I think the rankings of some of the colleges I’m considering are too good to be true and want to know other opinions on this. I’m a HS senior and don’t know if I should be taking the US Newsweek rankings with a grain of salt or not. I’m planning on majoring in finance and possibly accounting and here are some examples of what I’m talking about…
U of Scranton- 16th in Finance and 20th in Accounting
Marquette- 15th in Finance
Xavier- 22nd in Finance
Saint Joseph’s University- 10th in Accounting
They’re all decent schools but by no stretch are they Ivies. For example I don’t believe that Scranton has a better finance program than Cornell. Do these rankings even somewhat reflect the program of the school? I may be acting naive butthese rankings have to be based on some truth though, right?
At this level, the rankings don’t really matter, as fit and cost are much larger drivers. Having said that, being in an area with access to internships is important.
Different rankings will have different results based on the methodology/formula they choose.
One of the hardest things to quantify is the quality of teaching, and when you think about it, that’s kind of the Holy Grail we’re after, because nothing is more important. Kids go to school primarily to learn.
Polling college deans is about as good a method as i can think of, since it’s their job to know how their schools compare to others in academic quality; they should know this, as it will help them to set goals for improvement.
Looking at publishing and faculty awards can be helpful to a point, but we should remember that some of those who publish or win awards don’t actually teach undergrads. And some award-winners and publishers might not actually be great teachers.
And polling students might be a little bit helpful, but they only know enough to judge the profs at their school – they cannot compare them to profs at other schools.
So, as of now, I’m not sure we have a ranking that perfectly measures the quality of academics/teaching. Given the variables i’m aware of, if i had to construct my own formula, it might look something like this:
Academic/teaching quality (50% of total score):
Dean and professor surveys. (25%)
Class sizes (25%)
Percent of all classes/labs taught by PhDs – or those holding terminal degree, if not PhD. (15%)
Faculty awards and publishing (15%)
Student stats, since students do contribute. It’s imperfect to only look at stats, but we can’t quantify ECs and attitudes. (10%)
Student satisfaction surveys (7%)
Student awards – Fulbright, Rhodes, etc. (3%)
Other important variables in measuring the overall college experience:
Graduation rate – I think this measures support and might be inversely related to rigor. It also measures student quality/focus/motivation, which a school can’t really fully control. Still, you do want to graduate, so giving it some weight is proper, i think. (10%)
Per-Student Endowment: This measures a school’s capacity to spend. (5%)
Per-student spending/price: This yields a ratio reflecting spending divided by price. How much are you getting for the price you paid? (10%)
Graduate satisfaction, whether gauged by alumni giving or surveys or both (5%)
Average debt at graduation (5%)
Undergraduate research and internship opportunities (10%)
% employed or in grad school 1 year after graduation (5%)
Most top generally top 40 colleges do not offer majors in either accounting or finance. This frees the rankings for a greater range of schools with excellent programs in these fields. However, this would not mean that graduates from colleges without designated programs in, for example, finance do not pursue and succeed in related careers.
You could research this a little further, @ryanPA, by looking into how many of these schools offer even specific concentrations in either finance or accounting:
@zinhead While I absolutely appreciate the value of internships, IMO it is not necessary to go to a school where there are internships nearby. Many students find ample internship opportunities over the summer. My S went to college in NYC, only did summer internships, and things worked out just fine for him. However, it can be helpful to be at a school where companies come in to interview students for internship positions.
As to the rankings…I don’t put a lot of stock in them. It is more important to know where students end up working, what companies interview on campus, employment rate of recent graduates, etc. And if you do look at rankings the overall b-school ranking is probably a better gauge of a school than departmental ranking.
^^^The OP is looking for an undergrad business program. Many colleges on that list don’t offer business majors. And given the level of schools the OP has in mind, the schools on that list are very unlikely to be in his/her wheelhouse.
If @ryanPA’s question relates fairly specifically to the schools in the original post, then my recommendation would be to attach some weight to USNWR rankings along with other appropriate factors of importance to him. If US News simply serves to reinforce a choice that already appeals to him, even better.