<p>U.S</a>. News Kicks GW Off its Faulty College Rankings - Yahoo! News</p>
<p>Wow!! Thanks for sharing, rjk!!! </p>
<p>I wonder how this would impact GWU’s ranking next year? I recall GWU tied with tOSU at #53 three years ago on USNWR, but it has since moved into the Top-50.</p>
<p>[George</a> Washington University | Best College | US News](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/george-washington-university-1444]George”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/george-washington-university-1444)</p>
<p>LOL. I was just thinking of you Sparkeye. I knew you’d respond to this news. This could very well propel tOSU to the top 50 next year.</p>
<p>Not exactly like the NCAA “death penalty,” but a blow to a school that was hoping to move up in, not out of, the rankings.</p>
<p>Hold your horses tight!</p>
<p>The impact on the USNews rankings will highly depend on the previous use of the data. People immediately assume that a change in the selectivity data results in a change in the … ranked selectivity. With a lower number of students in the top ten percent, GWU will be reranked for THAT metric and then the overall number will be amended … or not. </p>
<p>As in a previous similar cases, the fans of the schools that are immediately ranked below start to think that the updated numbers will have a major impact, and will be disappointed by the outcome. It simply does NOT work that way, or at least not with the expected tsunami. </p>
<p>Fwiw, “messing” with the selectivity index is a complete fool’s errand, as its impact is much, much lower than expected, and is often mitigated by the expected graduation rate. In fact, a school might easily come out better by reporting LOWER scores.</p>
<p>The real astute cheaters know where to look for the biggest bang. A hint look at the Peer Assessment and reported financial and academic resources!</p>
<p>Yep, TV pundits were saying the actual ranking impact of the adjusted data would be minimal. But, being removed from the list is somewhat more dramatic.</p>
<p>Most important, I guess, is that GWU is still the same school today that it was yesterday!</p>
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<p>+1</p>
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<p>Similar to Emory’s scandal, this “Top 10%” high schooler data manipulation has been going on for over a decade!!! I wonder how this will impact GWU’s “Undergraduate Academic Reputation Index” which is consisted of both the PA score & High School Counselor rating next year.</p>
<p>Also, I stand corrected! GWU is(was) currently tied for #51 (not Top-50) with BU & Tulane. Its “Undergraduate Academic Reputation Index” is(was) 75 compared to 77 of tOSU in this year’s ranking.</p>
<p>GWU’s mascot, our nation’s founding father - Mr. Washington is rolling over in his grave as we speak! LOL</p>
<p>Why wasn’t emory removed?</p>
<p>I have not looked heavily into this, but I reiterate the above. Why weren’t Emory or CMC removed for misreport?</p>
<p>As a parent of a student there, I wonder if I can ask for a discount!</p>
<p>“The real astute cheaters know where to look for the biggest bang. A hint look at the Peer Assessment…!”</p>
<p>…because it’s so easy to manipulate collective data of thousands of independent academics? Huh?</p>
<p>Rjk, not when it is done over a long period of time by punishing your foes and helping your “friends.” Geographical and historical cronyism reigns supreme in that survey that is hardly filled by … objective and independent academics. </p>
<p>Actually, if you’d think about it a bit, you will realize NONE of the respondents is independent. And describing their objectivity would be an insult to the adjective.</p>
<p>FAQs on George Washington Universitys Data Misreporting</p>
<p>[FAQs</a> on George Washington University?s Data Misreporting - Morse Code: Inside the College Rankings (usnews.com)](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/college-rankings-blog/2012/11/16/faqs-on-george-washington-universitys-data-misreporting]FAQs”>http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/college-rankings-blog/2012/11/16/faqs-on-george-washington-universitys-data-misreporting)</p>
<p>Wasn’t Clemson University in a misreporting of data scandal as well? What was their outcome?</p>
<p>Hopefully the next admins of GWU will not be so focused on how their school appears to be on USNWR.</p>
<p>Clemson wasn’t misreporting their data - the president just put his school at #1 in the peer assessment rankings (which I guess he can haha)</p>
<p>US news is looking like a very flawed process. Parents and students need to make sure they choose schools not solely on US news rating.</p>
<p>College rankings are inherently arbitrary and flawed, they are more about selling newspapers/magazines then providing something objective. They really should not be the main source of input one uses when trying to pick the right college.</p>
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Ya think??!!??</p>
<p>USNWR rankings, like all rankings, are not just a flawed process, but a flawed premise. Why? Because they are trying to provide a quantitative assessment to an inherently qualitative property. Think about the title itself, America’s Best Colleges. What does that even mean? Best how? For whom? Is Harvard really the best university for a student that loves big time college sports and warm weather, and maybe is a good but not great student? They wouldn’t probably even get in, so it certainly isn’t the best for them.</p>
<p>It would be equally flawed to say “Well then, whatever the highest ranked school they could get into would be best for them”. Really? Does anyone believe that?</p>
<p>Having said that, one can certainly go down the list of methods used by USNWR and tear apart each and every one without even complaining about the weighting factors used. In many cases there is no evidence of a correlation between the parameter “measured” and the quality of the academic experience of an undergrad. I put measured in quotes because as pointed out, some of the parameters such as peer assessment have been shown to be very dubious with regard to the reporting being done.</p>
<p>It’s not worth going on further because it really could be (should be) a book. Suffice it to say that USNWR has performed a grave injustice to the entire world of higher education by playing to people’s illogical (in this case) need for a sorted (and sordid) list.</p>
<p>^Well said!</p>