I think some people would find this interesting.  Forbes came out with their list of the top 650 colleges in the nation.  To save you all some trouble, here are the ranks of the MAC schools:

278: Miami University
353: Ohio University
381: University at Buffalo
481: Bowling Green
496: Temple University
566: Kent State
560: Ball State
610: Northern Illinois
620: Toledo
623: Akron
626: Central Michigan
641: Eastern Michigan
645: Western Michigan

Side note: Marshall is not ranked (LOL).

EDIT: I forgot to cite my sources: http://www.forbes.com/top-colleges/list/#p_1_s_aRank

Lists are generally "talk starters."
Two thoughts:

• Nice to discover OSU down the list among Ohio colleges and universities (at No. 283)
• What is "Acedimic" (in the Subject line) mean? Methinks perhaps we just flunked spelling!

*Facepalm*

Pardon me as I regret not checking what I type for typos.

I am glad to see OHIO coming in above Clemson (374) and Georgia Tech (397). The problem with the private schools is that unless people have heard of them their academic quality is suspect and compared with local type colleges (Rio Grande!) when interviewing out of the area. I never have anyone ask me about the party school rep at Ohio unless they are from the state. People generally see what we've been saying about the other schools like Wisconsin and Georgia on the list as to the type of schools listed on the party rankings in that OHIO is nothing more than another selective state school with big student parties. On the other hand its good to go to college where you want to live. If you don't want to live in Ohio why go to college there? If you want to live in LA even if where you go is a minor college empolyers will be familiar with it.  

I'm ignoring the cost factor in the equation. Assuming money and special job preparation is not an issue, I would look at where you want to live. You've also have to think of dating here. Often you find who you are going to marry in college. They may want to stay locally when they graduate. In-state schools are geared toward landing a job in one of the cities in that state. The Columbus kids are by and large going down to Athens for there education to return back to the suburb after graduation and look for a job locally. Unless they are planning to go on to grad school right after college, that is a different story.

I get your point, but I'm still going to make a shameless plug about my hometown. 

http://images.businessweek.com/slideshows/20110801/cities-with-the-biggest-growth-in-tech-jobs/slides/11

Cities with the Biggest Growth in Tech Jobs

No. 1 Cleveland

 

The tech jobs aren't really concentrated in Ohio. Its the big city markets that drive demand. The pay is often 2 times higher for solution architects with plenty of companies to choose from. Then its a cost of living vs. nowhere worth living comparison. I could see going out west for more recreation as appealing. The state of Ohio has a negative reputation the further you move away from it. Ohioans tend to be very die hard into sports and drinking which is not considered cool by liberal east/west coasters who tend to be fitness freaks. Ohioans tend to raise kids in the suburbs fearful of more ethnic areas and they follow that pattern when they move to your state. Going to school in Ohio is not going to help you to adjust to living on the coasts. 

The success measures are more in regards to mobility (Third World vs. Western), education (PhD vs. JD), and the challenge level of your athletic activities (Triathlon vs. Marathon). Material items are passe. Its a hyper self celf centered, self indulgent attitude. The world ends and begins around YOU! (I am the Alpha and the Omega). Seriously, none of us are here on thie earth indefinitely. Life shouldn't be about maximizing your individual performance as much as enjoying the time that you hsve. Doing what you excel at and what you love. If you can take something positive out what others are doing that is great.

My comments are voiced through the lens of the haute culture. Portland I do not know how I feel about that town. The haute culture way of doing things is to split a bottle of wine when having lunch with friends on a Saturday afternoon. It's drinking, its dependency but its not like the case of beer every Saturday kind of drinking that goes on in the Midwest. Its a good point on the walkability of Athens preparing someone for a walkable urban environment. Do the students by and large "get it" as pseduo-urban living?  I say 25% does, the remainder views it as a drinking outpost.   

I guess I can't think of two factors more important in choosing a college than money and job prep.

Our journalism/communication school would have roughly 1-2 students per year if they were planning on staying in Athens, maybe a couple dozen if they planned to stay in Ohio.  I guess perhaps this is more true in more traditional fields like business or education, but I feel like for our stronger, better recognized programs, the intentions of the students are more widespread.  Of the young alums I've spent time with at school, far more are working outside Ohio than in it.

Also, maybe you could throw in there leaving the world a better place than you found it, and investing your resources of time and money in helping others.  I know lots of OU grads in our region who are either teaching or practicing social work, not getting paid a lot, but they believe they are making a contribution to their communities and they're reasonably content. 

(Of course, one could then argue that getting into a high paying profession and investing wisely would position a person to invest more resources in helping others.)

Wow...I guess balance is the key word.  I believe that OU alumni, taken as an aggregate, strike a good balance on all these issues. 

This thread got me to reflecting on some of my more memorable teachers.  Bear with me as I comment and consider the following as an overdue public salute.

St. Mary's: Sister Michael Ann.  Was my teacher in 5th grade, as I recall.  This Franciscan brought good humour and verve to her teaching.  Taught Ohio history in a way that might have launched my lifelong interest in history.

Shelby HIgh School.  Mel John.  Had him twice for algebra and advanced algebra.  Taught with a remarkable combination of patience and wit.  His Christmas card to students was a series of equations, the answers to which revealed his holiday greeting.  Dora Summer. Had her for two years of Latin.  I credit her teaching for enabling me to pretty much figure things out in any country using a Romance language. 

OU.  Leslie Sargent.  Taught a course called Contemporary Thought & Development.  Required us to do research and write under deadlines.  His detailed editing and annotating made us more thoughtful and better writers.

Marshall Law at Cleveland State.  Hymen Cohen.  Taught torts.  Was a master of the Socratic method.  Encouraged debate and disagreement.

Stanford Graduate School of Business.  Robert Burgelman.  Taught corporate strategy.  Was absolutely electric in the classroom; awesome combination of intellectual and physical energy.  George Parker.  Taught finance with incomparable wit and self-deprecating humor.  Jim Lattin.  Taught marketing.  Actively solicited lessons FROM his students. 

U.S. Army.  Colonel Walter Moore.  Man of great decency.  Didn't hesitate to publicly recognize superior performanc.e.  Cared for his people and those of Korea where he was serving. 

Ratemyprofessor.com??? That's all I need to know about these rankings. If that is one of your major criteria, you have no idea what you're talking about.