<p>Hey parents! My friends and I have been having an ongoing <em>friendly</em> argument over who will be attending the best college next year. I know you parents are knowledgable about all things college and so I created this account to see if you could bring your own insight to the table.</p>
<p>Please don't rank them based on US news rankings, but on your own opinions, experiences, anecdotes, etc. </p>
<p>So my question to you is, could you please rank the following colleges (undergraduate) on how good they are (i.e most selective, smartest student body, presitgous, etc.) Thank you so much! We're really just having a friendly argument, trust me, no feelings will be hurt, as we all are extremely excited with where we're going and know that above all, FIT is the most important.</p>
<p>University of Michigan
Carnegie Mellon University
Tufts University
Macalaster College
UCONN Honors
Hamilton College
WashU in St. Louis
Emory Univesity
NYU</p>
<p>Oh this one is easy. Each of you. Because each of you is attending the best college for YOU, the one where you will excel and explore. You all have a lot to be proud of and a lot to look forward to. Enjoy the rest of your summer.</p>
<p>Thank you! We are all really happy with where we’re going, and know we lucked out in that we got into some really tough schools to get into.
I’d still love it though if some other parents might care to chime in.</p>
<p>Oh and if it means anything, this is the way I’ve got them ordered:</p>
<p>WashU in St. Louis
Emory Univesity
Tufts University
Carnegie Mellon University
Macalaster College
University of Michigan
UCONN Honors
NYU
Hamilton College</p>
<p>WashU in St. Louis
Emory Univesity
University of Michigan
Carnegie Mellon University
Tufts University
NYU
Hamilton College
Macalaster College
UCONN Honors</p>
<p>Realistically, the best you can do is look at each criteria separately… one of the schools would win for being most selective (# of applicants / # acceptances)… one of the schools would win for smallest class size… one of the schools would win for highest mid-range (25 - 75) SAT scores and another would win for best _____ department.</p>
<p>It is kind of worthless, this argument. For example, St Olaf (ranked about #50 as a LAC) has a music department that far outstrips almost all the other private LACs that are ranked higher than it. For a musician, looking for a LAC, going to #50 St Olaf is the big win.</p>
<p>And then there are the other factors involved - what is offered a private LAC is different than what is offered at a large public university. It really is like comparing fruits - is an apple better than an orange? </p>
<p>In other words, you might as well ask us here on the forum to rank the follow fruits by which is best: apples, oranges, tangerines, bananas, grapes, kiwi and strawberries. Can’t be done with a straight face and credibility. If you asked which had the highest vitamin C content, now we can engage.</p>
<p>Maybe you and your friends can come up with a game that is quite a bit more friendly than your “friendly” game. I suspect that a few of you are probably a bit more insecure than letting on. Consider that even if you feel friendly about this game that playing it is actually more destructive than supportive and that some kids’ feelings likely <em>are</em> going to be or already are being hurt (regardless of protests to the contrary).</p>
<p>Best of luck. Maybe spend a few moments thinking about ways that truly supports and acknowledges what you each have accomplished.</p>
<p>“Maybe you and your friends can come up with a game that is quite a bit more friendly than your “friendly” game. I suspect that a few of you are probably a bit more insecure than letting on. Consider that even if you feel friendly about this game that playing it is actually more destructive than supportive and that some kids’ feelings likely <em>are</em> going to be or already are being hurt (regardless of protests to the contrary)”</p>
<p>This is true.
It’s also true that the ratings would vary depending on what part of the country is rating. </p>
<p>Michigan, for instance, probably would come out as #1 or #2 if people in Ohio, Michigan and Ill. were rating.</p>
<p>Macalester might even come out on top if the people rating were from Minn. or Wisconsin.</p>
<p>Tufts might be #1 of the group if people from Mass. were rating. U Conn. would rank very high on the list if New Englanders were rating them.</p>
<p>Hamilton would probably rank much higher than in most lists here if people from NY were rating.</p>
<p>Each of those colleges has its strengths, and there could be excellent reasons to attend any of them. One could be successful and respected by going to any of those schools.</p>
<p>Oh thank you to everyone! Thanks to those who humored me and shared their own rankings, and to those who didn’t, for still giving their take on the situation, and even to those who made me laugh with the fruit rankings. I knew there was a reason i’ve been lurking CC the last year. :-)</p>