"Totally Objective" Rankings Put Stanford on Top

College Search & Selection
41

<p>StarTribune: College ranking do-over: Minnesota school slipped in at No. 15
College</a> ranking do-over: Minnesota school slipped in at No. 15
By PAUL WALSH, Star Tribune </p>

<p>Last update: February 11, 2009 - 12:28 PM</p>

<p>And just when you thought there was only one recount that Minnesotans have a stake in.</p>

<p>Earlier this week, a new ranking of the nation's colleges came out and placed Macalester in St. Paul as tops in the state, coming in at No. 79 out of the 2,000 on the list. Well, now StateUniversity.com has quietly slipped in Carleton College in Northfield at No. 15. The website's spokesman, Bill Richards, explained today that Carleton was initially left out "due to insufficient data." "Carleton College has since been in touch with us and has provided up-to-date statistics that enabled us to rank them -- very highly, in fact," Richards said.</p>

<p>He added that while there are no other adjustments in the works, "the list is dynamically updated as new data is obtained."</p>

<p>StateUniversity.com calls Carleton "one of the country's best liberal arts colleges," which "attracts a talented, diverse, and intelligent group of students, many of whom were initially considering matriculation at the Ivies."</p>

<p>The website added that Carleton's students are "expected and required to complete a wide range of courses in varied subjects." These requirements "are designed with the intention that all students' four-year academic experience will have breadth as well as depth."</p>

<p>Carleton's addition has pushed Macalester down a notch to No. 80. The same can be said for St. Olaf, another Northfield school, which is now ranked 98th. The state's largest university, Minnesota, Twin Cities, is now ranked 194th.</p>

<p>Ranked at the top is Stanford. Rounding out the top 10 are MIT, West Point, Princeton, Cornell, Cal Tech, Amherst, Rice, Williams and Brown.</p>

<p>StateUniversity.com calls its rankings "100 percent objective." It says it has built its results based on a "comprehensive survey of verified data, including student/faculty ratio, student retention and test scores."</p>

<p>To see the complete list, visit Top</a> 2000 Ranked Universities for Highest Overall School Score.</p>

42

<p>A local news story reports that the rankings </p>

<p>Top</a> 2000 Ranked Universities for Highest Overall School Score </p>

<p>have been updated to deal with gaps in the data, and that appears to be correct based on what is quoted above (which is no longer the ranking that appears at the URL).</p>

43

<p>Top</a> 500 Ranked Universities for Highest SAT 75th Percentile Scores
People can argue all day if they want. SAT is still the most objetive criterion in college admission. Stanford is #9.</p>

44

<p>Woot! Harvard isn't the 14th best school after all, but the 24th!
My kid DOES have a shot!</p>

45

<p>
[quote]
Harvard isn't the 14th best school after all, but the 24th!

[/quote]
</p>

<p>LOL. I know exactly how seriously you are taking this set of rankings and other rankings.</p>

46

<p>The argument could be made that the rankings are about institutional power. The characteristics of HYP are considered to anchor the top and they are extended 'downward' to other colleges. Evaluation of an arbitrary set of variables is just that, arbitrary. There has to be an anchoring of the rankings in some shared social reality. Perhaps you could say that HYP are famous for being famous. But they are objectively powerful. Perhaps we should try to measure how that power is ahieved and exercised. That would be an indication of the practical potential for other colleges to exert their own admixture of power.</p>