Valpo's national and international reach

[vu72]

As we approach the beginning of another Valpo sports year I thought it would be interesting to check the rosters to see where our players come from.

I was amazed to find out that our football team has players from 21 different states!  In total, our sports teams have athletes from 27 states and 10 foreign countries.

All in all that tells me that our coaches have good recruiting budgets but more importantly, that Valpo has the academic reputation to attracts kids from far and wide.  I doubt very seriously that many colleges Valpo's size can compare to this wide a reach.

For example, Butler's roster comes from 12 states with 22 players coming from states other than Indiana, Illinois and Ohio.  Valpo, as mentioned earlier, has players from 21 states with 56 coming from other than the adjacent states.

Something to be proud of in my opinion.

[wh]

Something to be proud of in my opinion.

Agreed.  Good job of putting the numbers together. 

[okinawatyphoon]

Awesome to hear....thanks for adding that up! 

[usc4valpo]

I am not sure that is a fair comparison.  Valpo has a national Lutheran reputation with not as much association with Indiana, where Butler has more of an association with a big city, thus several more players from their home state.   

But to be fair academically, let's get the academic admission comparisons, from http://collegeapps.about.com/

Valparaiso

Test Scores -- 25th / 75th Percentile
SAT Critical Reading: 500 / 590
SAT Math: 510 / 620
SAT Writing: 480 / 580
ACT Composite: 23 / 29
ACT English: 23 / 29
ACT Math: 23 / 29

Butler
Test Scores -- 25th / 75th Percentile
SAT Critical Reading: 530 / 620
SAT Math: 530 / 640
SAT Writing: 520 / 630
ACT Composite: 25 / 30
ACT English: 24 / 31
ACT Math: 25 / 29

In reality, Butler was slightly higher.

[wh]

As long as we're making comparisons...

Valpo message board fans avg. sports I.Q. 130

Butler message board fans avg. sports I.Q. 83

So there's that. 

http://www.iqtestforfree.net/IQ-chart.html

[vu72]

I am not sure that is a fair comparison.  Valpo has a national Lutheran reputation with not as much association with Indiana, where Butler has more of an association with a big city, thus several more players from their home state.   

But to be fair academically, let's get the academic admission comparisons, from http://collegeapps.about.com/

Valparaiso

Test Scores -- 25th / 75th Percentile
SAT Critical Reading: 500 / 590
SAT Math: 510 / 620
SAT Writing: 480 / 580
ACT Composite: 23 / 29
ACT English: 23 / 29
ACT Math: 23 / 29

Butler
Test Scores -- 25th / 75th Percentile
SAT Critical Reading: 530 / 620
SAT Math: 530 / 640
SAT Writing: 520 / 630
ACT Composite: 25 / 30
ACT English: 24 / 31
ACT Math: 25 / 29

In reality, Butler was slightly higher.

Wasn't trying to be "fair" , just analyzing the different locations og athletes at the two schools.  The reality is, whether a "Lutheran" draw or otherwise, (apx. 30 % of Valpo students are Lutheran) Valpo has a more "National" draw then many other similar institutions. This national draw also adds to the value of a degree as a wider spread alumni base helps with recognition.  Ask valpotx,  who is an HR guy.

[valpotx]

I run into people everywhere I go that know of Valpo.  I was hiking in Glacier National Park in MT a few weeks back, wearing a Valpo shirt, and several people knew about the school .  I have a massive Valpo flag on my office wall at work lol.  We just hired a VP of Marketing for my business unit, who went to Anderson University for her Bachelor's degree, and like everyone who knows Valpo, she talked about the quality of the school.

[usc4valpo]

Fair enough.  All I was saying is do not necessarily compare the quality of a school just on demographics (and actually test score admissions).

What I experienced at Valpo is this  -- admission standards are not selective, as can be shown by the admission rate.  However, once you get there, you need to bust your tail off.  Valpo does have a good reputation.  What you find out in the working world is that they are several other schools that have a good reputation.

[okinawatyphoon]

Fair enough.  All I was saying is do not necessarily compare the quality of a school just on demographics (and actually test score admissions).

What I experienced at Valpo is this  -- admission standards are not selective, as can be shown by the admission rate.  However, once you get there, you need to bust your tail off.  Valpo does have a good reputation.  What you find out in the working world is that they are several other schools that have a good reputation.

Admission standards cannot be quantified by admission rate exclusively. Having worked in admissions, I can attest that low quality students tend not to apply to Valpo at all. For example, Chicago State University (by most accounts a pretty terrible school) has a much lower admission rate than Valpo. However, the average student that gets accepted there has much lower academic credentials than a student that gets accepted to Valpo. Just some food for thought.

[usc4valpo]

Fair statement.  My question is...would you folks objectively say that Valpo and Butler are comparable academically?  Or are we comparing an apple to an orange?

[valpotx]

Yes, both Valpo and Butler are very similar in regards to academic reputation.  That is why each was in my final 2 choices