I think everyone needs to relax. If you don’t like the list, don’t read it and don’t take any stock in it. If you’re going to get on Roger, get on every other person who posts stupid stuff too. Please just leet it go and realize that the lists are an indicator. I appreciated the guys and girls category especially. Haha. Looking for a school with a higher girls than guys rating (I’m a guy).
Would it be correct to assume, as I do, that behind the scenes somewhere is a co-marketing agreement where CC gets a portion of all revenue that College ******* receives as a result of the referrals it gets from CC? If so, that’s something that absolutely should be disclosed.
a BIG disclaimer, giving the source of information.
I would think a disclaimer definitely needs to be placed prominently on this chart. Just looking at the list of the academic ratings (probably the easiest category to question) shows that its methodology must be questioned. C’mon, URochester and Washington & Lee gets an “A,” while Columbia and Penn get “A-” along with a school like American??? Cornell gets a B+, along with a school like BU??? I don’t think any person serious in academia or knowledgeable about academic programs would agree with these ratings.
I always thought CC had something against College *******, since it censors the name in all posts. Now I see they’re in cahoots. I’m confused…
But I do agree that the partnership “cheapens” CC and lessens its credibility with the parents who frequent the site.
Wow! I think that this kind of endorsement really hurts CC’s credibility. I agree that, at a minimum, a bold, underlined, all caps disclaimer is warranted here, that discloses (or links to) not only the methodologies involved in the process and the response rates of any surveys that were used to compile the information, but also any relationship, contractual or otherwise, between CC and College *******. I am dismayed.
As it presently exists, this new “feature” merits more of a dismissal than a disclaimer.
We keep on being told that it’s a compilation of student surveys. Done by who? What were the questions? How many responded? The shortcomings are so numerous and obvious I won’t go on.
This is not a service, it is a disservice.
Either full disclosure or please, get rid of it. Surely you guys can think of a more reputable way to make a few extra bucks on this site than by teaming up with this undisclosed other outfit and getting pennies for every referral to their guides
Trinity College is missing!!
Is this the college ranking guide that colleges used to have to pay to be included in? Even the well know student ranking sites (campus dirt and students review) have so few students responding it is hardly worth one’s time to even bother with them. Are you getting the message, Roger? Dump this forum.
Roger_Dooley wrote: >>I think you guys are reading too much into these ratings. These are subjective comments based on surveys (that probably aren’t statistically valid) of students. Tbey have some value, I’m sure, but I wouldn’t use them to make final school selections. >>
Roger, your comments beg the question: If YOU wouldn’t use these ratings/rankings to make college selections, then how can CC justify presenting them as if STUDENTS should use them to make school selections?
What exactly IS CC’s mission? Is it to provide reliable and accurate information to help already confused students and parents make informed college choices? Or, is your mission purely commercial, as it increasingly seems to be? If so, the site needs to be clearer about that so that students and parents understand that the information presented here is not done so for altruistic reasons, but commercial ones, and may not be unbiased or accurate.
Hopefully, you see your first responsibility as helping and educating students, not misleading and confusing them further by presenting information that you haven’t verified the source of, and, worse, admit you, yourself, wouldn’t use.
lol, this is actually pretty interesting. Most of the information could be found on college *******'s website.
Carolyn, I don’t think there is anything intrinsically wrong with CC trying to be commercial or make a few bucks with tie-ins. After all that’s often what keeps web sites going. It’s just a shame that the way they’ve done it in this instance seems to bring down the over all integrity of the site. As well as the transparency of the data and opinions expressed. It’s that openness and integrity (or obvious bias when shown by a poster) that many have come to trust and rely on. That’s what keeps them coming back to post the useful and honest information that has made the site what it is. (and, when pressed by others, to support their opinions).
There are lots of ways this could be done. It may not be for me to express an opinion on which is the best or the best business model for them. But I sure will join with others in expressing the opinion that THIS IS NOT IT.
This is hilarious - especially the so-called “academic raking.”
Do you realize you’ve got the likes of Washington & Lee, McGill, Rochester, and Wash U ranked academically ahead of Columbia and Penn? And then you claim Columbia and Penn are on par academically with the likes of American, Kenyon, Mount Holyoke, and some place called Whitman?
This is either a humongous joke or a complete sell-out. If the latter, I agree with the poster who asked why you are so eager to through hard-earned credibility out the window? How much money is College ***** paying you to post this baloney.
I am turning 180 degrees slowly. I am starting to love that the rankings are so different. Maybe the academics ARE better at American, Kenyon, Mt. Holyoke and that place called Whitman (come on, be a bigger person than that!). Maybe the students at those schools are having a better experience in the classroom than some kids at the Ivies. Maybe this is really interesting, after all. I am coming around! You know, this is actually showing us that there are many different realities. I applaud this survey - only because it dares to be different!
Stop living in your dream world.
It really hurts CC’s credibility… maybe there are better ways to earn money.
CC has always been about subjective opinions and personal experiences so this type of survey actually fits its profile. No one is saying these are the “best” schools, just one survey of one group’s opinions. And it’s interesting.
I dunno, I think that the rating system is stupid if it gave Reed College a B for academics. from all accounts that I have heard (and this is from university professors), Reed’s academics are incredibly rigorous and it is considered one of the most intellectual schools in the nation along with U Chicago and Swarthmore.
I’d agree with you there, and think this is a good jumping off point for discussion.
I love how you guys give Cornell a low grade in academics, why don’t you guys come over here and take some classes, and then give out grades. Or are you basing your grading scale on how easy the academics are, in that case your rankings suck.