Why was a thread about possible “ranking rigging”[ which has occurred many times at many universities- Hello WAshU?] bumped to the top of the CC home page ?
I understand someone starting a thread about this subject in the USC forum,[ not necessarily why Roger started it ] but not why a CC administrator felt it was so important to those logging onto CC that it should be at the top of the featured discussions?
In general, threads are elevated to the Featured Discussions area if the mod or admin believes the thread will engage a large segment of the CC audience. No doubt this issue goes far beyond the walls of USC, and I don’t think this point is lost on our members.
We do appreciate your feedback.
I also question why this has been designated a “featured discussion” in the **University of Southern California **forum. It seems more appropriate for the Cafe, Parent’s forum, or even College Search and Selection. If you look at who is posting, it is NOT those who typically post on the USC forum - the posters are clicking in because it is the first “featured discussion” in discussion home and have no input into any of the other USC threads. Much of the discussion in that thread is about UCLA and Clemson, and about the rankings system in general. It seems the topic belongs in a more general forum.
Like menloparkmom, I have no problem with the issue being discussed, I just think it has been placed in the wrong forum. As you say, Lenitus, it goes far beyond the walls of USC.
I am cut & pasting into this post a portion of what i posted into “ranking/rigging” thread (that appears in the USC folder). I ask for your consideration as to (1) which discussions are appropriate, or not, within specific school’s folders, and (2) who the primary audience of specific school folders tends to be, and (3) what are the intended purpose of CC’s discussion threads.
This is a portion of my post in the USC thread:
*Look at all the many other threads in this “USC” folder. You have new students asking current students about housing, science and engineering programs, studying abroad, health services, greek organizations, food services, different academic programs, placement tests, specific classes, etc. My point is the aforementioned threads are what this USC folder is intended for. It provides a means for students (who are interested, who have applied, and in many cases have been accepted) an opportunity to ask current students for help. College life can be overwhelming to many students. I love CC, and all the benefits that it provides to students. It is better than “google” searches, because the questions and answers are typically real-time, and you can follow up to get additional details. We have received many many answers for qusetions we had about USC.
This thread about the ranking of USC, in my opinion, is hardly beneficial to students who are eagerly aniticipating their first day at USC. In my opinion, this thread should be moved to the “Paents” folder. I firmly believe that the topic is fine, and i have no problems with the discussion occurring. I just think that the discussion should take place in a different folder. Consider who the vast majority of people who are reading the posts in this folder (new and current USC students, and their parents).
When you choose to disparage USC, and diminish the “shine”, (in this USC folder) you are making those comments to thousands of 18 year old boys and girls. Yes, at 18, they are adults, but those of us who are parents know what i mean. At that age, they are leaving the nest for the first time, and they have many questions and concerns. They want to be adults, yet they still want and need our assistance. They want to have all the answers, but they will still come to us with many questions. Some of them have fears and doubts. In my opinion, the last thing that we (parents) want to do, is to create one more additional concern or doubt in their minds. (Again, please hear me, i have no problems with this discussion occurring. You are welcome to criticize USC all you want. I just think that it should be done in a different folder).*
** I have felt, since i joined CC, that there should be a separate folder hierarchy for the debate/argument threads (“my school vs your school”, or “your school sucks for the following reasons”, etc.). I believe that the individual school folders are used primarily by new students (newly accpeted, or newly attending) of the school. They have many questions, and they seek assistance from existing students.
Our family has asked many questions over the past 3 years. We have received many excellent and very helpful answers. The answers have provided details that have enabled us, in some cases, to modify our choices (academic and student life in general). **
One of the USC detracters recently posted the following (in response to my post)
*"I think it’s telling about you as a person that you think that 18-19 year olds are so impressionable that their world would be shattered at the first hint of impropriety at their school. Forgetting, of course the athletic scandals that were already all over the news. Do you think all college freshman are so fragile or just USC students? *
**I am not saying that new students are not mature enough to view the harsh debates. But, at a minimum, it is a distraction and is noise. And, in some cases, some students are more fragile than we realize, and can we say with confidence what added stress will or will not be the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Unlike the “student” who replied to my post, I am a “parent”. And I know of students who have encountered problems within college (1) academic: changes in grade after starting college, (2) emotional: homesick, sadness, depression, etc, (3) social: difficulty fitting in, establishing new friendships, etc, (4) substance abuse: drugs, alcohol, etc. And there are far more problems than the short list that i mention. We have all heard the statistics of students who commit suicide, the ultimate form of crying out for help. Who knows what pressures that those students encountered, that pushed them over the edge.
Again, i am not saying that we need to treat them with kid gloves. Yet, on the other hand, why not provide them with college folders that are supportive of their new environment. Why not move the debate/argument threads to another hierarchy of folders.
Those are my opinions.
Thanks for listening.
**
This topic is again of interest to me because a member recently started a new thread on the USC forum containing a similar complaint about CC admins being biased against USC. It named the OP of the thread-
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-southern-california/727030-ranking-rigging-usc.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-southern-california/727030-ranking-rigging-usc.html</a>
That complaint was promptly deleted by an admin. I was told that it was deleted only because it had been posted in the wrong forum.
I still am frustrated that the CC Admin has the power to bash USC with bias and inflammatory language and put it anywhere they want. Now that thread has a permanent place on the Featured Discussions list with the accusatory title “Ranking Rigging at USC?”
I too want to know what does CC have against USC?
The admin might be a UCLA alumni. 
I believe that the OP of the rank rigging thread posted it because of its relevance to CC. The source of the scrutiny against USC, in this particular instance, was a post on CC.
I do feel that singling USC out on the front page of the website specifically – which gets thousands upon thousands of hits a day – is defamatory and unnecessary.
Though the above posts are yet to ask the admins this explicitly, I will: please remove the USC posting from the CC-talk home page. It is not neutral in nature and does not belong there.
Hi All,
I posted a question asking why this Ranking Rigging post was a “Featured” post and asking for an explanation of why a biased Admin post was appropriate and my thread was summarily deleted. I totally agree that someone (Dooley?) has a bias against USC and this is inappropriate. It would be very interesting to find out if he did go to UCLA :). I asked for an explanation of why my post was deleted and receive nothing in reply. I repeat the request of the other poster: please move this Rank Rigging post to a general category and don’t single out USC. Thanks.
one of the CC admins definitely has a bias against USC. it’s been evident for a while now and this is just another example of their bias.
like everyone else I have no problem with the discussion but singling out USC and featuring it on the homepage is defamatory to the university
Yeah, I saw and posted in that “admin bias against USC” thread before it got deleted. Poor choice by the admin staff if you asked me, would have been far more productive to simply post a warning against personal attacks and see some productive discussion in there.
It appears the main issue here isn’t that a thread was started to discuss possible ranking rigging at USC, but that the thread was featured on the CC-talk home page. As I mentioned earlier, threads can be featured if a mod or admin feels the issue could garner interest from a broad section of the CC demographic and engage more members. Given the high profile of USC, they felt this was worthy of a front page placement and would lead to a lot of discussion. However, I wouldn’t jump to the conclusion that CC is somehow against USC, or that a particular mod or admin is secretly a UCLA graduate/fan with a vendetta.
As for the removal of the thread discussing a CC bias toward USC, that could be construed as “discussing moderation”, which is a TOS violation. However, I believe the moderator removed it because students visiting the USC forum want helpful info on USC, not a heated exchange as to why CC seems to be against USC.
Just to reassure everyone, we have no bias against USC.
The “ranking rigging” article that cited USC was featured because rankings (for whatever reason) are extremely popular topics of discussion at CC. I’m personally dubious about the value of rankings, but our members really do like to discuss them. That a prominent college would get taken to task in the press about questionable data that happen to boost rankings is newsworthy.
There have been past discussions about schools that reject or waitlist “overqualified” applicants to boost their apparent selectivity - search the forums for “Tufts effect.” It’s been quite rare for a college to get taken to task publicly for ranking rigging, though.
Note that our members can have an impact on what ends up on the home page (or featured at the top of each forum). Just use “Recommend this thread” in the Thread Tools dropdown, and it will call the thread to the attention of our moderators and admins who can feature it. Be sure to include a line as to why you think the thread merits featuring, that will help us out.
USC is a phenomenal school, and I have recommended it often (particularly for communications).