<li>Bryn Mawr College 21</li>
<li>Wellesley College 4 </li>
<li>Wesleyan University 12 </li>
<li>Haverford College 8</li>
<li>Amherst College 2</li>
<li>Mount Holyoke College 23</li>
<li>Claremont McKenna College 10</li>
<li>Williams College 1</li>
<li>Whitman College 36</li>
<li>Swarthmore College 3</li>
<li>Wheaton College 55</li>
<li>Carleton College 5</li>
</ol>
<p>The numbers to the right are U.S. News’ rankings. According to Washington Monthly, the purpose is to ask “not what colleges can do for you, but what colleges are doing for the country.”</p>
<p>I guess I will respond to myself. To me, this ranking system is interesting, as it exposes, and thereby checks, the unwarranted influence of U.S. News and World Report. </p>
<p>In their own words, "We asked ourselves: What are the reasonable indicators of how much a school is benefiting the country? We came up with three: how well it performs as an engine of social change (ideally helping the poor to get rich rather than the rich to get very, very rich), how well it does in fostering scientific and humanistic research, and how well it promotes an ethic of service to the country" (Washington Monthly p. 22). </p>
<p>The article goes on to state that while rankings are never perfect, they are also "indispensable."</p>
<ol>
<li>Oberlin College 25</li>
<li>Grinnell College 15</li>
<li>Pomona College 6</li>
<li>Smith College 19</li>
<li>Harvey Mudd College 18</li>
<li>Tougaloo College</li>
<li>Bowdoin College</li>
<li>Middlebury College</li>
</ol>
<p>I think this answers the question regarding Smith and Pomona. Reed was 24th.</p>
<p>I don't have any problem with Washington Monthly's college lists; the criteria are clear and even refreshing. I don't know if our self-centered culture will adapt to its philosophy though.</p>
<p>i don't see the real big difference between usnews rankings and these. both basically say that the top 10-15 lacs also are the top 15 that are socially aware. considering there are so many colleges out there, i don't think there is much difference in the top 1-15 (out of 2000 colleges!) in either list although publishers and status minded individuals would like us to believe. as measuring quality seems pretty hard to me, i think there is a lot of fuzzy math with both ranks. like trying to describe a group of people with your glasses off.</p>
<p>I agree with you fur uncle, any ranking system inevitably relies upon "fuzy math." I don't envy Washington Monthly, or any other publication for that matter, seeking to place a number on schools' "quality." My purpose in listing this particluar set of rankings was to show that, while subtle, there are some differences between U.S. News and Washington Monthly.</p>
<p>Are there schools that you would like to see listed/acknowledged?</p>
<p>no, all my favorites are on both lists. i'm a little disappointed bowdoin isn't in the top 10 on the washington report but that's more for my ego than anything else</p>
<p>if they had a category that factored in community service besides peace corps and the military, perhaps finding what percentage of students were involved in some type of service org and/or how much time the avg student gave, i'd pay a lot more attention.</p>
<p>I'm not sure things like community service count for these types of rankings. But I generally agree with your point. For instance, they should include things like public service positions, and/or teaching positions. That said, it would be difficult to distinguish between short- and long-term teaching positions.</p>