GSU Explores FBS Move

[panama]

I do know that
1 - they know academics in CAA is better than SB
2 - they know basketball in CAA in better than SB
3 - they know football in SB is barely FBS
4 - they know FBS a football team in the South equate to a better school, in public's mind, than a FCS football school in the South

From what I have seen & heard first hand and second hand is that the school will get more recognition and alumni giving when they have FBS football. Welcome to how universities are graded in the deep South.

Conduit

Remember, if Patton had started football in the 90's we would already be in the Big East

[RidgeRunner]

Conduit

Remember, if Patton had started football in the 90's we would already be in the Big East

I agree & think things would be different. Don't think we have ever joined the CAA (I think it was a good choice cause we had no football). He just did not understand the importance of football in the deep South though he did eat his words and start the ball rolling. Honestly, neither did I having come down from the North.

[Mathman]

I'd go with ODU and Towson. Large, urban schools with room for growth in the classroom.

I agree, although I think ODU is closer to GSU as a peer institution.

Do you think your decision-makers are considering peer academics with regards to FBS conferences?

The decision is made among the university presidents' so yes, academics is a factor when entering any conference. The higher up the conference the harder as West Virginia found out. Their rival, Pitt, is AAU so Pitt had nothing to prove academically.

For GSU, I see leaving the CAA for the Sunbelt as a big step down in terms of academic peer institutions. If GSU left and the CAA wanted another Georgia team, I'm not sure who would fit. Mercer is good enough academically but they might have to take their athletics up a notch. Georgia Southern can compete but I don't think their academics are up to CAA standards.

[-Tribal-]

Georgia Southern can compete but I don't think their academics are up to CAA standards.

Are GA State's academics superior to GA Southern's?

[Mathman]

Are GA State's academics superior to GA Southern's?

I would have thought the logical flow of this discussion would have made that conclusion obvious. Their average freshman SATs are slightly higher but GSU does far more research and offers a wide range of Doctoral programs. GSU has research programs in biology, chemistry, physics, astronomy, mathematics, computer science. Plus GSU has a highly ranked business school and solidly ranked law school.

This is the sort of stuff GSU does

http://www.gsu.edu/news/58235.html

and has a neuroscience intstitute

http://neuroscience.gsu.edu/

GSU is the primary research group of the CHARA telescope in California

http://www.chara.gsu.edu/CHARA/

That baby was GSU's idea. CHARA is there because of better atmospheric conditions and the Mount Wilson observatory.

There's other stuff but the point being that GSU is heavily involved with research.

[-Tribal-]

I've obviously never stepped foot in either institution's classroom. The reason I posed my question is because both are 2nd tier schools and, as you mentioned, SAT scores are similar. You mentioned that GA SO's academics aren't up to CAA standards but they seem to be on GA St's level and Towson/ODU aren't lighting up the US News rankings, either. GA St is clearly a much larger university and offers lots of programs/degrees but some of the finest schools in the nation, namely small liberal arts colleges, have exceptional academics but don't offer law degrees or neurophysiolobiotecnical degrees. Think Williams College, Amherst College, Washington & Lee, and Swarthmore College...most of their incoming students could have gone to Yale.

Mine was an innocent question because, frankly, the "best" school is the school that's best for a particular student...you wouldn't go to W&M if you wanted to be a mechanical engineer unless you wanted to earn a Master's in that discipline at some other university. I'm confident Appy & GA So could find a place in the CAA.

[panama]

From US New & World Report Compass

Number of ranked categories. Undergrad/Graduate /Online

Georgia Southern 2/5/12
Georgia State 5/32/4
Georgia 10/49/3
Georgia Tech 20/33/0

[panama]

From The University System of Georgia

http://www.usg.edu/inst/group

Research Universities

Georgia Health Sciences University
Georgia Institute of Technology
Georgia State University
University of Georgia

Regional Universities

Georgia Southern University
Valdosta State University

[RidgeRunner]

Mine was an innocent question because, frankly, the "best" school is the school that's best for a particular student...you wouldn't go to W&M if you wanted to be a mechanical engineer unless you wanted to earn a Master's in that discipline at some other university.

So often overlooked: What does the student need. Test sores are nice but as my experience bears out while most high scorers are very good students, many are not while a good number of lower scoring students end up doing quite well in undergrad. Motivation on entering undergraduate school is very different from HS and further along entering graduate school is yet another leap that some high scorers fail and lower some lower scoring students succeed. Given the choice though high achievement in HS does generally equate to higher achievement in college. GSU and other large univeristies allow many lower achieving HS students to find their area to achieve success. Smaller schools like W&M are great for a high level of competition among generally high achievers. What is right for any one person just is not easy to calculate.

[QUOTE]I'm confident Appy & GA So could find a place in the CAA.[/QOTE] GA Southern just is not in the same caliber as CAA schools. SAT scores is only factor, not the end. Everyone keeps trying to quantize quality. When you take enough math courses in probabilities and quality control you will find out this is true. US News makes a good living producing a fool's list, while not entirely wrong, it is filled with serious problems. The data is useful. owever the ranking is extremely suspect except, of course, to those that profit from it.

[-Tribal-]

So true, Ridge. My HS guidance counselor knew I wanted to go to grad school. She suggested I attend a college with average academics so I could earn excellent grades in preparation for graduate studies. I've never taken the easy road so it came down to UVA, W&M and a fallback school. Still earned 2 graduate degrees and never questioned my decisions. At the end of the day, potential employers (generally) want to know if you have a degree and don't much care about where you earned it. It's a little different for grad school...if I wanted to practice law in GA, I would have gone to law school IN Georgia for obvious reasons.

Isn't Georgia Southern a National Research University?



Just kidding, Panama...simmer down.