useless, but unfortunately perception matters. In many cases, in this short attention span world we live in now, perception is the only thing that matters, and US News is a significant driver of that perception. So we can hate it as much as we want, and ODU can claim it is a bad representation all they want, but at the end of the day, if you aren't playing that game, you are losing ground when it comes to recruiting students, so the ranking matters.

You're both exactly right. The ranking is mostly bogus, BUT, its also incredibly important. This is part of why we don't hear about as many of our own, and our friends, children choosing ODU. I know many who choose JMU, GMU, VCU, CNU... because reputation matters. As my friend's daughter (who grew up wanting to go to ODU) said in her senior year "ODU is for the C+ students who don't have many other options". She chose VCU instead, based almost entirely on perception and rankings. The university I work for spends hundreds of thousands of dollars on rankings maintenance annually, and has people whose full-time job is to monitor and game the rankings, make sure students are happy with the experience, fill out the surveys positively etc. And any adjustment to curriculum, admissions or student experience is lead with the question "how will this affect our ranking". Its a HUGE deal. The faculty, admin and staff all know it. So much so, if we rise in the rankings there are nice celebrations etc. I'm not asking for much, as once you get to a certain level its very hard to move up. But at our level, improving a few criteria, like admissions selectivity, SAT score and GPA, alumni giving percentages, and student experience can result in a big bump of 20-40 spots. The peer evaluation is a longer game, but can also be done. Our administrators get gorgeous (expensive) packages from some schools (including FIU), with the sole purpose of encouraging them to rate their school higher in the peer evaluation for USNWR. But its critical, because perception matters, and USNWR rankings are the most respected rankings. For that reason, if I were ODU, I'd have a huge billboard on I64 touting ODU as "Coastal Virginias top tier national research university. -USNWR" Plain and simple for all those tourists to see. (don't mention the #258 part. :) ) But, truly, being included in the rankings is a big deal too. Id much rather be where we are than unranked like WKU, Marshall, MTSU etc.

You have nailed it. Sadly - almost none of the people I went to school with have sent their kids to ODU. They all have chosen elsewhere. Some brought their kids for tours only to experience horrible campus tours led by students speaking with poor grammar and negative attitudes about the school. One friend stated - they literally gave the group no reason to attend ODU. I believe Runte did a fantastic job of elevating the school by elevating academic standards for admission-subsequently enrollment soared. Broderick chose to focus on PC initiatives at the expense of academic excellence and now we have a student body barely recognizable. The emphasis of ODU's marketing is the "cheapest 4 year school in the state / diversity / 1st time graduates" - that's almost there entire pitch to prospective students. Great talking points for a community college - not for a University focused on academic excellence. We might be better than JMU/VCU/GMU/VT/UVA on these points but those points don't add to institutional prestige. Those schools only give it lip service while focus on what will actually enhance their school. And they are leaving us behind as a result. This will impact our alumni giving / ODAF Contributions / and donations across the board. I hope Hemphill returns our focus to academic excellence or our future is grim. There is no reason not to. It just depends on what the goal of the university is and that will determine the success and growth or the stagnation of the school. We have everything we need to be a destination school - we just have to want to be that. Let Community Colleges be Community Colleges. Let Old Dominion University be an excellent university.

FWIW, my youngest, who is academically the strongest of my three (American, VCU), and is NHS, Beta Club, NMHS, NSHS, NAHS took a tour of ODU and was impressed enough that she is considering it. (She has already been accepted by Maryland, and Ohio State).

(12-22-2021 09:30 AM)ODUalum78 Wrote:  FWIW, my youngest, who is academically the strongest of my three (American, VCU), and is NHS, Beta Club, NMHS, NSHS, NAHS took a tour of ODU and was impressed enough that she is considering it. (She has already been accepted by Maryland, and Ohio State).

Good Luck to you guys and i hope she becomes a Monarch.

(12-22-2021 09:30 AM)ODUalum78 Wrote:  FWIW, my youngest, who is academically the strongest of my three (American, VCU), and is NHS, Beta Club, NMHS, NSHS, NAHS took a tour of ODU and was impressed enough that she is considering it. (She has already been accepted by Maryland, and Ohio State).

great stuff, 78. Whatever she decides, I know you’re beaming with pride.

Not sure how ODU's admission standards have been trending lately, but if I had to guess, probably heading in the right direction. How else would you explain the recent upgrade in Carnegie ranking to an R-1 institution? Maybe as fans, we need to re-adjust our own perceptions and stop drinking the poisonous potion being fed by naysayers. Go Monarchs, brighter days are here!

(12-22-2021 09:30 AM)ODUalum78 Wrote:  FWIW, my youngest, who is academically the strongest of my three (American, VCU), and is NHS, Beta Club, NMHS, NSHS, NAHS took a tour of ODU and was impressed enough that she is considering it. (She has already been accepted by Maryland, and Ohio State).

I have one who graduated (applied and accepted to UVA / VT and ODU) and one currently enrolled (applied and accepted at JMU and ODU). But I am almost completely alone among all those I went to school with. That's the problem. ODU might be doing well for 1st time graduates but not holding well on Legacies.

(12-22-2021 01:56 PM)MonarchsWon Wrote:  

(12-22-2021 09:30 AM)ODUalum78 Wrote:  FWIW, my youngest, who is academically the strongest of my three (American, VCU), and is NHS, Beta Club, NMHS, NSHS, NAHS took a tour of ODU and was impressed enough that she is considering it. (She has already been accepted by Maryland, and Ohio State).

I have one who graduated (applied and accepted to UVA / VT and ODU) and one currently enrolled (applied and accepted at JMU and ODU). But I am almost completely alone among all those I went to school with. That's the problem. ODU might be doing well for 1st time graduates but not holding well on Legacies.

I don't have any numbers but I feel like legacies are a rarity. Every kid has different goals and there are a lot of schools to choose from.

I went to a community college first then transferred into ODU, but that was with a 3.5 GPA in CC. I don't think I would have gotten in out of highschool with my GPA and SAT score. lol Definitely was not easy to graduate. ODU certainly is not an easy place to get a degree and I'm very proud to have one from there.

If we're going to discuss something like academic rankings, can we leave the anecdotal talking points out of it? For folks so concerned about where ODU is as an institution, y'all forget your small friend group isn't enough data to prove anything. And I really don't get the obsession with Runte. ODU has been a safety school since I was in high school in the late 90s/early 00s. Easy to get in, hard to get out of is nothing new here. None of that was any different when Runte was here.

And if you're just upset with them promoting the school's diversity, affordable education and the amount of first-generation college graduates we produce (all things that should be bragged about, as it serves the public good in a real world environment), I don't think you're actually paying attention to their press releases or advertising.

Honestly - it doesn’t seem ambiguous at all to me that ODU values being an accessible place where C+ and first generation students can thrive. Seems fine to me - even an honorable and highly marketable thing to be in a higher education world that is increasingly overpriced and inaccessible - and quickly losing relevance and credibility.

(12-22-2021 03:13 PM)ODone Wrote:  Honestly - it doesn’t seem ambiguous at all to me that ODU values being an accessible place where C+ and first generation students can thrive. Seems fine to me - even an honorable and highly marketable thing to be in a higher education world that is increasingly overpriced and inaccessible - and quickly losing relevance and credibility.

Absolutely.

(12-22-2021 02:16 PM)Chillie Willie Wrote:  

(12-22-2021 01:56 PM)MonarchsWon Wrote:  

(12-22-2021 09:30 AM)ODUalum78 Wrote:  FWIW, my youngest, who is academically the strongest of my three (American, VCU), and is NHS, Beta Club, NMHS, NSHS, NAHS took a tour of ODU and was impressed enough that she is considering it. (She has already been accepted by Maryland, and Ohio State).

I have one who graduated (applied and accepted to UVA / VT and ODU) and one currently enrolled (applied and accepted at JMU and ODU). But I am almost completely alone among all those I went to school with. That's the problem. ODU might be doing well for 1st time graduates but not holding well on Legacies.

I don't have any numbers but I feel like legacies are a rarity. Every kid has different goals and there are a lot of schools to choose from.

That'll only decline too I suspect. I have no clue what my kids will do. My 9 yo wants to go to ODU. But he's 9, not sure how the landscape will look in 8 years. But if he does go he'll be a 4th generation. My grandpa attended, my dad and step mom, me, then him.

My daughter went to JMU. The grandkids are going to ODU. So I see improvements. Lol

I'm from Texas, so I was not even aware of ODU back in '64. However, both of my daughters are alumna. The grandkids are still in elementary school, so it will be a while before there is a chance for legacy Monarchs in our family.

(12-22-2021 03:03 PM)ODUDrunkard13 Wrote:  If we're going to discuss something like academic rankings, can we leave the anecdotal talking points out of it? For folks so concerned about where ODU is as an institution, y'all forget your small friend group isn't enough data to prove anything. And I really don't get the obsession with Runte. ODU has been a safety school since I was in high school in the late 90s/early 00s. Easy to get in, hard to get out of is nothing new here. None of that was any different when Runte was here.

And if you're just upset with them promoting the school's diversity, affordable education and the amount of first-generation college graduates we produce (all things that should be bragged about, as it serves the public good in a real world environment), I don't think you're actually paying attention to their press releases or advertising.

I would argue the former is the reason for the latter. If you are ill prepared for college, you'll get out but not graduate.

(12-23-2021 12:45 PM)VB Monarch Wrote:  

(12-22-2021 03:03 PM)ODUDrunkard13 Wrote:  If we're going to discuss something like academic rankings, can we leave the anecdotal talking points out of it? For folks so concerned about where ODU is as an institution, y'all forget your small friend group isn't enough data to prove anything. And I really don't get the obsession with Runte. ODU has been a safety school since I was in high school in the late 90s/early 00s. Easy to get in, hard to get out of is nothing new here. None of that was any different when Runte was here.

And if you're just upset with them promoting the school's diversity, affordable education and the amount of first-generation college graduates we produce (all things that should be bragged about, as it serves the public good in a real world environment), I don't think you're actually paying attention to their press releases or advertising.

I would argue the former is the reason for the latter. If you are ill prepared for college, you'll get out but not graduate.

Cool, my point was ODUs image from high schoolers was the same in 2002 as it is now. And your "argument" does nothing to disprove that.

(12-22-2021 03:03 PM)ODUMONARCHZ1 Wrote:  I went to a community college first then transferred into ODU, but that was with a 3.5 GPA in CC. I don't think I would have gotten in out of highschool with my GPA and SAT score. lol Definitely was not easy to graduate. ODU certainly is not an easy place to get a degree and I'm very proud to have one from there.

I got in with a 3.45, 1140 on the SAT in 1997. In person applications at my high school. Extra curriculars out the wazoo. Wasn’t real worried about getting in with that to be honest.

But my friend also got in, and she had a 2.4 and had progressively worse SATs that wouldn’t have even made her pass the clearinghouse minimums if she was an athlete. Never broke 800. So it wasn’t terribly hard to get in when I was coming out of HS and I’ve read the acceptance rate is higher now than it was then - I could have read an inaccurate report, but 20+ years ago, some of the requirement was simply “pulse.”

She also didn’t last a year. Most who know my posting history know of my extended run as an undergrad. So the exceptions weren’t the rule …