<p>My inclusion of an alternate def of farce was to support another poster- not at all in consideration of an additional category for discussion.</p>
<p>Re: “reputation” ranking high as a reason to matriculate: do the surveys ask, “reputation as calculated by USNWR?” Was it your experience that UVA looked to their rank in US News and Forbes to assess/define their relative reputation? Or, were other considerations, other institutionally significant rankings or feedback more critical to the direction of the U? </p>
<p>I do not care (allow me to use that word) how “statistically valid” a media ranking can purport to be for colleges. What they determine to be valid and how they weight those elements- is their construct. How prettily USNews or others explain/defend their methodology…is marketing. </p>
<p>That is where I will end this, for tonight.</p>
<p>ps. I am not sure what ropes you are learning. It would be productive for many to pick your mind- in terms of your experience.</p>