Harvard, Princeton top US News list (A.P. story)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
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<p>August 19, 2005</p>

<p>Harvard, Princeton top U.S. News' list</p>

<p>Associated Press</p>

<p>For the third consecutive year, Harvard and Princeton share the top spot in the U.S. News & World Report 2006 rankings of America's best colleges.</p>

<p>In fact, the full rankings look much like last year; no school in the top 20 moved more than two spots in either direction.</p>

<p>Rounding out the top five are Yale at third, the University of Pennsylvania at fourth, and Duke and Stanford, who tied for fifth. The top four liberal-arts colleges also are unchanged, with Williams again No. 1.</p>

<p>The formula for the controversial rankings includes variables such as graduation and retention rates, faculty and financial resources, and the percentage of alumni donating money.</p>

<p>After years of criticism for tinkering with its formula, the magazine has more or less settled on an equation over the past decade and hasn't changed it at all since dropping admissions yield -- the number of accepted students who attend a school -- as a criterion three years ago.</p>

<p>''So much for the theory that every year U.S. News is determined to seek publicity by blowing up the old formula and putting in something all new,'' said Ben Wildavsky, the guide's editor.</p>

<p>But some critics say the formula should be changed, arguing it fails to account for many aspects of educational quality.</p>

<p>More administrators appear to be protesting the rankings by declining to grade other colleges; that accounts for 25 percent of a school's ranking. The response rate has fallen from 67 percent in 2002 to 57 percent this year.</p>

<p>"No one can know for sure what is going on at another institution," said Marty O'Connell, dean of admission at McDaniel College in Maryland, who refuses to grade other schools.</p>

<p>Robert Morse, the magazine's director of data research, acknowledges that the response rate has slipped but said, "there's still a credible number of respondents per school."</p>

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<p>Byerly, have you seen the actual US News issue yet? I managed to get one today. If you have, what do you think of the article on Harvard? The title asks "IS IT THE REAL DEAL?" and the tone of the article kind of suggests that, in fact, it isn't. Overall, it implies that Harvard is a college full of superstar students who are dissatisfied with their undergrad experiences. The final paragraph summarizes it well:</p>

<p>"It may not be the coziest of places. And most students don't seem to be unambiguously happy. But if history is any guide, the next group of superachievers will apply anyway. It is Harvard, after all."</p>

<p>I'm interested to hear what you have to say.</p>

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<p>There are only so many stories you can write about how great Harvard is; these days the "dissatisfied" thing has become a fashionable theme - building off a survey Harvard itself conducted. </p>

<p>IMHO, this is nothing new; Harvard students are <em>always</em> dissatisfied - it is in their nature. They feel themselves to be the best, and they expect the best of everything to be offered up for them.</p>