<p>I have paid little attention to tiers as listed in USNews, or anywhere else. I find USNews to be very helpful, but tiers were just not something that I looked at. I just glanced at a few schools this morning regarding tiers. I looked at a tier 3 LAC and a couple of Tier 1 LACs and I don't see a large difference in the entering class average standardized test scores. Could someone briefly expain to me what the tiers mean, and if I should even consider those as my son applies to college? Also, when I look at a master's university, and a bachelor's university (both tier 1), the 75% of standardized test scores is higher for the tier 3 LAC. The 25% is about equal across the board when comparing these 3 schools.</p>
<p>I'll be interested, too, as I don't really see the point of "tiering" either. When I helped my older and now my second, we looked at what the kids were doing 5 and 10 years out (as reported in the alumni magazines and by the colleges), where the profs got their graduate degrees and freshman retention as important indicators. Test scores tell you alittle bit about how the kids did in high school and their potential but tell you not so much about how they will perform in college happily and whether they will graduate from that particular college or university.</p>
<p>You could look back at the eleventy-zillion threads on CC with titles like, "Does prestige really matter?" There are two answers that are consistently given in those threads: "Yes" and "No."</p>
<p>The information in US News is useful, but IMHO tiers matter less than whether or not the college is a good fit for your son. Frpm what I understand, you really can't compare tiers across categories (LAC tier two, for example, will be different from bachelor's university tier two). Information about GPAs and test scores can help in figuring out if a school is a reach, match, or safety, but when choosing a college there are so many other things to think about. For example, is it important to you that most intro classes are taught by professors rather than grad students? Good luck.</p>
<p>I don't understand the tier-ing either. So much depends on what the student wants to study, and what type of environment the student prefers to study in. I don't see how a school's tier factors into those criteria at all.</p>
<p>I don't bother at all with the ratings and tier listing of US News and World. What is great about the magazine is that the stats are right at your fingertips (with a little eye strain, of course). There are many terrific schools in their tier 3 that because of their ratings formula seem to not meet their grade. You just have to visit them and research them to see if they appear to be what the student desires.</p>
<p>Here's a serious answer: the tiers can be useful in identifying schools that are generally similar in selectivity to other schools that interest an applicant. Thinking in terms of tiers or groups may also help you avoid the trap of thinking that number 17 is necessarily "better" than number 18.</p>
<p>My D is a high school senior and took three classes in math and physics last semester at a university associated with her high school that is ranked as a Tier 3 by US News. She found that everyone was very nice and friendly and the professors gave a lot of personal attention to students. However, the academic rigor was lower than at her high school. On the first test she got the highest grade in the class (the professor announced it in class), something I don't think she had ever done in high school, and one of the other students hired her to tutor him. My D concluded that she needed a much more competitive and rigorous academic atmosphere. However, I think this school would be the right kind of environment for my younger son who doesn't like studying too much. So I have to agree that it depends on the student.</p>
<p>dsultemeier--my son had that experience, too. Ended up tutoring college students while taking a summer college course, as a HS student. Then again, he doesn't seem to like to work a whole bunch....so it's hard to tell (I think) how a particular student would respond to very rigorous/less rigorous.</p>
<p>Perhaps one cannot compare tiers between different groupings (ie: master's U. vs. LAC). Still, when I compared two tier 1 LACs against a tier 3, the standardized test scores were in a similar range. Sure the bottom 25% had 25 points less on the SAT, but 75% was 30 points less for reading and 60 points GREATER for math (comparing one tier 1 and one tier 3). I would not cross a tier 3 off the list because of such small differences, or tell my child that the tier 1 is superior academically as I look at those numbers.</p>