The Rankings of CMU by Students

April 26, 2001 36-203 Sarah Karlson Edward Cho Richard Gasperini Heather Frantz

Introduction

•Why did we choose this subject?

•How did students rank CMU before coming here?

•Have these rankings changed since coming to CMU?

Presentation Outline

• Background and Design • Confidentiality • Expectations • Results • Summary

Background and Design

•Target Population •CMU Undergraduates •Sampled Frame •List of all Undergraduate Andrew User ID’s •Sampling Population •Undergraduates chosen randomly by ID

Background and Design

•Sample Size •253 undergraduates •Sample Scheme •Proportional Allocation by College •Mode of Survey •Email with 2 follow ups, 4 days apart

Questionnaire Design

•Questionnaire explored the ranking of CMU by students and the level of satisfaction •Satisfaction measured on five different levels •Pilot tested on 21 students •No major changes came from testing •Different email systems produced different responses

Confidentiality

•Confidentiality statement in email survey •User ID’s stripped from data •ID’s of respondents wanting results of data stored separately •ID’s will be deleted as soon as results are sent out

Expectations

•Response Rate •Hoped for a 50% response •Data •CMU is not usually ranked first among students when applying to college •CMU’s ranking doesn’t improve after coming here •Some facets of campus life not satisfactory (i.e. dining services, social life)

Data Observed as of 4/25/01

•Survey sent out 4/19/01 at 4:14 AM •Response Rate- 12% (30 responses) •First follow-up 4/23/01 at 2:35 PM •Response Rate- 25.3% (64 responses) •Second follow-up to be on 4/26/01

Response Results

• Gender breakdown •59% Male •41% Female

Response Results

Response Over Time

30 25 20 15 10 5 0 19 th 20 th 21 th 22 nd 23

Date

rd 24 th 25 th Series1

Response Results

Response Rate by College

20 10 0 CFA CIT HSS MCS SCS

College

SIA Series1

Findings

Rankings Before Attending

Ranked 1st Lower than 1st

Findings

Rankings After Attending

Ranked 1st Lower than 1st

Findings

Avg. Initial Rank by College

3 2 1 0 CFA CIT HSS MCS

College

SCS SIA

Findings

6 5 4 3 2 1 0

Number of Applications by College

CFA CIT HSS MCS

College

SCS SIA

Academic Ranking by College

4.5

4.0

3.5

CFA CIT HSS MCS College SCS SIA

Social Ranking by College

3.45

3.35

3.25

3.15

3.05

2.95

2.85

2.75

CFA CIT HSS MCS College SCS SIA

Facility Ranking by College

3.5

3.4

3.3

3.2

3.1

3.0

2.9

2.8

CFA CIT HSS MCS College SCS SIA

Comments- Academic

- The quality of education and the access to opportunities that I could not have received elsewhere had been amazing.

- Top of the line education - The workload and difficulty of CMU classes are not easier than some of those famous universities. However, the fame of CMU is not as high as others.

- Courses take up too much time

Comments – Facility

- Plenty of computer resources, hunt library is pathetic, the dining services are horrible – little selection, overpriced, not open at convenient hours, no healthy food, not really sanitary, unfriendly workers -The computer resources are definitely exceptional compared to my friends experiences at other universities. However, the facilities that would lead to better quality of life are definitely lacking. There are a very limited number of quiet comfortable study areas and the dining/vendor services are pathetic - Dining svc blows

Comments – Social

-No time for a real social life. People are so damn uptight and scared no matter what you do. The frat’s are loaded with desperate people, eager to prove themselves in the most amoral ways possible. The drama school is full of cool people turned messed up due to immense pressures forcing all of their creativity and expression to be compacted into a very toxic subconscious, leaking out in the form of appalling carnival ritual (just ask around). Everyone just needs to sit back, take a breath and forget about all the crap they’re afraid of and try to live their damn lives and they might be happier for it.

-Friends are great, the dating scene here sucks, though either people are totally undateable (they lack social skills, hygiene, etc.) or they are complete jerks. Fraternity boys here are lame in general

Summary

•Expectations met: •Unsatisfactory dining services •Majority of students did not rank CMU 1 st before attending •Ranking usually stays the same after attendance