Three weeks to the US News Best College 2009

College Search & Selection
21

<p>From U.S. News… we know exactly which counselors were polled… </p>

<p>“U.S.News & World Report in spring 2008 for the first time asked a nationwide cross section of *public *school high school counselors… The high school counselors we are asking to participate are all from the 1,600 public high schools nationwide that made the December 2007 U.S.News & World Report’s America’s Best High Schools rankings.” </p>

<p>Here’s the list of schools: [Best</a> High Schools Search - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/directories/high-schools/]Best”>http://www.usnews.com/directories/high-schools/)</p>

22

<p>can’t wait for Aug 22! I hope Princeton stays on top.</p>

23

<p>Why pay any attention to the U.S. News rankings? The ratings from the US News & World Report are misleading and lead to a ‘marketing’ of colleges rather than illuminating true quality and educational value. </p>

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<p>The National Opinion Research Center, one of the largest and most highly respected social research organizations in the US, found that the statistical weights used by U.S. News to rank colleges/universities “lack any defensible empirical or theoretical basis.” </p>

<p>See the Boston Globe article, Dismissing school rankings at: [Dismissing</a> school rankings - The Boston Globe](<a href=“http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/06/30/dismissing_school_rankings/]Dismissing”>http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/06/30/dismissing_school_rankings/)

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<p>And see article ** Criticism of college and university rankings** at: [Criticism</a> of college and university rankings (2007 United States) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_college_and_university_rankings_(2007_United_States)]Criticism”>Criticism of college and university rankings in North America - Wikipedia)</p>

24

<p>Oh, and on top of that, US News also has plans to use things such as ‘ethnic diversity’ and ‘socioeconomic diversity’ in their rankings in the future. It’s really getting pretty ridiculous.</p>

<p>Most high school counselors are extremely uninformed about the actual education that students receive at the colleges they’re asked about. I’m guessing that their little part in the rankings will reflect on the general public’s view of colleges… i.e., prestige, and nothing else.</p>

25

<p>The thing people don’t understand is that A LOT of international kids rely almost solely on the US News rankings… Since they often can’t come and visit campuses, but they want to apply to prestige schools, they do use the rankings as a reliable gauge.</p>

26

<p>I hope they didn’t talk to my guidance counselor, either. She’s told me countless times that “if you can’t find a good enough school in Ohio, you’re being too picky”. I definitely agree that public school GC’s probably write secretly mediocre recs for top students, but if I could figure that out, I’m sure colleges are aware of the possibility, too. If USNWR gives any weight to the public school GCs’ opinions, I think every state flagship U will be moving up the ranks this year. ;)</p>

27

<p>This didn’t happen to me, but my friend’s GC recommended she apply to a low-tier public university (not even UIUC). My friend got into Amherst, UChicago, Northwestern, Dartmouth, and many other great schools. She’s going to Amherst in the fall. My GC was pretty good about being non-intrusive, though, and I’m sure she wrote great recs. So, while there are good GCs, there are also very, very lousy ones.</p>