<p>I know these rankings are sooo messed up...but why isn't Whitman a little higher?? I mean Trinity College is above Whitman which really is surprising. You would think since a handful of Rhodes Scholars have come out of Whitman in teh past few years it would be higher than schools that have never had a Rhodes Schola....any comments on this fact??</p>
<p>The president was actually talking about this when I visited and said that over the years they have steadily climbed up the list more consistently than any other LAC so I guess the indication was that it will just take some time for the school to truly be recognized</p>
<p>Having asked the same question, I got some answers. There are many reasons actually. One is that west coast schools consistently get lower peer ratings than east coast schools (those are the ratings of college presidents et al.) that count for about 25% of the overall rating. It is not because east schools are in reality better, just that they are better known and thus get higher scores. Another reason is that US News averages things like freshman retention and average SAT scores over a five or so year period, so a school that is rising quickly will not have its status reflected for several years. (For instance, if you look closely at items like retention and graduation rates, you will see some schools that actually have lower rates end up with a higher ranking in that category due to the averaging.)</p>