Does anyone else think that the Forbes College Rankings are totally wrong?

<p>As much as I hate college rankings, I think that this one is totally wrong. This ranking just reveals how bad rankings really are.
I mean University of Michigan is ranked #200 while Kalamazoo College in Michigan is ranked #52???? UM, Duke, Johns Hopkins and the Non-HYP Ivies are ranked below #50???? This is the most incorrect ranking ever.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.forbes.com/lists/2009/94/colleges-09_Americas-Best-Colleges_Rank.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.forbes.com/lists/2009/94/colleges-09_Americas-Best-Colleges_Rank.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>link…</p>

<p>[#200</a> University of Michigan, Ann Arbor - Forbes.com](<a href=“http://www.forbes.com/opinions/lists/2009/94/colleges-09_University-of-Michigan-Ann-Arbor_94470.html]#200”>http://www.forbes.com/opinions/lists/2009/94/colleges-09_University-of-Michigan-Ann-Arbor_94470.html)</p>

<p>cornell college in iowa is ranked like 50 spots higher than cornell university in that</p>

<p>i certainly hope nobody even takes those rankings seriously</p>

<p>i dont even take it seriously.
actually i dont even take Forbes seriously.
everyones paid off nicely</p>

<p>and methodology:</p>

<ol>
<li>Listings of Alumni in the 2008 edition of Who’s Who in America (12.5%)</li>
<li>Salaries of Alumni from PayScale.com (12.5%)</li>
<li>Student Evaluations from Ratemyprofessors.com (25%)</li>
<li>Four-Year Graduation Rates (16.66%)</li>
<li>Students Receiving Nationally Competitive Awards (8.33%)</li>
<li>Faculty Receiving Awards for Scholarship and Creative Pursuits (5%)</li>
<li>Four-year Debt Load for Typical Student Borrowers (20%)</li>
</ol>

<p>LOL I give them the creativity award</p>

<p>Methodology: In conjunction with Dr. Richard Vedder, an economist at Ohio University, and the Center for College Affordability and Productivity (CCAP), Forbes inaugurated its first ranking of America’s Best Colleges in 2008. They based 25 percent of their rankings on seven million student evaluations of courses and instructors, as recorded on the Web site RateMyProfessors.com. Another 25 percent depended upon how many of the school’s alumni, adjusted for enrollment, are listed among the notable people in Who’s Who in America. The other half of the ranking was based equally on three factors: the average amount of student debt at graduation held by those who borrowed; the percentage of students graduating in four years; and the number of students or faculty, adjusted for enrollment, who have won nationally competitive awards like Rhodes Scholarships or Nobel Prizes. CCAP ranked only the top 15 percent or so of all undergraduate institutions.</p>

<p>if you read how they do make the ratings, you will understand how they make the list. but their system is ■■■■■■■■. 25% based on ratemyprofessor.com. first of all thats a biased source. thats basic statistics. honestly how many people that like their professors will go on ratemyprofessor.com compared to people that hated their professors. and thats 25%. the entire methodology is dumb</p>

<p>It’s not the end of the world. Take the listings with a grain of salt. You act as if this list is an official list everyone must make their decisions by. “Oh no, UM is ranked 200 so I can’t apply there!”</p>

<p>USNWR>Forbes so calm down.</p>

<p>“honestly how many people that like their professors will go on ratemyprofessor.com compared to people that hated their professors. and thats 25%.”</p>

<p>holy crap…self-report bias…lol</p>

<p>to the OP if you are worried about the name recognition of UofM, relax. the University as a whole (this is with the grad schools and whatnot) is ranked like #16 in the world. UofM has amazing recognition everywhere in the world. be proud to go to UM. rankings dont mean crap. they are all flawed</p>

<p>mediabob, I assure you that I am not worried. I already knew about the prestige and the enormous alumni network of UM a long time ago and numerous of my friends go to UM (they represent half of the schools in UM: engineering, Ross, LSA, education, pharmacy, and music). I know the greatness of UM. My question wasn’t focused on worrying about the prestige of UM. I was wondering if other people thought that these rankings are just right down ■■■■■■■■.</p>

<p>Ya they are nuts… but there is another thread about this…</p>

<p>The methodologies are really ■■■■■■■■. There are schools that no one has really even heard of that are better than UM.</p>

<p>they all got paid off</p>

<p>Even being on these forums, I’ve not heard of a third of the colleges above Michigan. And “Hood college” just sounds fake.</p>

<p>haha Hood College</p>

<p>Forbes is notorious for trashing everything in Michigan. Ever see their top ten and bottom ten lists? You can be sure some place in Michigan will be on the bottom. That is of course if the topic is something like “top ten dirtiest cities.” Then we’d make a top ten list! LOL</p>

<p>This list is absolutely ■■■■■■■■. It’s not just Michigan that got the shaft. Other schools ranked ridiculously low:
UVA - 64
Brown - 72
Berkeley - 73
Vanderbilt - 77
UCLA - 78
Penn - 83
Dartmouth - 98
Duke - 104
Georgetown - 106
Cooper Union - 127
Illinois - 132
Johns Hopkins - 173
Texas - 174
Colorado - 187
Cornell - 207
Honestly, ***?</p>

<p>I actually thought Forbes ranking was interesting, though very different from other rankings ( such as USNEWS) I’ve reviewed.</p>