I'm not. I've actually been telling the starry-eyed masses for awhile that UM won't move up at all in the new rankings. The effects of the research going on now won't show up at all in US News until next year's issue.
The research component for the new rankings that are coming out this week will be the average of NIH awards to med schools from FY 05 and FY 06.
Problem is, the awards from the NIH for the new research (by the new recruits, in the new facilities, etc.) didn't start being classified as UM awards until FY 07 (this year).
Thus, I'm absolutely positive that there will be a large jump in next year's ranking, and an even bigger, behemoth-sized jump the following year, when FY 07 and FY 08 awards will comprise the total research activity component.
Since I'm not a fortune teller, I can't tell you how much cheaper a condo is going to be four years from now, what the average step 1 score will be, or how much tuition will cost. The only thing I can tell you with absolute certainty is that UM will be the highest ranked med school in the state.