The Most Popular Colleges in America Aren't the Ones You'd Exp

[Harry]

Interesting that Liberty is #1 on the list. That school must be really growing.

http://mic.com/articles/103988/the-most-popular-colleges-in-america-aren-t-the-ones-you-think

[oldguystudent]

Outside of Alabama, where are the power football schools that supposedly increase applications so much?

A good number of those schools are very young, so it would be expected that their application increases based on a percentage of some base point 12 years ago would be high.

I don't think this article is a very good metric at all.

Also, what the hell is a Liberty University? Never heard of it. Ah. Jerry Falwell college, now with over 100,000 online "students." That would greatly explain a lot of the application increase. They're padding numbers with online "applicants."

[forevereagle]

Not sure that this means that these universities are actually popular, just increasing in popularity. Given its' enrollment, UT is the most popular school in the country. Using this metric, UT will never register on this list as it would be nearly impossible for them to increase applications at a rate high enough to place on the list.

OGS, I think that Baylor's presence on the list has a lot to do with an increased football profile.

[oldguystudent]

OGS, I think that Baylor's presence on the list has a lot to do with an increased football profile.

Point conceded. Didn't notice them on the list.

[forevereagle]

Point conceded. Didn't notice them on the list.

Not sure that your point isn't valid, but there is one example on the list. If the phenomenon was to be believed, the entire list would have been made up of these types of schools.

[Cerebus]

This is a prime example of misapplying stats to point to a nonsensical conclusion.

[Eagle1855]

This is a prime example of misapplying stats to point to a nonsensical conclusion.

This. Exactly this.