<p>UM has fallen from #38 two years ago to #47 this year, in spite of the fact that the SAT scores, GPA, and class rank get better every year.My son just started his freshman year, and the kids I have met on three visits have been very impressive. We visited UCSB, a school ranked ahead of UM, and I felt there was no comparison. Our guide said she had classes with 500 students and that it took five years for some kids to graduate. Plus they are facing funding cuts. I'm sure the administration is disappointed, although in my opinion ,the US News rankings garner way too much attention. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>See last year’s thread on USNWR rankings. Their methodology is flawed in more ways than I can think of. They have become more of a popularity contest than anything else. I wouldn’t sweat it that much to be perfectly honest.</p>
<p>Agree, but for some reason their rankings are perceived as the gold standard by many people.</p>
<p>If you takle all the “ties” into account UMiami is ranked 24 !.. :)</p>
<p>My understanding is that the magazine reconfigures their special proprietary formula every year to increase or decrease weighting of the factors they use for their rankings. This year I read they decided to lessen the weighting of class rank (historically a category strongly valued for admission at the []_[]), increase the weighting of ACT/SAT and I’m sure lots more jiggling around of the numbers. </p>
<p>The little adjustments to the weighting of the criteria they arbitrarily decide to use happen every year, causing some schools to move up a bit and others down. Prior to 38 the []_[] had been 47 the year before. Nothing changes in one year to make any of these little fluctuations meaningful. Gotta make news in order to continue to sell that cash cow college rankings issue : )</p>
<p>@Illininoismom93-Very well put. Boston University jumped from 51 to 41. I live near Boston and try to keep up local news, and I can think of nothing that has happened at BU to account for their leapfrogging over UM. It is the same school.The whole ranking thing seems contrived and artificial, but many people accept it as the ultimate truth.</p>