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I presume because, unlike Reed, Swarthmore isn’t ranked in the 50s in the recent issues of USN&WR.</p>
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Please show me where I contradicted myself.</p>
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<p>Here’s a rough flow chart of your argument(s) thus far: Argument #1) h.s. students are helpless w/o USNews (however, when confronted with evidence that there are numerous alternatives to USNews, you morphed your first argument into Argument # 2) while USNews may not be their only source for college info, it is the most ubiquitous and the most consequential (however, when urged to address the issue of whether that is a “good thing”, you) 3) accuse the poster (me) of engaging in a straw man argument and, 4) accuse them of being a ■■■■■. Maybe not contradictory. But, not terribly edifying either.</p>
<p>^^oh, and when someone pointed out that Swat has as good stats or better than half the Ivy League, you countered by saying you didn’t mean the Ivy League, you meant HYP – now, that was a tad contradictory.</p>
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This is even more straw man nonsense. Please quote me and point out the contradictions. Don’t keep reinterpreting what I say or posting your inferences as my opinion. Quote me. Verbatim. And show me the contradictions.</p>
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<p>Again, quote me. Use whole sentences and show me the contradictions. As it stands, you don’t seem to understand anything I’ve written, and I’ve written it all in plain English. I can say it’s definitely not a ringing endorsement for certain other LACs.</p>
<p>What you have posted here are not my arguments. They are your interpretations of my arguments. It would be harder for you to commit such egregious straw man fallacies if you would let me speak for myself instead of trying to reinvent what I say according to your misunderstandings of my points.</p>
<p>You two could just stop, or do it with PMs. It’s not very interesting, IMHO.</p>
<p>vossron: the discussion shouldn’t stop because you are disinterested. you should not continue reading if you find the topic dull. what i can see here is another attack by politically correct know nothings on conventions that form the essence of the entire construct of the college admissions process. much like my discussion of the value of the sats, usn&wr function as the bible and the first source of research for the high school sophomore when their attention turns towards higher education. it says something that that particular issue is one of that magazines highest selling (if not highest) issues published. it has changed the entire landscape of higher education. the reason schools such as uchi and wusl (is that the proper acronym?) game the usn&wr system is because it provides monetary benefits from ranking higher. the higher the ranking, presumably, the higher the quality of applicants leading to a higher quality of enrollees which lead to prouder graduates which leads to easier fundraising and higher donatations. I respect reed for sticking by their guns and refusing to cooperate, however, they are doing a disservice to their students and grads in the long term by standing by their principles. </p>
<p>i understand the ugliness of high sat scores and higher ranked colleges and universities on the pysche of the high schoolers unable to score higher and be accepted at the higher ranked institutions. it makes them feel less …for wont of a better term…worthy. it makes schools like harvard have to include in their rejection letters statements like “where you go to school does not determine your future (paraphrasing crap like that.)” it forces johnny and his parents to feel inferior to billy, who scored higher and did get in and nobody wants to have to deal with johnny’s hurt feelings, therefore, usn&wr and the sats must be evil incarnate. </p>
<p>i believe that if usn&wr were to drop swat eight spots but keep everything else the same, same faculty, same facilities etc, apps would drop, mid 50 percentile sat scores would drop, high school gpa’s would drop as would all other measurables.</p>
<p>lastly, although many may like to say otherwise, A.E. is a swat grad, while i am currently a student, i can say that i am not that different from my bretheren here in the way that i think. of course, noone else here would openly profess their belief in the kill or be eaten aspects of the sats and the importance of swats usn&wr rankings, but believe me, I live here and those currents run not too low beneath the surface.</p>
<p>“the discussion shouldn’t stop because you are disinterested. you should not continue reading if you find the topic dull.”</p>
<p>That’s my point: they stopped talking about the topic, and began arguing about what each other said about the topic.</p>
<p>“*I respect reed for sticking by their guns and refusing to cooperate, however, they are doing a disservice to their students and grads in the long term by standing by their principles. *”</p>
<p>As are the 66+ Annapolis Group schools also now not participating. So many schools damaging their students and alumni. ;)</p>
<p>Duhvinci, I think you hit the nail on the head. There are several wonderful colleges out there, yet two years ago, I used those rankings as a “jump off” place to start the college search for S1. When S2 started looking at colleges, the USN&WR issue really came into play when S2 was contacted by a Swarthmore coach. I knew Swarthmore was incredible, but because it was in the top three, there was no way S2 could pass up at least giving it a look. I hate to think that “silly lists” played a part in the college search, but I would be lying if I didn’t say they did. I found myself saying the other day that both of my boys are (will) attend top 50 LAC (even though I know you say Swarthmore is way better than Skidmore). I agree, the list is important and maybe, just maybe, all the colleges should realize that. By the way Duvinci, I hope S2 learns to write as well as you do. If you are any indication of what end products are at Swarthmore, I must say I am impressed!</p>
<p>Oh, I think he’s hit the nail on the head, too. And, if Swarthmore’s applications go down another 10% next year, we’ll know it won’t be because they dropped eight notches in the USNews rankings.</p>
<p>Don’t gloat, Wesley, Swat’s admittance rate still significantly lower than Wesleyan.</p>
<p>DreamsofIvy:</p>
<p>I was fortunate enough to be admitted to Swarthmore (as well as accepted to Amherst and Hofstra Honors College, my safety) for the Class of 2013. I was also rejected from Vassar, Yale, and Princeton.</p>
<p>Going through the admissions process, I personally observed that there are a large number of high SAT scorers, as well as multiple APs, EC’s beyond belief, community services saints…well you get the picture.</p>
<p>Do I think you have a good shot at 2014? Sure! However, the competition is fierce and all you can do is put your best foot forward, write good essays, try to round up excellent references, and hope for the best.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>vossron: just because 66+ schools signed that little annapolis protest letter doesn’t mean that many, if any, have adhered to it. reed lives it, to its credit. that doesn’t say much for the rest, swat included.</p>
<p>johnwesly: i assume you were kidding bringing up the application drop at swat because i am certain you know that apps were down at ALL lac’s this year except amherst (i think). if you weren’t kidding, then you were intentionally misrepresenting the significance of the app drop to prove or support a negative point about swat while obfuscating the true reasons for an applications decline. on the other hand, if you didn’t know that there was an applications decline across the board for all lac’s, then you do shoddy research which leads one to deduce that you or your progeny probably attended wesleyan (i assume that is how swatgrad deduced your affinity for wesleyan.)</p>
<p>swatgrad: although your statement is appreciated, it is a bit pithy. as a graduate of swat , you are bound by the tenets of a superior lac and need to support all your statements. let me help. the reason wesleyan’s admit rate is significantly higher than swat is because wesleyan has a much lower yield evidencing that wesleyan is nothing more than a safety school (doormat? anyone?) for swat students. you also neglect to mention the close ties between the two schools, namely the swat/wes consortium whereby swat brings in a group of (if not all) graduating seniors from wesleyan every May to give swatties mani’s and pedi’s and shine our shoes so that their graduates would have some practical skill sets befitting their status as wesleyan grads when they go job hunting.</p>
<p>Swat’s agreed not to advertise its USNWR rating. And that’s the sum of its commitment to the Annapolis stuff, as far as I know.</p>
<p>@post#52 - Um, all but one:[Top</a> Ten Reasons For Wesleyan?s Increase in Applications for 2008-2009 ? The Wesleyan Argus](<a href=“http://wesleyanargus.com/2009/04/17/top-ten-reasons-for-wesleyan’s-increase-in-applications-for-2008-2009/]Top”>The Wesleyan Argus | Top Ten Reasons For Wesleyan’s Increase in Applications for 2008-2009)</p>