<p>The 2007 Princeton Review college rankings rank Columbia University #4 in their "Best Overall Academic Experience for Undergraduates" list. However, from what people on this forum say about Columbia's somewhat indifferent administration and lack of hand-holding compared to many other colleges, I was rather confused. What would warrant a #4 ranking on this list, or should this ranking be taken with a grain of salt? Thanks.</p>
<p>I don't know very much about Columbia, but PR is NOT to be taken seriously- at least, not without a lot of salt. Consider this:</p>
<p>2003:
1. Yale
2. Princeton
3. Duke
4. Amherst
5. MIT</p>
<p>2004:
1. Chicago
2. Marlboro
3. Reed
4. St. John's
5. Swarthmore</p>
<p>2005:
1. Reed
2. Marlboro
3. St. John's
4. Swarthmore
5. Williams</p>
<p>2006:
1. Chicago
2. Stanford
3. Rice
4. Columbia
5. Reed</p>
<p>:confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:</p>
<p>You'll notice that colleges with core curricula fare well on this survey, though in different years -- Chicago, Reed, St. John's, Columbia. Columbia does offer a top academic experience, especially if you are a believer in the Great Books approach and a traditional liberal arts education no matter what your major. That doesn't have anything to do with student gripes about the administration or advising. I have not had one moment's doubt that my S is getting a great education at Columbia.</p>
<p>Why wouldn't you take a ranking with a grain of salt? I've never seen a ranking talbe which was perfectly accurate. It's a bad idea to rely too much on rankings tbh...</p>
<p>i mean, not to get too much into it, but it depends on what you consider important to receive at a college education. your list might include:</p>
<ul>
<li>receiving high-level training in the ability to think analytically</li>
<li>becoming an expert in an area of human thinking</li>
<li>receiving a general humanizing sense of great thinking from past to present, in an effort to become a better and more well-rounded person</li>
<li>meet people like yourself who are on a track to success and who will become friends for life</li>
<li>get access to the best job opportunities, alum networks, and career tracks</li>
<li>join in the frenzy of a good college sports program</li>
<li>discover more about yourself and the variety of the world around you</li>
<li>discover new activities or interests that you were unaware of, or uninterested in</li>
<li>have a good time while you're living the student life</li>
<li>life an easy and relaxed life with the best facilities and access and resources available to you on campus</li>
</ul>
<p>there's a lot that you might seek to gain. some of those are more important than others, especially the first 3 of course, but the point is that between a lot of these schools, the biggest goals there are fungible. There's very little difference between a lot of these places until you get down to specializations and individual professors. Rankings based on "tiers" for different categories make sense to me, and rankings based on how students express preferences (i.e. the revealed pref rankings) make intellectual sense to me, but everything beyond that - especially USNWR - seems like high-grade BS to me.</p>
<p>I still don't get how holding your hand would benefit you. If I want something, I go and get it. </p>
<p>Who wants to be spoon-fed and cuddled up until 2011 and then released into the real world? </p>
<p>Not me.</p>
<p>The PR rankings are bogus. They're the result of voluntarily taken student surveys. If lots of Columbians take the survey, Columbia will be on lots of lists. Why do you think nearly unknown schools like Reed or Marlboro are so prevalent? It's because their students take the survey.</p>
<p>That said, Columbia is a great place for undergraduate education, but many Columbians would disagree.</p>
<p>I agree with the "grain of salt" assessment, but this is what Princeton Review says it considers in coming up with that list:
[quote]
Best Overall Academic Experience for Undergraduates
Based on The Princeton Review ACADEMIC RATING:</p>
<p>Academic Rating
How hard students work and how much they get back for their efforts, on a scale of 60-99. This rating is calculated from student survey results and statistical information reported by administrators. Factors weighed include how many hours students study outside of the classroom and the quality of students the school attracts. We also considered students' assessments of their professors, class size, student-teacher ratio, use of teaching assistants, amount of class discussion, registration, and resources.
[/quote]
</p>