<p>I am a little concerned here, and honestly, I feel like I do not know the answer. I like to say rankings just do not matter. But then, when a school seems great, then just does not have the ranking, my child is not interested. When a school seems awful, but has the ranking, well, she still isn't interested. But, she thinks she needs to put going to a higher ranked school over the school she likes. </p>
<p>Part of me thinks the ranking is not that important. But then, another part of me is worried that if she is not at a well ranked school, it might hinder her possibilities for grad school. </p>
<p>I would love some great advice/knowledge on this. Thank you so much!!!</p>
<p>Don’t worry too much about rankings as long as the school has a good reputation and is accredited. You can also see which companies recruit at a particular school and see where the grads go. The feel of a school is more important, and rankings aren’t all that accurate anyway. Still, don’t settle for a school that has poor academics or a low graduation rate.</p>
<p>In some professional fields, rankings may matter to some recruiters. Unless your DD is going into one of those fields and wants to work for one of those firms - I wouldn’t weigh the ranking too much. I think it is more important to find a good fit for your individual kid. JMHO</p>
<p>It depends on the major, recruiters, and field of interest I would say. </p>
<p>For me…rankings don’t matter much, especially not US News’ rankings. :rolleyes: I go to a school ranked near the 200s and I have no worries about finding a job or making a career for myself in the future.</p>
<p>We developed our own criteria. Ranking was not one of them, although we did * use* a few different rankings as sources of info ( staff ratio, size, aid given…)
Then we weighted the criteria for importance and measured each school according to the weighted criteria to develop our own ranked list.
( I say “our” rather than “her” because I was the one that was actually doing it, after asking questions.)</p>
<p>I suggest you develop your own criteria. Its much more meaningful. Go ahead and use name recognition, football team or whatever else is important to you.</p>
<p>Developing your own ranking helps a great deal in understanding why you prefer one school over another, and may help you write that convincing essay, or get Aunt Sheryl off your back because shes never heard of Whitman.</p>
<p>We ranked according to son’s main interest. After accepted, he explored his secondary interest, the feel and fit of the school. His UG school was not known around here, not even to his Principal.</p>
<p>Rankings matter (although small differences in ranking may not).</p>
<p>One of my kids went to a top-20 school, and we didn’t think about it much – until senior year came, and she was applying for jobs for after graduation. The opportunities offered through on-campus recruiting were incredible. She had so many opportunities for first-round interviews that she actually had to turn some down. Despite that, she ended up with a choice of positions, and she had a job locked in before Thanksgiving.</p>
<p>The same young person, after three years of working, will be enrolling in an MBA program with a similar level of national prominence. I’m expecting a re-run of her previous experience when the time comes for her to apply for a post-MBA job. In fact, things might be even better (the economy doesn’t suck quite so badly this time).</p>
<p>OP, you said that your student’s likely path after graduation would be graduate school instead of work. So my kid’s story may not be applicable. You may need to hear from people whose kids went to graduate schools instead of into the job market right after graduation.</p>
<p>The rankings are a crude tool used to evaluate things that do matter, like quality of student body and faculty. As such, they can be helpful in understanding where schools fit in the broad range of schools.</p>
<p>It does vary by major. My older son went to a school ranked 24 over a school ranked 1 or 2. (It varies.) But the school he attended is generally tied for 1 in his major with a handful of other schools. He’s working in his dream job. For this kid, who has been set on this major since he was 7, it was the right decision. For another who was more undecided we might have encouraged a different choice. </p>
<p>I don’t think you need to ignore ranking all together - they are some indication of reputation and quality and that is a commodity worth something in the marketplace. But students should realize that the top 20 schools are all excellent, the top 50 schools are all very, very good and may be better than the top 20 in many ways (better majors, better advising, better weather, better location, better internships you name it). I think kids often get hung up on thinking that there is an appreciable difference between #17 and #22. There isn’t. Or rather there is, but it’s not the ranking.</p>
<p>Do you care about average class sizes?
The average stats of entering students?
Faculty compensation?
These are a few of the factors that US News measures. </p>
<p>You can look up most of these numbers one by one in the individual Common Data Set files or other online sources. Nevertheless, for purposes of building an application list, you might find US News one convenient tool. </p>
<p>Or does the topic question really refer to, say, employers or graduate schools?
(How important are rankings to employers? Grad schools? Prospective marriage partners? The neighbors?) Investment banks and high-end business consulting firms allegedly focus recruiting & hiring on only a few tippy-top schools. So if you couldn’t get into Harvard/Yale/Princeton/Stanford, go crawl under a rock. Or find a job with one of thousands of other employers who just don’t care.</p>
<p>Regarding “grad school”, remember that different types of post-bachelor’s degree school are different with respect to how much they care about rankings. How a PhD program looks at an undergraduate school is different from how a JD, MD, or MBA program does, for example.</p>
<p>As pointed out, ranking in and of itself is bunk, complete malarky.</p>
<p>The number and type of companies that recruit at that school in the desired major, important. The strength of a program of study (breadth and depth of course offerings, adequate staffing, students able to get necessary classes to progress in major on time), important. Previous students success in grad school acceptance (or med/law school), important.</p>
<p>Schools that ‘hit the mark’ on the above may or may not translate into high ranking schools/programs.</p>
<p>We also did what emerald suggested–develop our own set of ranking criteria that were unique to our son’s specific preferences. Most of ours were outcome-based, so his list was pretty different from USNWR’s. We are building our HS junior daughter’s criteria now, and again–our methodology is unique to her needs and interests. What others may think of our kids’ choices is of absolutely no concern to us. Our priority is helping our kids reach the goals they have for their lives during and after college. So far our son is doing exactly what he had hoped and finding opportunities that would not be as readily available at more “popular” or competitive schools (according to conventional rankings), We expect our daughter will do just as well when the time comes.</p>
<p>OP- sometimes rankings are important and sometimes they are not. Perhaps you could sit down with your D and help her tease out what she thinks the rankings convey… and then help her do more research to validate or disprove her hypothesis.</p>
<p>There are schools like Missouri University of Science and Technology which accepts over 80% of its applicants and is ranked about 125 or so for US News national universities. So someone focused on rankings might think " mediocre kind of place". But companies hiring mechanical engineers think the college is fantastic-- and so a kid who is looking for an affordable, rigorous mechanical engineering program shouldn’t be overly focused on the rankings for this school. It has an excellent reputation which its rankings (in my opinion) do not really reflect.</p>
<p>But rankings can be useful in a very broad sense to help compare groups of schools. I don’t think a kid interested in Villanova (ranked in the top 5 most years of regional colleges in the Northeast) will have the same experience as a kid at University of New Haven (about 100 schools below it in the rankings- again, most years). Stronger student body at Villanova even though both colleges are private and have some similarities in the overall vibe. Classes taught to a more demanding/higher standard. Better prepared students. etc. BUT-- U New Haven has some highly regarded programs in labor relations, public safety, etc. which are not usually available at less vocationally oriented colleges. So a kid intent on studying something not available at a “higher ranked” college may decide to ignore the rankings. Or a kid interested in bio and chemistry may decide that the overall higher and better peer group at 'Nova will make for a more stimulating educational experience.</p>
<p>YMMV. But you get my point. Overall, the rankings reflect some realities about the student body, their scores/preparation for college, the level of the typical class, etc. So ignoring the rankings “Oh you can get just as good an education at UNH as you can get anywhere… a professor is a professor is a professor” in my mind is to ignore a very big datapoint sitting in front of you. But that doesn’t mean that the rankings are the be-all and end all of the college selection experience, especially if a kid has an esoteric interest that is not widely available elsewhere, or has some geographic limitations (a kid in Missouri who doesn’t want to go to Michigan or NY or Maryland or Massachusetts and is interested in engineering, for example).</p>
<p>Does your D have some quirky elements to her college search???</p>
<p>The first thing I would tell your daughter is that most rankings don’t rank the school, they rank the students going there. The measurements are often based on median scores, gpas, ranks, etc for admitted students. Smart kids generally do well wherever they go, so all the rankings really tell you is where the competition is for admission. </p>
<p>If she cares about scholarships, which all students should, tell her she will get the most money when she is at the top of the cohort, which means applying to schools that aren’t as competitive those top ranked schools. </p>
<p>And finally she has to feel like she fits in. If she gets into a top ranked school but hates it, it will effect everything - grades, mood, attitude, success. She needs to think about what is important to her and how schools meet that.</p>