<p>Neither of my kids have any idea where their schools rank now. They know they aren’t going to Harvard or Yale, but have no idea if their schools are ranked 5th or 50th or 150th.</p>
<p>Who cares?</p>
<p>I guess I’m addressing the question to the people who are aware of the rankings and have at least looked at them when making lists of possible schools for their kids. Obviously not everyone cares, which is good. I have read that about 10-15% of each year’s high school seniors are caught up in the race for the elite schools, that must be who I’m thinking of. </p>
<p>So, let me rephrase the question. If you did at least look at rankings when making your lists of considered colleges, do you think that given more objective information and NOT a number, would have considered some other schools? Did anyone ever make a list that included a school that turned out to be #159 and then cross it off because it wasn’t in the top 100? That’s the question. </p>
<p>Rankings, however imperfect, do correspond to features that students and parents find desirable in a college. I think this question would be more relatable if we were talking specifics, i.e. a particular college that has characteristics that might make it a good fit for some students even if it is not highly ranked in a generic sense. </p>
<p>Finances, geography, and culture influence student choice of college more than USNWR or Forbes rankings.</p>
<p>My D’s top 3 choices were all LACS. They ranked roughly within the top 10, top 25, and top 50 of nationally categorized LACS per USNWR. The rankings did not, as far as I know, affect her choice. Location, vibe, and fit affected the choice. She overnighted at all three campuses. We would never cross off a school based on rankings alone, if there were other factors that were attractive.</p>
<p>I truly believe both of my kids would have ended up exactly where they were. They both put fit ahead of rankings and ended up at schools that were great matches for them.</p>
<p>@ebmama “I guess I’m addressing the question to the people who are aware of the rankings and have at least looked at them when making lists of possible schools for their kids”</p>
<p>In answer to your question, in helping my son (now a Soph.) prepare his list we looked at some rankings specifically related to his planned major - Civil Engineering, as opposed to general rankings. I thought it was important to identify schools that maybe we weren’t aware of or wouldn’t normally consider if they were considered to have strong CE programs. Because of those rankings, and subsequent research, we added U of Illinois to his list as they were ranked #1 for CE. We also became aware of Lehigh, Lafayette, Villanova, and Bucknell in large part because of their rankings in Engineering and the fact that it met the criteria he was looking for in terms of location and size of school. We visited all of them as well as 1/2 dozen others and he investigated the schools and the CE programs.</p>
<p>Final decision came down to Lehigh, Lafayette, U of Illinois, and Ohio State. His final decision was totally based on fit - size, campus, kids that he met, location, etc. All had strong CE programs, so which one was ranked #1, or #10 or #30 didn’t really matter to him. He chose Lehigh as it was the best fit for what he was looking.</p>
<p>Like I mentioned in a previous post, I think these rankings can make parents and students aware of schools they maybe didn’t know about that could be good options. Once they are “on the list”, it still has to come down to fit. </p>
<p>I don’t believe people never look at ranking and it didn’t matter to them. It would be like saying, “You need to pay 60K for a car, and you can pick which ever car is available.” Are you going to pick a Focus rather than a Mercedes E serie because it suited your lifestyle better? You may decide to pick Focus because it is cheaper, but if you have to pay 60K for a car, you are going to get the best car you can for that money.</p>
<p>D1 did apply to a range of schools. She was denied from her top choice and most of higher ranking schools. She was then given a full ride at a second tier LAC. It was a contender until she was admitted to a top 30 school, where she thought she could get a good education and be happy with the social life. Then she got off WL of 2 schools, one was top 20 and another was top 10. Both of those schools were very similar in size, vibe, quality of education, type of students they attracted. D1 could have been very happy/successful at any of those 3 schools, but I told her to drop the top 30 school because of ranking and she could pick between the top 20 and top 10. She went with the top 20. If the top 30 school had given D1 a sizable merit scholarship then I think it would have been a very tough decision.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t want my kids to go to a school if they were going to be unhappy or didn’t have majors they wanted, but both of them wanted a liberal arts education with large campus. They didn’t want schools that were affiliated with any religion. Schools are prestigious for a reason. We all knew Ivies were top tier schools, and so are Stanford, Duke, MIT…without official rankings. So why wouldn’t I want my kids to get into the best school possible, all else being equal, and why wouldn’t I want the most bang for my buck.</p>
<p>"So, let me rephrase the question. If you did at least look at rankings when making your lists of considered colleges, do you think that given more objective information and NOT a number, would have considered some other schools? "</p>
<p>We did look at rankings. They are objective information, with the exception of the PA, so I don’t quite get your question. I’m not so dumb as to think there’s a meaningful difference between 8 and 12, or 32 and 34 - I see it all in shades of gray vs black and white - and we weren’t “top 20 or bust” - but yes, my kids did use their ED cards at the highest ranked schools on their lists. It worked out beautifully for one and pretty-good-but-not-great for the other - but for reasons that couldn’t be discerned in either rankings or college visits, and in hindsight we still all made the best choice at the time. </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>This isn’t really the OP’s question, I don’t think. These three schools are all the same tier - there is no “sacrifice” in quality turning down one for the other. These are six of one, half a dozen of the other - top student body, tons of opportunities. This is selection, not sacrifice. </p>
<p>The choice of Swat over Penn is the same thing. On no real planet is that turning down a “better” school for a “lesser” one - it’s just a different flavor. </p>
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<p>Sigh. Is it even possible for you to understand that not everyone cares about prestige? But to use your imperfect analogy, no one NEEDS to pay $60K for a car. Not everyone cares about impressing the neighbors when they roll up to the grocery store. In some places, it might even be seen as wasteful and pretentious. But in any case, plenty of people who can afford a Mercedes E series (at least where I live) would still pick a Ford Focus. The Focus is a great small car that gets good mileage and is easy to park in the city. The OUTCOME of owning the Focus is exactly the same as the E Series–you get to where you need to go. </p>
<p>In the same way, some of us look at outcomes for students and other factors in making decisions about college. We don’t care what the neighbors think–we just want to make sure our kids find the colleges that are right for them and get them where they need to go.</p>
<p>We looked at all of the colleges our kids showed interest in applying to. We did not look at the rankings of the schools. We did get information for DS from his music instructors as he was a music major. It’s not like we blindly chose schools. But the rankings didn’t play into the choice of applications or his final choice…the private instrument instructor had more influence on his decision.</p>
<p>For DD, we looked at a huge variety of schools. She had a list of criteria, and we looked for schools that met those criteria. The school she attended was actually recommended by a CC poster. We had never heard of it before. It was the right place for our kid…and she and we did visit before applications were sent.</p>
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Sigh, not everyone goes to top tier school to impress one’s neighbors. It is silly to think those top tier schools are prestigious because of ranking. It has been discussed to death on CC what those top tier schools offer. But if your kid doesn’t need it then there is no need to spend the money.</p>
<p>I didn’t say people go to elite schools to impress the neighbors. We were talking about cars.</p>
<p>I am sitting here looking at a mailing I got from a school on my daughter’s list. It is directed specifically to parents. It talks about the number of internship opportunities students have (the college is in an urban area) and the 95% job placement rate after graduation. This is a school most people here would know nothing about. Should we take it off the list because it isn’t “top-tier”?</p>
<p>Neither of my kids spent more than a minute or two thinking about rankings. They were not even interested in college guidebooks, discussion boards, etc. They did have some criteria in mind, mainly focused on the quality of the education, specialties available, and the overall learning environment or ethos, as well as more broadly the environment for recreation (off campus). They made a few college visits (a half dozen in each case, either before or after they were admitted). AFAIK no second guessing, except to realize in later years that other colleges might have suited them as well – after they encountered grads from those colleges later in life.</p>
<p>"But to use your imperfect analogy, no one NEEDS to pay $60K for a car. Not everyone cares about impressing the neighbors when they roll up to the grocery store. "</p>
<p>But some people like certain things, and are willing to spend money on them, just because they like and value the quality and the experience of those things and it has nothing to do with impressing the neighbors. Not everyone who drives a Mercedes (or owns a fine watch, or travels to Europe, or whatever) does so because of impressing the neighbors. Their own enjoyment and satisfaction is enough. If the neighbors are impressed, well, whatever. </p>
<p>Rankings did not play into my kids’ preferences. Some highly ranked schools got the thumbs down, some with rankings that were low or non existant were included. Name recognition and what others thing of the school (and some or even most of those others might have considered rankings heavily) are the things that my kids put too much reliance upon in their consideration. </p>
<p>"Not everyone cares about impressing the neighbors when they roll up to the grocery store. In some places, it might even be seen as wasteful and pretentious. "</p>
<p>Worrying that other people might see something as wasteful and pretentious is just as much “trying to impress the neighbors.” </p>
<p>“am sitting here looking at a mailing I got from a school on my daughter’s list. It is directed specifically to parents. It talks about the number of internship opportunities students have (the college is in an urban area) and the 95% job placement rate after graduation. This is a school most people here would know nothing about. Should we take it off the list because it isn’t “top-tier”?”</p>
<p>Those aren’t the criteria that are important to me. I value a different set of criteria. If those criteria are important to you, then by all means keep it on your list. It’s not as though you need anyone’s permission! </p>
<p>You are correct, PG. There are people who value public opinion and those who don’t. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting a fancy car. I am simply objecting to the idea that everyone would choose one if they could.</p>
<p>“But in any case, plenty of people who can afford a Mercedes E series (at least where I live) would still pick a Ford Focus. The Focus is a great small car that gets good mileage and is easy to park in the city. The OUTCOME of owning the Focus is exactly the same as the E Series–you get to where you need to go.”</p>
<p>In some areas of my life, I can afford the Mercedes and I want the Mercedes. In some areas of my life, I can afford the Mercedes but I’m fully satisfied with the Ford and would consider it wasteful on my part to spend the extra for the Mercedes. We all have things where we see differences that are worth paying for (for us) and areas where we don’t see differences worth paying for. For some of us, we see a specific type of college education as worth the difference. If you don’t, well, that’s fine. You do you. Just don’t accuse us of being prestige driven. I assure you I don’t care what my neighbors think, because I don’t even know them. </p>
<p>My kids went to two OOS privates. In both cases, my neighbors thought they were going to OOS public universities…because of the names of the schools (and because they had never heard of one of the schools).</p>
<p>As noted by Oldfort, those top schools have top programs and other amenities…just like even the bottom of the line brand of the car I drive has lots of amenities…and yes, it was more expensive than a Ford Focus. </p>
<p>The reality is that if either of my kids had been competitive applicants for a top school, they likely would have looked at them. We were particularly partial to Williams and Davidson. But neither was realistic for our kids. </p>
<p>My point here…we didn’t look at the rankings first…some folks do and some folks don’t. </p>
<p>Different strokes for different folks, and that’s OK.</p>