<p>If your children had to base their college choices only on NSSE reports, websites, word of mouth, visits, and alumni outcomes, would they have chosen differently? People seem to take for granted that your student should attend the highest ranked school that accepts them but if schools weren't ranked, that wouldn't be a factor. How have rankings affected you decisions? And what do you feel is the real value, in the end, of attending a higher ranked school? </p>
<p>I’m actually embarrassed to admit that my daughter has had her eye on Harvard since (according to her) she was six years old. I imagine she saw something on TV and it stuck. Even watching Gilmore Girls three times through did not change her mind. Formal rankings had nothing to do with it. It was all about branding.</p>
<p>My daughter has wanted to go to Yale since day 1. Has pictures of herself in Yale gear since birth. Been to reunions with me forever. I was actually afraid that no other school was on her radar. Luckily she was born intelligent, was motivated and a hard worker, and earned her place there.</p>
<p>I know that is a fact that she earned it. Legacy admits was very low this year and my name is not on any buildings there.</p>
<p>Mine would have gone to the same UG, because, oopsy…, she forgot to check any rankings, she did not care…She went to state public and had a ball there and now, 3.5 years after graduation is still very very happy with her choice. It is funny though how it played out for Med. School. She ended up at the one that she wanted to attend way back in HS, again, without knowing any rankings. She happened to choose it over higher ranking ones (which we were aware as everybody who apply to Med. Schools is talking about top 20s) </p>
<p>Ds2 did not go to the highest-ranked school to which he was accepted. But it might be the best known coupled with a strong reputation. He’s happy enough there, and I don’t think he’d do it differently.</p>
<p>Ds1 did end up going to the highest-ranked school to which he was accepted, I think. But it’s a little-known LAC around here. If he was worried about what most others thought and knew he would have picked UT or Notre Dame.</p>
<p>My oldest picked Carnegie Mellon (ranked around 23 at the time) over Harvard. (Of course it regularly ranks tied for #1 in computer science). He would have picked MIT over CMU if he’d gotten in. Younger son picked Tufts (ranked in the low 30s I think) over U of Chicago (8). </p>
<p>My Dd would not have chosen the highest ranked school that accepted her if she hadn’t gotten into Yale. I remember that Grinnell was her second fav, and she much preferred it over Amherst, Swarthmore, and Williams, where she was also accepted.
My son didn’t pay any attention to rankings, as is his way. He wanted to stay in California and really took a liking to the Claremont Colleges. He wound up at Pomona, but I think Scripps was his favorite. 
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<p>I’m not sure I have any wisdom about the value of attending a higher ranked school, as the value is different for everyone. Both of my kids went to what folks consider elite schools but I think they would have thrived regardless.
I can only guess that the recommendations letters my Dd received from the renowned Yale profs helped her gain entrance to an elite grad school in her field. Likewise, the personal recognition my son received from his small LAC helped him receive a graduate fellowship that propelled him into his field, as well. So the contacts they acquired, I suppose, might be one value. I’m not sure that we can really compare what would have been, as we don’t know what the alternatives would have produced.
Prestige is nice and all, but only if it’s a fit in most other ways, imo.</p>
<p>“People seem to take for granted that your student should attend the highest ranked school that accepts them but if schools weren’t ranked, that wouldn’t be a factor.”</p>
<p>I think you need to give “people” (students and parents) a little more credit. Do you really think a lot of students are picking School A over School B because School A is ranked 17th and School B is ranked 31st? IMO, highly doubtful. I think people tend to use rankings to get general groupings of schools - i.e. Top 20, Top 50, Top 100. They use the rankings to compare schools within those groups. In the end, decisions are still primarily based on fit - major, campus vibe, etc. </p>
<p>It seems to be popular to take shots at the various rankings, and some of the criticisms are certainly fair. However, when we make decisions as consumers, we are always looking for outside information to help us evaluate our choices. If you are buying a car, don’t you look at Consumer Reports to get a hopefully unbiased rating on the Safety, Economy, and Value of that car? </p>
<p>@MatMaven. I should have said " some people". Yes, I do look at Consumer Reports etc for large purchases and college is certainly a large purchase but since the US News rankings are partially based on things like institutional reputation as perceived by other college presidents and high school counselors, it doesn’t seem objective. And we’ve all seen the stories about how Northeastern gamed the rankings. I can see how choosing between a #17 and a #31 would be silly but what about choosing between #12 and # 80? Say your kid managed to get into her reach school but absolutely loved Obscure College 80? I think that is a little tougher. </p>
<p>My D did not choose the highest ranked college that accepted her. Actually three acceptances were ranked higher. She also didn’t pick the one that gave her the most money. She chose one that was in the middle of all these criteria and based her decision on her definition of “fit.” She made the right choice and I am proud that she was able to see past all of the “fluff” and do what was right for her </p>
<p>D chose Swarthmore over UPenn. Penn wouldn’t accept her AP credits and was way too cut throat for her. Visited the Swarthmore campus and she fell in love. It was the small, intimate setting she wanted.</p>
<p>Son chose Rice, liked it better than Duke and Notre Dame (which we both think are also amazing schools) which he also visited. They are often ranked as high or higher than Rice. His reasons (many of which had to do with the Engineering program and campus culture) were reasonable. I don’t think he cared about as much about rankings as that Rice is challenging and a good fit for his interests.</p>
<p>It’s impossible to disentangle, though, because HYPS wouldn’t be what they are in a world without prestige. It’s prestige, in part, that causes concentration of the most able students. And that concentration is what makes HYPS special in reality (as opposed to specialness that exists on a list). It’s a self-fulfilling cycle; ranking a school #1 helps attract the students and faculty that give the high ranking some real-world truth.</p>
<p>If you look at Canada, where prestige is a much smaller factor, there’s a lot more parity among universities. Bright kids don’t live or die for a certain school, which means that none of the schools are really tough to get into. But they produce just as many sharp kids per capita as we do.</p>
<p>Son chose RIT based on his intended major, Game Design and Development. He and his friends are doing very well in the employment area. It was a great fit for him, with an emphasis on practical education and co-op, and also socially. Older D did not choose her highest ranking acceptance, but her idea of best fit - another very well employed child of ours (grad from GWU). Younger D had many great choices among high ranking colleges and universities, and chose based on her perception of fit also - great academics, D3 school she could play her sport, great weather! Most of the places she applied were ranked high because she wanted to be among high achievers like herself. </p>
<p>My kids never saw a college ranking prior to making their application lists. It just wasn’t how we did the college selection process. So…our kids actually chose without any regard to rankings. They were very happy!</p>
<p>My son actually didn’t know about rankings when he was applying for colleges-didn’t know anything about them at all. He compiled his list based on what schools would offer the deepest level of math and physics since he’d taken so many college math and physics classes during high school. His current college, MIT, did not even get on his list until Oct. of his senior year, and he only made the decision to attend around April 29th.</p>
<p>It might surprise many out there that there are many students who haven’t a clue about ranking. I know my high school senior knows zilch about them.</p>
<p>Oh, whoops, and the answer the question, my son would still choose MIT. It is the best fit for him out of his other choices. He chose very, very well.</p>
<p>My older D was oblivious regarding rankings of schools she applied to. She chose solely on the basis of where she could continue her sport…which had to be at a D3 level. My younger ended up attending the highest ranked school she was accepted to but only because it was and continues to be the best fit. She had a very hard time choosing between two schools…a smaller LAC and a mid sized university but landed in the right place. I’m not sure she was aware of the rankings during the process- they both worked off a list generated jointly by them and their high school college counselor, who was excellent help in the process.</p>
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<p>My kid DID base his choice on these factors. He ended up at a college ranked in the 80s (not that he ever looked) versus his second choice, which offered him nearly as much merit and was ranked in the 30s. I was aware that the higher-ranked school was more widely known–and I actually knew people who were current students or graduates–but he loved the school he chose for the right reasons. He has already had opportunities that rival or exceed those of his friends at other (even far more widely known) schools.</p>
<p>None of mine ever thought about rankings. The first two because they were specifically after a particular major at a specific place (each went ultimately to their first choice college) and the 3rd wanted engineering and engineering is the best in the midwest regardless of the university rankings. My first would have liked Dartmouth but never considered it because he wanted to be in Colorado because he wanted to work in the resort industry. He considered Cornell and our instate program at MSU (very highly ranked in that major) and UNLV, but all three were off the list early because he wanted proximity to ski and work at the resort as a student. Number 2 wanted water resource management (environmental science) and he headed west because there is more awareness of water resources (because they are so few) so was mildly interested in some higher ranked schools in the east, he liked Colby, but never really entertained the idea of actually attending. </p>
<p>I think kids that are pretty focused and have a specific industry targeted have different “wants” than kids who don’t. Look at all the kids who are IB or bust - they are going to gravitate to schools that the IB industry targets. If you want to work in a specific industry it can change your list significantly as industries tend to migrate toward specific groups of schools with successful programs. If you want to work in the wine industry, you’re going to find a college that fills those entry level positions in the industry for instance. That’s not to say that you can’t enter an industry from a college that has few ties to the industry, but it’s a tougher road than having the industry “come to you” so to speak. My 1st and 2nd are now graduated and working in those industries they targeted. My 3rd just started his 2nd year of engineering and i suspect that is what he will do, too. He wants to build bridges and overpasses. If he graduates I have a picture of him at age 3 sitting up on a huge earth mover from a friend’s company that I’m going to blow-up and frame as a graduation present. </p>
<p>These answers make me think that you are either very rankings-aware, or you just don’t care. There doesn’t seem to be much middle ground, which is interesting. </p>