<p>what's the tier 3 college mean?HELP?</p>
<p>I believe that a "tier 3" college is referring to the USNews and World Report's annual college/university ranking system, where is appropriates certain colleges to go into the various tiers, I believe up to four. Tier 1 and Tier 2 represent the "top" 50% of schools nation wide, and Tier 3 and 4 represent the bottom. Tiers 1 and 2 are given rankings, where as 3 and 4 are not. The higher the tier, the higher the regard for the college/university. </p>
<p>HOWEVER, I believe that it is important to know that these rankings from the US News and World Report have been widely criticized, most notably by Reed College, which, for over a decade, has refused to participate in the ranking system. </p>
<p>Reed College President recently wrote a piece as to why the school pulled out, mainly because of three reasons (1. it favors superficial reputations such as wealth and prestige) (2. because it is a one-size-fits-all survey that they give out, so that individual schools' strengths are marginalized because of other factors, namely admittance rates) and (3. because the ranking system is a powerful incentive for colleges to cheat, to skew their data and institutional behavior so that the school appears to be better than it is in certain categories).</p>
<p>The surveys given out, which are what the US News and World Report's rankings are based upon, are given to the presidents of schools, and it is based on their reputations, rumours, and thoughts about the other colleges (not based on fact). The presidents filling out the survey might not have even visited the campuses s/he is ranking, but that is not taken into account. </p>
<p>I would wish that no one base their college decision on the US News and World Report, because it is flawed and hopelessly irrelevant, although it seems convenient.</p>
<p>see the article here <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200511/shunning-college-rankings%5B/url%5D">http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200511/shunning-college-rankings</a></p>
<p>thanx a lot</p>