No surprise here: Stanford study says to find best fit, ignore rankings

[jym626]

https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2018/10/15/stanford-study-says-rankings-do-not-point-students-best-college-fit?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=a2aaa11b44-DNU20181015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-a2aaa11b44-228265881

A new study from researchers at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education examines all of the evidence about rankings and comes to this conclusion: the best way to find a college that is a “good fit” is to ignore the rankings.
Notably, the finding isn’t based on abstract ideas about the value of education not being something that can be measured.
Rather, the analysis is based on research about factors many students (and parents) say they take into consideration when they evaluate potential colleges: student learning, well-being, job satisfaction and future income.

[FallGirl]

I find it ironic that this study is from Stanford which clearly benefits from it’s own high ranking

[eb23282]

In other news, it’s being reported that water is wet.

[jym626]

And US news weakly trying to defend its way to sell magazines rankings:

Robert Morse, who leads the college rankings effort at U.S. News, said via email that he and his colleagues were still reviewing the Stanford analysis.
He noted that the paper did not reflect the most recent changes made by U.S. News in its methodology, changes that the magazine says placed a greater emphasis than in the past on rewarding colleges that promote social mobility. (Critics have said that the change are largely cosmetic and that the rankings continue to reward colleges primarily for being wealthy and serving the best prepared and generally wealthiest students.)

[Momtofourkids]

Somehow I don’t see it changing many minds even though its obvious to those of us whose children have found a great fit at “other than an Ivy”!

[ucbalumnus]

For many students and parents, “fit” is defined mainly by ranking or prestige.

[collegehelp]

The US News rankings are one of the most important criteria for determining “fit”. It is, of course, important that the school offers your major. Selectivity and reputation are very important determinants of “fit” and the rankings capture both. Graduation rate is an important indicator of quality and the rankings capture that.

If you are searching for information that “fits” reality, ignore the Stanford Graduate School of Education.

[jym626]

There is some useful info to be found in the USNews publication, but prestige nuts may not attend to much of that. That is the sad part. As you know, there are many good resources for much of that information, especially each school’s CDS, and other, perhaps more reliable resources, such as NCES/IPEDS.

[mackinaw]

“Rankings? RANKINGS!!? WE DON’T NEED NO STINKIN’ RANKINGS!”. I recall that line from the film “Treasure of the Sierra Madre.” (Maybe I’m mis-recalling it.)

My kids weren’t interested in “rankings.” They didn’t look at USNews or any printed guidebook or online discussion board. They had their own key criteria. For No. 1 it was “A college where it’s safe to be a thinker.” No 2 required “A very good art school located in a real city in the east.”

With those constraints, I did all the list-making for them. And of course I looked at rankings and ratings. Also, as an academic I had my own perspective on the national college scene. Until the last minute, neither of them wanted to make any college visits. No. 1 visited none prior to making applications, though he had seen a fair number on the debate circuit. No. 2 decided in summer after junior year that she should make a tour. We visited 10 colleges in 11 days.

They weren’t ignorant of which colleges were good ones, but they weren’t concerned about rankings as such. However, they ended up at schools that were within the “top 10” (of their type) in major rankings.

It was the quality of the programs, not prestige per se, that drew their interest. Though as I’ve mentioned before on this discussion board, No. 1 only first visited UChicago after doing an overnight on “admitted students day.” And No. 2 had to convince herself that RISD was in a “real city,” but knew it by reputation as one of the top handful of art schools. (She had been to summer programs at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, which gave her a perspective on other art programs.)

[coolguy40]

Ranking a university is like comparing an apple to a Hershey bar and calling one “better.” Better to who? “The Hershey bar is obviously better than the apple,” says someone in the media, so everyone believes it.