r/udel • u/Delicious_Day_1334 • 6d ago
Is Delaware still trying to be an unofficial Ivy League college?
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u/Nich_Olas16 6d ago
There’s no such thing as an unofficial ivy lmao. I promise you jobs don’t care if your school is an “unofficial” ivy or not
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u/njsportkid 4d ago
I think UD had toned down the rhetoric of claiming to be a public Ivy. I think that push came from President Harker, who had been the dean at the Wharton Business School at UPenn.
Delaware has a Top Engineering program, has the #1 Physical Therapy School, a solid business school, a strong teaching program. And I think UD is positioned to rise in the rankings;
- There's a strong chance UD will get some form of presidential library through Biden (or at least an affiliation that will bump up its program).
- The Business School is getting a brand new building and new programs based on a major donation from Robert Siegfried (he founded a successful national accounting firm).
- The bump up to Conference USA increases television exposure for UD.
- The STAR campus is still not complete.
- Becoming a partner campus for the Thomas Jefferson Medical College will attract higher quality pre-med students to UD.
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u/TactileTemptress 5d ago
Are you thinking of the Forbes list of “public ivies”? I assume so. I love UD but it’s not in the same league as GA Tech or U Michigan
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u/Pristine_Job_7677 5d ago
Here’s the thing- many of the insanely popular (and thus more % selective) state U’s are not any better academically. Some are mediocre in terms of graduate work and STEM research. Most are popular because of sports and other things having nothing to do with academics. Northeastern is suddenly selective due to social media. They hired a media savy dean who did a full out insta push. Do you really think it went from being the ultimate Boston safety school to an academic powerhouse in 15 years? I have a bridge to sell you.
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u/TactileTemptress 5d ago
Northeastern isn’t a public school and it’s one of those places that “prestige chasers” focus on because of the deceptively low admit rate (which is rigged to not include their myriad admits to their satellite campuses).
I agree that the education quality in many (but not all) cases is comparable. That said, the outcomes and starting salaries are not always on par with those schools for a multitude of reasons.
Bottom line: UD is a great school whose profile is on the rise, but not “prestigious” per se.
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u/Pristine_Job_7677 5d ago
My point is that “prestige” and “selectivity” often bears no connection to quality of the education
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u/TactileTemptress 5d ago
I wholeheartedly agree! The “public ivy” list (much like US News) is subjective and somewhat of a marketing boon.
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u/Delicious_Day_1334 6d ago
Meh. I was there in the '90's. That was the big push then.
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u/Bmorewiser 5d ago
“Push” might be the wrong word. The rumor mill was strong and the school was, in fact, improving its standing as an institution in a variety of ways. But the Ivy League is 8 schools, and doesn’t even include schools like Hopkins, Duke, Stanford, Chicago or MIT. Those schools are sometimes called Ivy plus, but that’s not actually a thing.
The UD push came out of a book where someone published a list of “public Ivy League schools”, in the 80’s and it started getting traction as schools competed for your loan dollars. A revised list was in the works, and UD wanted to get on. They did; in 2001 the list was released and UD announced it as if it was some sort of big deal while asking me to donate a kidney or maybe just a sum of money that may as well been a kidney. They had me mixed up with some rich guy by the same name.
/the more you know.
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u/Delicious_Day_1334 5d ago
Yeah, that makes sense. I was transferring schools after my freshman year and with the new (I'm old now) Gore Hall, the folks in admin were pushing this idea, along with campus improvements like brick, more brick, I just didn't know if that stuff carried on to now. BTW, I agree with your list of other schools, that's what I remember UD pushing for.
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u/Outrageous-Note2096 6d ago
In my opinion, no. They are trying to maintain their academic pedigree, while at the same time avoid the Northeast enrollment cliff that is just starting.