<p>Wesleyan is leaving aside the question of whether to continue participating in the annual peer assessment survey, but, will stop referring to its USNews rank (currently #10 among national LACs) in college brochures and on its website. It is the highest ranking LAC to make such an announcement since the Annapolis Group began circulating a petition several months ago, among eighty top LACs, to cease cooperating with USNews in creating its annual poll:
<a href="http://www.rep-am.com/articles/2007/08/03/lifestyle/275422.txt%5B/url%5D">http://www.rep-am.com/articles/2007/08/03/lifestyle/275422.txt</a></p>
<p>That's a step in the right direction.</p>
<p>Williams has also said that it will stop referring to its ranking in promotional materials.</p>
<p>It will be interesting to see what happens to its application pool as a result. While Wesleyan is well known in the NE, it is not well known in many other parts of the country, and I think that its US News ranking has helped attract many students to apply to it.</p>
<p>So, the school won't mention the rankings overtly, but shall still participate in, and reap the benefits from, the ranking, huh? Dubious at best....</p>
<p>I don't see what this shall accomplish. The people who don't know about the academic strength of Wesleyan will be the ones who FIRST read UsNews and THEN look into the school.</p>
<p>No Ivy League, top LAC, or top private as far as I know has ever mentioned its US News rank in any marketing material.</p>
<p>The fact that they mentioned that they were ranked 15th or whatever in their brochures is weird. Also, this isn't going to help them, and I really don't see how its a step in the right direction. Its not as if US News does schools a disservice.</p>
<p>
[quote]
It will be interesting to see what happens to its application pool as a result. While Wesleyan is well known in the NE, it is not well known in many other parts of the country, and I think that its US News ranking has helped attract many students to apply to it.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I am not familiar with their previous materials--do you think it really gave them that much of a boost? Where did they feature it, and did those mailings go out to people who hadn't otherwise heard of them? </p>
<p>My gut feeling--although I could be off--is that students who most care about rank will seek that information out anyway, and that makes it almost immaterial whether Wesleyan puts it on page 1 of the viewbook or not. Maybe more students will be quicker to dismiss it without finding out more, but I'd like to know how prominently it used to be featured before assuming it was a big help to Wesleyan.</p>
<p>US NEWS definately boosts the applications to many schools.
Especially when ur school is ranked high up there.</p>
<p>A lot of ppl from all over the world review this magazine, thus being on it (on the top 10 especially) gets ur school's name out there...</p>
<p>what would happen if ur not on it? I predict a decline..</p>
<p>I dont think many people would know a lot of colleges even existed in the US if they didnt see it in the USNEWs thing. Top Privates dont need to mention it because everyone knows they are the top anyway.</p>
<p>
[quote]
That's a step in the right direction.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Well, a cynic might add that a step in the right direction for Wesleyan SHOULD include making its Common Data Set surveys public. </p>
<p>Is it accidental that the school does not think that the information is worth placing on its website, and remains one of the few selective schools to hide the documents? </p>
<p>In the meantime, we get to read another healthy of the BS that this is helpful for the public-at-large. </p>
<p>PS I hope you understand that NOTHING is happening regarding the USNews ranking! Wesleyan still participates as it did before. They simply won't advertise their ranking overtly.</p>
<p>what are wesleyan's reasons for not promoting the USNWR ranking?</p>
<p>saving space on brochures?</p>
<p>If Wesleyan was actually mentioning their ranking in admissions material, they would have been one of the outliers among top universities and LACs. (I think Williams used to have a statement on their admissions page about how they'd been ranked historically.) </p>
<p>But the education conservancy pledge is not to use the rankings "in any promotional efforts on behalf of your college or university, and more generally, refuse to refer to the rankings as an indication of the quality of your college or university." If they're really promising not to mention their rankings in fund raising mailings and mailings to alums--the place where the top schools actually tend to trumpet this kind of thing--then I think it's not insignificant.</p>
<p>I've yet to see Wesleyan reference its USNews rank in its materials. People will still see the school ranked in the top 10 LACs, which will attract attention. Wes loses nothing considerable by omission of their rank in materials, meaning the act is not particularly newsworthy, IMHO.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Well, a cynic might add that a step in the right direction for Wesleyan SHOULD include making its Common Data Set surveys public
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I certainly would like to see that.</p>
<p>Wesleyan has moved up to #9 this year, according to early reports. Were they to follow the steps of peer school Wellesley, which has refused to participate in the PA scores for some years, I would be impressed. To see a school that is rising reject the rankings is far more admirable than one that is falling. ;)</p>
<p>Williams makes many references to UsNews, and I'd be willing that many other schools do too....</p>
<p>"Established over 200 years ago in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts, Williams College has a long and distinguished tradition of academic excellence. In the present day, US News and World Report consistently ranks Williams as the #1 liberal arts college in the nation."</p>
<p>And that's just on the career services website....</p>
<p><a href="http://www.wesleyan.edu/about/profile.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.wesleyan.edu/about/profile.html</a></p>
<p>I can't find anything. Perhaps they've already deleted it, but I'm quite sure I've never seen any reference to any ranking on Wes' website.</p>
<p>
[quote]
what would happen if ur not on it? I predict a decline..
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I don't think anyone here is questioning the manner in which being in the magazine may aid or hurt a school. That is not what this thread is about. Wesleyan is not removing itselves from the ranking process (I'm not sure that's possible). </p>
<p>They are simply declining, in the future, to make reference to their ranking in their own promotional materials. So I think the points being debated here still stand--will there be a decline in applications as some have predicted? I confess I don't think there would be.</p>
<p>One should consider</p>
<p>A) Who Wesleyan markets itself to
B) Who searches out a school like Wesleyan</p>
<p>It is likely that, as with most/all top schools, the students that receive brochures from Wesleyan are nearer the top of their class and either already familiar with the school or capable of doing a little research to determine its standing. OTOH, Wesleyan attracts plenty of the same applicants as other top schools (particularly boarding school apps) but is also known for its somewhat different atmosphere. As such, I doubt this will make any difference on the size of Wes' app pool, and I'm sure they know that.</p>
<p>Here's another story that has a quote from Wesleyan's president, saying that they will also decline to furnish the peer assessment, the second prong of the "boycott."</p>
<p><a href="http://www.macon.com/198/story/95402.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.macon.com/198/story/95402.html</a></p>
<p>^^-^^</p>
<p>Wesleyan's President </p>
<p>RUTH AUSTIN KNOX knows from experience the value of a woman’s college education </p>
<p>History of Wesleyan College </p>
<p>At Wesleyan, “First for Women” isn’t just a catchphrase. It’s a way of life. Chartered as the Georgia Female College on December 23, 1836, Wesleyan is the world's oldest women's college. The College was founded through the efforts of a group of Macon citizens and the Georgia Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, as evidence of their concern for the education of women. The Reverend George Foster Pierce was elected president of the Georgia Female College in 1838, and the College opened its doors on January 7, 1839. Ninety young women were enrolled in our first session.</p>