No Business

I'd be surprised if Business Administration is a rigorous major:

The Internet search:

business "princeton review" site:albany.edu

returns a number of albany.edu webpages where the School of Business uses the Princeton Review as an authoritative source. E.g.

"'This national ranking in Princeton Review reflects our growing prominence in teaching and research,' said School of Business Dean Don Siegel. 'More importantly, it signifies our commitment to providing students with the strong foundation they need to succeed in today's competitive business environment.'"

"The Princeton Review Ranks UAlbany's School of Business Among Top 15 Graduate Schools Most Highly Rated By Students." University at Albany. April 27, 2009. http://www.albany.edu/news/release_6095.php

"Princeton Review Names UAlbany MBA #3 for Women

"The University at Albany MBA has once again been named one of the Top Ten MBA programs with the Greatest Opportunity for Women by the Princeton Review, ranking the program as #3 in the 2012 edition of Best 301 Business Schools. The school has been rated in the top ten for the past 4 years."

"Princeton Review Ranks UAlbany MBA in Top 15

"The Princeton Review Student Opinion Honors for Business Schools found that the UAlbany MBA ranks with Harvard, Dartmouth and Stanford in the general management category. Over 19,000 student surveys were used to identify the 15 top business schools in accounting, finance, general management, global management, marketing and operations. UAlbany was the only SUNY school named in any category."

"Awards and Honors for the School of Business" http://www.albany.edu/business/school-of-business-awards.php

The right sidebar for the above page actually links itself as "Princeton Review Honors" rather than merely "Honors" (honors from the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Society for Human Resource Management also appear on the page).

The School of Business is perhaps not well acquainted with the Princeton Review, which is not affiliated with Princeton University:

"If this [Princeton Review] were a term paper, it would get an 'F' in methodology," university spokeswoman Lisa James-Goldsberry said in a statement. "The rankings are not to be taken seriously and are certainly not reflective of the serious, hardworking students at Albany."

"Albany has nation's top party school." Chicago Tribune. August 17, 2004. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2004-08-17/news/0408170400_1_princeton-review-students-albany

"so many of us share dismay and disappointment with the published results of the cursory, unscientific surveys conducted for the Princeton Review college guide […] we will be working as a community to counter the misleading picture presented by the Princeton Review"

Ryan, John R. "Letter from Interim President Ryan on Princeton Review." August 20, 2004. http://www.albany.edu/main/announcement/jrr082004.htm

The Princeton Review got the last laugh, looks like.

The School of Business also uses ratemyprofessors.com as an authoritative source:

"Accounting and Law professor Rated 5th in the Nation on Ratemyprofessors.com Accounting and Law professor Paul Morgan Jr. is 'five in a million.' The adjunct has been rated 5th in the country from a group of over one million faculty on RateMyProfessors.com second annual top ten list of Top-Rated Professors."

"Awards for School of Business Faculty." University at Albany. http://www.albany.edu/business/school-of-business-faculty-awards.php

Paul Morgan, Jr.'s page there: http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=125645. It has cogent reviews like:

"Morgan is a Manimal hands down best professor at UA! So easy to get his concepts and he hilarious. He holds review sessions the class before the test and he gives you every little thing that will be on there! Hard to fail, I'm a B level student and i got an A! Take it! best experience I've had here"

and

"amazing. easily the most entertaining class you will ever sit in and you will learn more than you realize. you get morgan lol.. he's a great teacher and truly cares about his students. tests are hard but theres a curve, don't be lazy, open your notebook for one hour (thats it!) and you will get an A without a doubt".

Ratings are anonymous and can be done by anyone, even people who've never taken one of Morgan's classes, even people who aren't University at Albany students. Negative ratings can be reported and deleted, and it's not at all clear who at the website oversees that process. I tend to believe the two quoted above could be real, though.

If one takes the time to look at the copyright notice on ratemyprofessors.com, it reads "RateMyProfessors.com, LLC. Powered by mtvU and MTV NETWORKS."

Does MTV strike anyone as particularly academic? mtvU and MTV Networks are part of Viacom http://www.viacom.com/ourbrands/medianetworks/mtvnetworks/pages/default.aspx; Viacom is largely held by National Amusements, Inc. http://www.showcasecinemas.com/about-us

I think ratemyprofessors.com would get an "F" in methodology too. Not at UA, though, where an "F" is called an "E" for some reason or another.

Paraphrasing the Dead Kennedys (only slightly!):

You've turned university education

Into Pat Boone sedation

Making sure nothing's left to the imagination

M.T.V. Get off the

M.T.V. Get off the

M.T.V. Get off the air

Get off the air

The lowest common denominator rules

Forget honesty

Forget creativity

The dumbest buy the mostest

That's the name of the game

Dead Kennedys. "M.T.V.-Get Off the Air." Frankenchrist. Alternative Tentacles, 1985.