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On the contrary, I think it would be better for students to do the reverse order. It makes a great deal more sense to add the limiting factors (size, location, cost, etc.) before evaluating academics. </p>
<p>In any case, I think a college’s strength can be easily determined without relying on USNWR. Perhaps I have more faith in applicants, but I for one made very little use of rankings. :p</p>
<p>I’m not going to lie, USNWR was very useful to me when building a strong college list. Even though the conventional wisdom on CC is to not just look for the top schools when building a list, it was good to have USNWR so I could evaluate each top college and see if it’s right for me. Who knows, I may have missed some (or not knew they existed) if not for USNWR. That being said, I feel like I could make a better ranking of the top 25 schools now based on the info I have gathered from CC and my college search.</p>
<p>In conclusion, USNWR is one of many tools that should be used and it really isn’t bad if the person reading it has a brain =)</p>
<p>The USNWR data gathering is great, but the resulting one-size-fits-none ranking (editors’ opinion of what should be important to all students) is worse than useless because it can lead students toward inappropriate schools, and away from appropriate ones. USNWR should present a web-based site where students can enter factors important to them; a single paper presentation is outdated.</p>
<p>Use the data, ignore the rankings (yes, use a brain!).</p>
<p>In the words of a University of Florida graduate, current Eckerd College President Donald Eastman, </p>
<p>“To say that Florida is better than Harvard or Columbia or such places is an exercise in hubris,” he said.</p>
<p>It is the Harvard of the South you know.</p>
<p>Or maybe the University of California - San Diego of North Central Florida?</p>
<p>"In the words of a University of Florida graduate, current Eckerd College President Donald Eastman, </p>
<p>“To say that Florida is better than Harvard or Columbia or such places is an exercise in hubris,” he said. "</p>
<p>Interesting quote MyOpinion. But it isn’t true. Machen rated Harvard and Columbia as “5s”…the best possible. When a quote is made that distorts the truth like this, you have to question whether the author has his own agenda.</p>
<p>The whole “selectivity” component of the USnews ranking sort of bothers me because some colleges get ranking-obsessed, so they try to get as many kids as they can to apply, while leaving their entering class size the same, and then they reject the kids. Idk it feels like they are just trying to build ppl up and then tear them down! Having a popular ranking system, in a way, makes college recruitment a marketing game. But, i can see that USnews is good baseline for data collecting and brainstorming potential schools.</p>
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<p>Alright man what are you trying to say though?</p>
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<p>So what is it called when Harvard or Columbia say they are better for everything and anything and there is no point considering any other #1? Not an exercise in hubris?</p>
<p>To me it would seem like the hubris championship. Go Crimson, right?</p>
<p>All rankings are simply tools. They are useful to the people who prioritize the criteria on which the rankings are based, and not useful to others.</p>
<p>The problem isn’t the rankings themselves, it’s the way people use them. Too many people treat them as a one-size-fits-all definitive guide to which schools are “best”, and they also treat matters of one or two spots as meaningful differentiation. No ranking is correctly used that way. And, of course, when people use them in such a way, and the rankings are so high-profile, the schools feel pressure to improve the particular factors that go into those rankings, possibly at the expense of others (and at the expense of those who care about those others).</p>
<p>But the problem is the rankings themselves because they are one magazine’s opinion of how various school features should be weighted in importance, not matching what is important to almost anyone.</p>
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<p>There is really no need for me to give an explanation for what I’m trying to say, it’s basically common sense but more visible looking at USNEWS ranking. Meaning, more so pointless for me to explain any further.</p>
<p>Too wordy.</p>
<p>The rankings are bad because they feed our celebrity-bedazzled, anxiety-filled brand conscious world view.</p>
<p>Do you really think that Dr. Beach’s “10 best beaches in the world” is an accurate view of “the best” beaches? Sure, they are nice, but there are dozens of others that are just as nice. But you can bet there are fools who are booking their trips there right now so that they can say they’ve been to the world’s best beaches.</p>
<p>Am I doing enough for my kid? Only if I do everything I can to get him into a brand-name school, because if I don’t do that I haven’t done EVERYTHING I CAN to make life better for him.</p>
<p>The “only the top 20 schools will do” attitude is an intellectualized version of wearing Hollister Ranch clothing: you ain’t nothin’ unless you’re somebody else’s brand.</p>
<p>That said, the data in the USN&WR Big Book is quite useful: e.g., the % of students awarded merit scholarships.</p>
<p>The rankings provide a GENERAL outline of how good schools are, relatively speaking. Nobody is about to say that Harvard is better than Princeton because it is ranked one and P-ton 2. (or whatever). But at the same time, if a person finds a school that is in their range academically, they can use the rankings to find other, similar schools that would challenge them and help them grow intellectually.</p>
<p>The rankings get a lot of heat from people who refuse to acknowledge that some schools are better than others, but its a fact. There is a clear reason why the best students and best faculty gravitate towards top schools. They are called TOP schools for a reason.</p>
<p>“who refuse to acknowledge that some schools are better than others”</p>
<p>Please add for some; for others the rankings are reversed. There is no universal measure of better; this is the error that naive HS students and their parents make, and why the rankings do them a disservice.</p>
<p>On balance, I think it is better to have the USNWR rankings than to not have them. Most people have heard of Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, but most people (even most good students) would not be admitted to those schools. The best alternatives include many schools that have much less brand recognition. So the rankings expose to view some good options that people might not otherwise have considered. You can navigate among schools #5-15, or #25-50, and say to yourself, “Oh – here’s one I’ve never heard of. It’s only 100 miles away, and according to US News it’s one of the top 30”.</p>
<p>Of course, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that there are over 3000 institutions of higher learning in the USA. So the top 25, even the top 50 or 100, all are competing for some of the country’s best students. And the differences among them that are captured by the rankings often are less significant, for any given individual, than the differences that aren’t (or can’t) be captured. But it’d be interesting to know how many kids just choose to attend the school with the highest USNWR rank that accepted them.</p>
<p>I believe the US News rankings are a curse from the pit of hell. Is that too harsh?</p>
<p>I’ve expressed my opinion on here several times about them. Here are links to two videos from others who have far more experience in this field than I.</p>
<p>[YouTube</a> - Dickinson takes on U.S. News Ranking system](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vdv3f8_7pM]YouTube”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vdv3f8_7pM)
[YouTube</a> - Pope Center’s Jane Shaw discusses U.S. News rankings](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwV8vV6CjZI]YouTube”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwV8vV6CjZI)</p>
<p>Here’s a story from CBS News…
<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us9w46d5iec[/url]”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us9w46d5iec</a></p>
<p>“and according to US News it’s one of the top 30”</p>
<p>That is precisely the problem; the student is missing a better school for her that USNWR places at #60.</p>
<p>I think the USNews rankings are GREAT. If families choose to attend the highest-ranked colleges just BCOS is is the highest-ranked college, that is their choice (which I may think foolish, but their choice). Others may choose the attend the college which is the best at being green or LBGT friendly, or has the “best” comp lit program, or best dorms. or best guy/girl ratio (or vice versa), or best football tailgate parties. So be it. (In some ways this is no different that applying to all 8 Ivies…)</p>
<p>Just bcos their choice is not your choice doesn’t mean that the other school is “better”. Bcos, your #60 “better”, by definition, is just as subjective as USNews’ #30 “better”.</p>