<p>For those of you who did not know, Wes is in the top 10 in US News and World Report which, I am told, just came out for 2006. Just thought I'd let those who were interested in on the info. I am not sure where they were before.....</p>
<p>I saw that...yay.</p>
<p>Now if Wesleyan can make top 5.....I'm just kidding :)</p>
<p>Well, if Middlebury can be #5, so can Wesleyan. Of course, Middlebury shouldn't be #5. (Must drive Pomona crazy.)</p>
<p>Two years ago, Wes was #9. Last year it was #12. Two years ago Middlebury was #11 or something like that. Apparently when US News started ranking schools back in the 80s, Wes was #6 and was usually always in the top ten until the 90s. Oberlin and Reed were always in the top ten then, too. But I think that's when the rankings had more to do with reputation than with all the other criteria they use now. I like that Wes probably has the most distinct campus culture of any of the schools in the top 20 or so, in my opinion anyway.</p>
<p>Middlebury has ranked in the top ten all but once in the past 10 years. It has already been ranked fifth once or twice before.</p>
<p>Wes' recent record really doesn't compare</p>
<p>I think Midd is a great school, but there is controversy over how it reports its numbers. The best example is how they inflated their SAT scores for US News, but report them way lower on the school's website; a 1320 mean or median for the class of 2009, I think? Doesn't really compare to Wesleyan's 1400. It's pretty obvious Midd's manipulating their numbers for the rankings, and maybe they've been doing it for the past 10 years.</p>
<p>At least Wes' record is honest.</p>
<p>this says wes is top 10, but according to the posts so far, like <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=227117&page=2&highlight=wesleyan%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=227117&page=2&highlight=wesleyan</a></p>
<p>wes is 11/12... which is true?</p>
<p>they changed their SAT reporting policies this year. SAT I ranges now include scores of all matriculating students, not just those who chose to submit them.<br>
Thats why the 2007 25th percentile is 100 points lower than the inflatedone reported for the 2006 rankings. </p>
<p>Midd's old reporting policy probably didn't help the school's performance all that greatly, however, because it created astromonically high predicted graduation rates.</p>
<p>That said, Pomona probably does deserve that number 5 slot a whole lot more</p>
<p>ah I saw the scanned page of the rankings... Wes is ranked #10 but has 10 schools above it... a tie it seems. sorry for the misunderstanding</p>
<p>10 days until Wes!</p>
<p>I've been a student at Wes when it was ranked #11, #9, and #12. Shockingly, going to #9 was very similar to #12! I wonder what #10 will be like?!?</p>
<p>obviously it will be very different at Wes now that it's in the top 10 if the hype of the rankings is anything to go by... surely a #10 Wes has better academics than a #12 Wes? That is what these rankings tell us, right? That a schools is infinitely better than the one a couple spots down? Or maybe, just on a slight chance, these rankings are, in fact, arbitrary, and mean absolutely nothing! Nah...</p>
<p>USNWR is extremely flawed. Ignore them.</p>
<p>I grew up in Middletown and spent my high school years hanging out at Wesleyan - mostly at Eclectic. Couldn't really attend Wes because it was several blocks from home. As a result, I was looking at Carleton, Oberlin, and Reed in the late 1980's. How different the rankings are nowadays (except for Carleton). I attended Oberlin and loved it, but am concerned about the rankings only because I think they depersonalize all the schools and establish a monochrome pecking order. I often wonder if I would have chosen Oberlin over other schools if it had been ranked #22 (as opposed to #8 or so back then). It's easy to say the rankings don't matter but I imagine they do have a significant impact on a student's decision. Glad to see that Washington Monthly is attempting to establish its own ranking. Would be nice if there were several reliable rankings with different "flavors" so that students could have a bit more perspective on USNWR and their methodology. Any methodology will have its limitations, so when I hear that highly esteemed schools such as Middlebury and U Chicago (and most others, I'm sure) are devoting energy to improving their USNWR ranking, I am worried that the captains of higher ed are chasing dubious goals. Will the "best" on USNWR report always be the best for any student, for American higher education, for the US in general?</p>
<p>Woop de do!
Haha, it's suprising how little these changes affect other than admissions.
When you apply to grad schools, they already know the reputation of your respective school, so it's not like they're gonna go "Oh, wesleyan's ranked 10 this year, so it must be better than _______ College/University, and this student is a lot better of an admit than the other one!"</p>
<p>On the whole, it's better than a poke in the eye. </p>
<p>It's been my experience that in years when Wesleyan jumps a couple of notches in the USNews poll, a bumper crop in applications follows shortly thereafter; nothing dramatic, but you may see a 1-2% drop in the admit/apps ratio. That may carry over into the overall SAT median for matriculants. If memory serves me, Wesleyan crossed the 1400 SAT median mark for matriculants during a similar jump in the poll back in 2004.</p>
<p>So, the pattern seems to be one of consolidation of small gains consistently over many poll cycles, going back AT LEAST ten years, now. Personally, the wonder has always been how a school with half the endowment and twice the students of its nearest competitors manages to to always stay in contention, even when it isn't necessarily in the top ten (like last year?)</p>
<p>I think Jimmyarrivederci put his finger on it when he remarked that one pretty much has to scroll all the way down the list of national LACs, until you get to Wesleyan, before you get to an LAC that isn't overly preppy, isn't politically apathetic, and is fairly diverse while remaining academically distinctive. I think that may be Wesleyan's secret.</p>
<p>
[quote]
before you get to an LAC that isn't overly preppy, isn't politically apathetic, and is fairly diverse while remaining academically distinctive. I think that may be Wesleyan's secret.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>What about Wellesley and Vassar?</p>
<p>Psht, they're all wannabe's!</p>
<p>Vassar dropped it's seven sisters status to attan an image it wants, we haven't changed ;-)</p>
<p>I Love it here!!!</p>
<p>Also, I understand that at Wellesley there are still a large number of women who wear clothes with expensive labels, pearls and carry handbags to class. I guess there are people like that at Wesleyan too, but they're usually doing for effect.</p>
<p>And at Vassar, while the student body is generally liberal, it also my understanding that political discussion is nil. It just isn't considered cool. Sort of on the level of "So global warming is bad, right? Cool. Let's eat."</p>