<p>Does anyone know how many people actually buy/take look at the rankings? How many people really care about it? How influential it might be on future college applications/employeements?</p>
<p>enough people to maintain usnwr business...</p>
<p>Bobbyjan, corporate recruiters do not look at the USNWR rankings. It is pretty evident that the majority of people who buy the USNWR are either parents and students applying to colleges and college counselors.</p>
<p>Looking at them and placing significant value on them are not synonymous. I look at them, but the fact that one school is ranked above another made very little impact on my college decision. i. e. Caltech is ranked higher than Columbia, but I would not go there if I wanted to be an English major.</p>
<p>but USNWR seems very important to CC. For example, there had been long thread about it all over the years. People started projecting the ranking back to June, two months before it was released. People always classify a college as "first, second or third" tier. And a study by some professor at cornell shows that admission rate and financial decisions are indeed effected by USNWR rank of the schools. I have one more question, if it weren't for the USNWR, how many people would know the qualities of schools like bowdoin, claremont mckenna, lehigh, and emory?</p>
<p>For many people, USNWR gives them a place to start when researching colleges. Many others use it to gain bragging rights.</p>
<p>can you share some "bragging rights" story? it would be interesting to hear.</p>