That is the one criteria that USNWR uses that I wonder about. It does seems pretty ridiculous. It would be interesting if USNWR had an interactive ranking system where you could take out any criteria you would like to and see what happens to the rankings.
USNWR is way ahead of you:
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There’s not one criteria in US News that can be rationally defended as they either can be manipulated (e.g. telling the low test scorers to enroll in the spring since the fall numbers are what’s used) or they lack common sense (asking GCs and college deans to rate hundreds of colleges they’re not familiar with).
They use the same rating factors and weights, so it’s the same approach. But that doesn’t mean that the “Overall Scores” are comparable.
For example, the “National University” peer score is determined by polling university administrators, while the “National LAC” peer score is determined by polling LAC administrators. UC Berkeley gets a very impressive score from the university administrators, while Williams College gets a very impressive score from the LAC administrators. It does not follow, however, that Berkeley would get an equally high rating from LAC administrators, or that Williams would get an equally high rating from research university administrators.
Similarly, the universities and LACs are rated separately for things like selectivity or giving rate. An acceptance rate of 20% would be very good by LAC standards, but not particularly impressive by university standards. Conversely, an alumni giving rate of 40% would be very good by university standards, but not particularly impressive by LAC standards
I might be breaking a rule here by telling you that I worked in college admissions for ten years. I learned this about college counselors and I doubt it has changed.
- The student to counselor ratio is very weak in most schools. If most of your time is taken up trying to manage student problems, there is little time for college advisors to actually learn about schools. Like students and parents, they jump for any numbers they can find. They focus on schools they have heard of (i.e., local schools and the ivies).
- Remember STEM schools have been and are likely to remain highly focused on calculus. What sort of student will apply for admission to a STEM school? Look into this subset of college applicants and you will find a pool of serious applicants. Think of your own HS classmates. This is called "self-selection." They are a highly focused applicant pool. One would be hard pressed to find an established STEM program that does not have challenging math/science courses as they are teaching to a challenging profession.
- Schools are not made up just of courses. How does an individual rank the actual added educational value of the local state school when matched against the well healed and well connected students at the "big" and "little" ivies. Is it possible that some school you may never have heard of will actually add more "value" to your student's educational experience? Counselors need to have the time the learn more about these opportunities for their students.
In a worst case example, one guidance counselor rushed to an appointment to see the visiting representative (me), apologized for being late, told me how much he respected my school, but he was sorry he had no students who wanted to see me. He did not have the correct name for our school posted on the counseling board. Our stem school was confused with the local state college from the same out of state town. He would not have made that mistake with Harvard or MIT because the names would have stuck in his mind. In marketing it is called brand name bias. Is it really true that Cadillac is the best car for you? I’d rather drive a Lamborghini or an Alfa Romeo.
:bz
Every ranking system has some bias. Here are some additional examples:
Faculty/Student ratio: Many private schools do not count their graduate students, making the ratios much lower. A 6:1 ratio at a school like Columbia is actually more like 15:1 when graduate students are included. Public colleges are more accurate in their CDS reporting. This metric affects rankings.
Resources: Faculty salary is always higher on the coasts than in the midwest, plains or south due to cost of living and lower taxes. No adjustment is typically made for state support. For instance, annual state support of $300 million is equivalent to an extra $6 billion endowment.
Overall university ranking, except for a few universities that are ranked very highly across most departments, may have little to do with what you want to study (assuming you have an idea). Check the undergrad rankings in the area(s) you are interested in.
Student quality: This can be a bit deceptive too. Tech focused universities tend to have substantially higher scores. Universities that have excellent tech colleges within the larger university may have lower overall scores, while the tech area may be just as good or better (assuming you want to study some tech field)
Value: This metric is not included in the rankings, but is included in some rankings like Money magazine. Unless your family is very wealthy or very poor, you will have to factor this in your application selection. There is no point in applying to a uni you cannot afford unless there is a high likelihood of FA or scholarships . The vast majority of families consider value when selecting colleges too after you receive your acceptances too.