<p>Wellesley used to be number 3 after Williams and Amherst in the US News and World ranking. It fell to number 7 over the past 10 years [I think it was last ranked number 3 in 2002 or so]. </p>
<p>In the latest 2014 US News and World Ranking, Wellesley has shot back to number 4 just behind, Williams, Amherst and Swarthmore.</p>
<p>Don't know if this amounts to anything other than bragging rights, but congratulations to all the Wellesley admits this year, you have helped boost the ranking for Wellesley and you are in a premier educational institution in the country.</p>
<p>Honestly, I think these rankings are really a lot of hair-splitting. Yes, you want your child in a school with name recognition among employers and grad schools, so that she has career and further educational opportunities, but is there really that much of a difference in quality between LAC number 1 and, say, number 22? It seems to me that at this level, finding one’s peers and environment is more important than just picking the school with the higher ranking.</p>
<p>The kind of person who would think that being 7 was “not premier” and 4 now makes it “premier” is an idiot! As a parent of a W senior, I couldn’t care less that it bobbles around. It’s all the same. </p>
<p>Oh my. When I was a first year at Wellesley in the dark ages, it fell out of the USNWR top ten to #11. My aunt earnestly asked me if I wanted to reconsider my decision to attend, as if its ranking were a factor in my decision (it wasn’t).</p>