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I’m not sure if you’re being at all serious here, but if so, I think you need to meet more Yankees. We invented frugality, remember? ;)</p>
<p>Besides, I don’t think USNWR sells a lot of copies around here anyway. Actually I’m not sure who they sell copies to.</p>
<p>Boston saying something positive about Yankees? The Sox “hit” squad might show up…</p>
<p>What do the Yankees have to do with colleges anyway?</p>
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<p>I’m pretty sure that USNWR used the fact that HYP usually wind up on top as <em>proof</em> that their methodology was sound.</p>
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<p>Oh wow, I wouldn’t know where to start with this one…I don’t mean this to turn into a political thread but we are simply MILES apart on this one, don’t get me started. It would require a whole other essay and thread in the political forum (from the ownership of washington by lobbyists, to who controls healthcare, agriculture, blindness about our food sources, to banking)…so I will just stop. Agree to disagree. </p>
<p>I will say we already have pretty useful and comprehensive data from the NSSE if your goal is student experience. But alas, that doesn’t seem to sell magazines. </p>
<p>It has it’s own methodological issues but I think it’s not as easily distored/influenced by the universities themselves.</p>
<p>Maybe we all (you both?) would agree that the general public, the college newbies, don’t know they’re being deceived, just as with the advertising of consumer products.</p>
<p>How does it affect anyone else if the family down the street treats the USNWR rankings as gospel for their own kids’ college search? Yeah, they are being stupid, but there are no externalities. It won’t impact you in any way. Let 'em be stupid.</p>
<p>This has been the case since the rankings started. Also the case for any rankings or assessments. </p>
<p>Anyone who looks at these or any other rankings and fusses over a few places up or down is taking this too seriously. All these rankings do is give you some idea of where the colleges stack up. Anything within a cluster is about the same, and can trade places within a year. Also it does not tell you thing about the school that can make a big difference in the decisions. Things like the atmosphere and general feeling around the school. Though some schools may rate higher academically, I don’t consider them fun places to go. A bit too serious, too cut throat. If that is what a student wants, that’s fine, but most kids are looking for a comfortable home for the next 4 years that will give them a good education, good times and have a good reputation.</p>
<p>What if we are “stupid” and the family down the street is correct? Will we survive? Is it at all possible that Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Cal Tech really are good schools? naw, they suck – I was just kidding. We all know that US News is just a tool for the “blue bloods.”</p>
<p>^^^ A kid could end up at the wrong school, taking a spot from someone who should be there. I’d rather get all kids educated about how to pick the right school, enabling more to be optimally placed.</p>
<p>@hawkette: All that data is easily and quickly available from IPEDS, courtesy of the US Department of Education.</p>
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<p>“Should”? No one’s entitled to be at any place, whether that’s Harvard or Eastern Bumble State U. As unpleasant as the prestige-hounds are, they aren’t any less “entitled” to a place at Harvard – if Harvard deems them worthy of admittance, then they’re worthy of it.</p>
<p>Entitled? Who said anything about entitlement or being worthy? I was thinking best fit, which I thought was clear by “optimally placed.” My mistake! 
We just think differently!</p>
<p>hawkette: “While not a fan of the actual rankings, I am a HUGE fan of the data that USNWR presents. It’s fashionable to scoff at what USNWR does, but clearly the consumer is better off having this information than not.”</p>
<p>If the information is B.S., how could the consumer be better off? That doesn’t make sense.</p>
<p>I think what he means - or how I understand this kind of comment- is one can use the data (assuming you trust its quality) to develop one’s own rank, depending upon one’s preferences, goals, priorities. A one rank system for all is what doesn’t make sense but what gets so ridiculously hyped (esp. by highschool students). Its why you hear a lot of counter arguments (mostly by parents) saying “forget the rank, focus on fit”.</p>
<p>I don’t think the information is BS. There is merit to the rankings. It does give a perspective about the schools. It is not the whole story, but it is some information. </p>
<p>My husband’s cousins are looking at colleges right now with absolutely no idea about what colleges are what. Other than colleges with big sports teams, some high profile schools and local colleges, they can’t even come up with college names, and they have no categorization at all for what they know. As flawed as any of these lists are, they do give some ideas of how the schools are viewed. They can see where Hartwick College is ranked vs, say Holy Cross. </p>
<p>Learning to use this information can be tricky. Though I had gone through the college process myself, the first time I looked at the info, I had no idea what the diffences were among the regional schools and other categories. I knew there were LACs and universities, but even they blurred in definition when I looked at small unis and larger colleges. </p>
<p>I’ve yet to see any assessment, from the Fiske guide to the Princeton top school, the student guides, that don’t have flaws in their judgments. But each guide gives a bit more information on the school. I am glad that it is available. I wish more guide info were available on those schools that are not highly ranked or hand picked by some of these descriptive guides.</p>
<p>“that don’t have flaws in their judgments”</p>
<p>The best are the guides without judgments that provide information, and let the reader decide what is important. After a bit of study, readers will begin to recognize differences and find the schools that fit.</p>
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<p>A monster? Let’s not get carried away. Whatever we may think of the rankings, they were inevitable and they’re not going away. </p>
<p>We are highly-social creatures, and pretty much all social vertebrates rely on dominance hierarchies (aka “pecking orders”) to organize their societies. Creating and maintaining hierarchies and rankings is deeply rooted in our very nature. We instinctively understand the concept of a hierarchy. That’s why it was such a smashing success for USNews when they developed it. Nobody had to explain to the readers what a college ranking was or why it was an attractive idea. And if USNews hadn’t done it, someone else would have.</p>
<p>Reed who?</p>
<p>Sorry, but never heard of Reed.</p>
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<p>My daughters never really looked at the US News except once when I got the online edition this year. One looked at a school she loved in the LAC catagory and one her friend was going too, about 15 points higher. Every single catagory in the “compare schools” option, showed her school was the same or higher in almost every catagory, class size, grad rates, cost, scores, acceptance rate, retention, alumni giving, etc. She asked what makes the difference, how a peer institute, who happened to hand in the survey answered? I wasn’t 100% sure, but it didn’t matter to her, just the numbers, not the ranking, and how it fit her.
If you use the info in your own way, it can be helpful, but the exact rankings, etc. I find not helpful.</p>