How reliable are the Princeton Review rankings?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I was just curious as to how reliable these lists are. Some of them seem to be misleading. For example I had always regarded NYU as a great school. However it is ranked in the top 10 for least happiest students. ANy thoughts?</p>

2

<p>The rankings are so-so. Just because the students aren't happy doesn't mean that it's not a good school. Look at the top 20 schools with the least happy students. I think all of them are good schools (although I might be a bit biased because 4 of the 5 service academies are on that list). Overall, many CC'ers will reference the list when discussing reputation, etc.</p>

3

<p>There "Most" Lists are good, but the 368 list isn't.</p>

4

<p>From the PR site:</p>

<p>How many students were surveyed for your ranking lists?
The ranking lists in The Best 368 Colleges are based on our surveys of more than 120,000 students. That's an average of 325 students per school, though that number varies depending on the size of the student population. We've surveyed anywhere from 26 men at Deep Springs College (100 percent of the student body) to over 1,000 collegians at such colleges as Hofstra University, University of Mississippi, and the University of Wisconsin—Madison. Schools that are particularly supportive of our survey encourage their students to participat. Some e-mail their entire student body with information on how to submit a secure survey online at 2008</a> Student Survey. That level of cooperation always helps generate a wide response.</p>

<p>LINK:FAQs:</a> 2008 Edition The Best 366 Colleges | The Princeton Review
uidbadge=%07#Q4</p>

<p>So basically they probably surveyed 325 -1,000 out of 50,917 NYU students!
LINK: New</a> York University > About NYU > University Facts</p>

<p>Do the math.
That's .63% - 1.96% of the total student body.</p>

<p>So it's up to you to decide wether or not to believe a survey that that includes at the most less than 2% of the student body.</p>

<p>I suggest you go visit.</p>

5

<p>They can be good guidelines, but as xNYer showed, they should be taken with a grain of salt. The small population's opinion may or may not be representative of the entire student body - either way, the PR lists are an interesting read, but not to be taken too seriously or used to add/remove colleges from your list.</p>

6

<p>In all fairness to PR, let me take on xNYer's point:</p>

<p>PR is surveying undergraduate students, and there are 19,401 undergrads at NYU. Let's say we want a confidence level of 95% with a +/-5% confidence interval (we want to be 95% sure that the answer we get is accurate within plus or minus 5%). The random sample size that you need for that statistical level of confidence in a population of 19,401 is 377 (as long as it's truly random). That's how the Neilsen ratings can measure TV viewership with a sample of only 5,000 households.</p>

7

<p>Thank you gadad ... I was just about to dredge up my statistics! This is a perfect example of why everyone needs to take statistics! It took weeks to get my rising senior to understand.</p>

8

<p>But speaking of the PR rankings, what's the deal with Whitman College? Every year, it shows up on more top 20 categories than any other school I've seen, and it's always on the good side of the category. This year, it's top 20 in 11 different categories! Last year, it was #1 for happiest students. Is it really all that or do they lobby the surveyed students to fudge for the sake of the Admissions recruiters?</p>

9

<p>The biggest problems with surveys such as PR is that they allow the same students to vote as often as they'd like.</p>

10

<p>Not to mention that the "least happiest students" are the most likely to fill out the survey.</p>

11

<p>It's too popular to be trustworthy. </p>

<p>The world of college guides is filled with bias and payoffs and backdoor deals so that schools can boost their rankings, admission stats and eventually their endowment. </p>

<p>Try "The Insider's Guide to Colleges," which is by the Yale Daily News.</p>

12

<p>Its ranking lists are fairly accurate.</p>

<p>That the students are unhappy doesn't change the fact that NYU's "campus" has a superior location. Doesn't change the fact that it's a great place to get a great education. Doesn't change the fact that it has many of our nation's best programs. </p>

<p>It's financial aid isn't as horrible as everyone makes it out to be, however. Their representatives are patient and understanding: which is amazing, because one would assume a school like NYU would have a cold, stonewall bureaucracy. I got as much money from NYU as I did from my three top LACs. I know I wouldn't have been as happy had I chose to attend NYU... but, do I really know that?</p>

<p>It's a great school, don't let other peoples' opinions change how you feel abou tit.</p>

13

<p>I don't know. I strongly disagree with some of their rankings.</p>

<p>I go to Yale so I'm biased, but, having the second largest library in terms of # volumes, why isn't Yale at least listed in the ranking for "best college library"?</p>

<p>It also doesn't make it on the list for beautiful campuses or the list for good financial aid, both of which I think should place it in the top 10 if not higher.</p>

<p>One thing that Yale did get that I don't agree with is its high ranking for class-race interaction, because I often see Asians, and the Hispanics, and other ethnic groups hanging out with people from their same race...</p>

<p>IMHO, these rankings are more flawed than anything U.S. News has ever produced.</p>

14

<p>
[quote]
Yale ... doesn't make it on the list for ... good financial aid... which I think should place it in the top 10 if not higher.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Yeah, isn't Yale one of the Ivy League schools that has guaranteed to eliminate parental contribution for families under a certain income? I'm considering a transfer for this very reason.</p>

<p>
[quote]
I often see Asians, and the Hispanics, and other ethnic groups hanging out with people from their same race...

[/quote]
</p>

<p>While disconcerting, that's probably how it works at other top colleges as well.
I'm actually going to make a concentrated effort to avoid all contact with these ethnic gangs.</p>

15

<p>
[quote]
So it's up to you to decide wether or not to believe a survey that that includes at the most less than 2% of the student body.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Isn't a similar methodology used to poll the nation and, within 2 or 3 percentage points margin of error, determine the standing or failure of presidential candidates ahead of the actual vote?</p>

16

<p>I have to strongly agree with RD31's points about Yale and US News. Although US News is clearly flawed, it seems far less random than Princeton Review and is more consistent from year to year.</p>

<p>Must agree with:
a) Yale not being on best college library is very surprising. Second most volumes and the facilities are gorgeous (I think the best of any college and this is really one of Yale's strengths)... PR is flawed
b) Also agree w/ beautiful campuses
c) Fin aid is surprising -- we have basically the same program as Harvard (with a little extra money at the high end) so we should be ranked about the same.</p>

<p>And I would also say:
d) Most politically active -- I was pretty surprised Yale didn't get that as well.</p>

<p>When do they come up with rankings e.g. financial aid? If they did it before H & Y redesigned their programs, it makes more sense -- but as of now it seems really dumb.</p>

<p>The whole PR thing just seems dumb to me and arbitrary.... at least US News has a more concrete quantitative method...</p>

17

<p>From PR's website: "Schools that are particularly supportive of our survey encourage their students to participate. Some e-mail their entire student body with information on how to submit a secure survey online at 2008 Student Survey. That level of cooperation always helps generate a wide response."</p>

<p>THIS is where I have a problem with the statistical validity of PR's survey. It certainly compromises the apples to apples comparison, as well as the survey sample's "randomness."</p>

18

<p>How reliable are the Princeton Review rankings? </p>

<p>On a scale of 1 to 10, zero is a little generous.</p>

19

<p>Xiggi ... what do mean that PR allows the same students to vote over and over? The same survey in the same year or from year to year?</p>

20

<p>If you don't take Princeton Review, and College Confidential for that matter, with a grain of salt, you're approaching this all wrong. Of course it's somewhat "flawed" - it's a website. With that said, I consider PR a great site to get an idea of a college's world. A more conservative school isn't going to make it on the "birkens-wearing hippies" list, after all. People will always quibble about rankings, but I'm really glad PR exists.</p>