<p>
It might be easier for many of us to understand your opinion if you included some links to reputable sources.</p>
<p>^^ “Better” is subjective. Not everyone likes having a core curriculum. Many consider the college experiences at Chicago/Columbia to be boring and terrible compared to what Penn offers. </p>
<p>And your friends are entirely atypical. Not many people turn down Harvard/Princeton for anything other than HYPSM or Wharton.</p>
<p>Overall, I have to ask that you stop trashing Penn. Every top school pays attention to rankings. If they stopped paying attention, they’d drop quickly. Penn is not extraordinary in that regard.</p>
<p>Yes, but Penn and WashU game the rankings more so than any other school. Again, I am not saying that Penn is a bad school 'cause it’s a great school. I would just personally rank it #9 not #4.</p>
<p>^what is up with you? we asked you a legitimate question. WHERE do you find such evidence of “gaming”
your ignorant confidence in your assertions is astounding, truly! Yes, I’m sure your little rankings up there are far more reputable than USNWR</p>
<p>If MyBlsflHrt wants to just restate her baseless opinion, then let her. At least she can back it up with a completely unreliable personal anecdote!</p>
<p>I’d say the main reason why Columbia is ahead of Penn is because MyBlsflHrt wants to go there…</p>
<p>I can’t find the article anymore, but I read about Penn and WashU gaming the rankings somewhere on a news site (baseless opinion???). This is not just my opinion. This is a fact that I read on a reputable source (sorry, I don’t have the link anymore). Also, notice I never singled Penn out. A lot of other schools game the rankings too, but I really wouldn’t say that of Caltech, Columbia, and Chicago or else they’d probably be ranked higher than they are right now.</p>
<p>Also, if you are going to say that Penn should be ranked above Caltech, Columbia, and Chicago, please give reasons. What does it offer that other schools don’t?</p>
<p>I’m the ignorant one? hahaha… very funny. :)</p>
<p>Hey, I’m not just saying this to bad mouth Penn. Afterall, I want to go to Penn 2! <3
If I didn’t want to go to Penn, I don’t think I’d be on this board right now! :D</p>
<p>Hmmmm…What does Penn offer that they dont? This is a toughy, but I’d say the best undergrad business school in the world?</p>
<p>*I read an article that Columbia and Chicago game the rankings…but I cant find it either. Gosh darn!</p>
<p>Other than the business school? Most students in Penn are probably going to be in either CAS or SEAS so they really won’t benefit from that.</p>
<p>Haha… nice try but I think if Columbia and Chicago gamed the rankings like Penn they’d be ranked a bit higher. :)</p>
<p>oh what a strange coincidence that you read “some” article “sometime” but now cant find it. pity!</p>
<p>
psh, lets contact USNWR, they surely want to know that MyBlsflhrt’s list does not correspond to theirs!</p>
<p>
is it even worth it to argue with this person? I should’ve known that my topic would invite idiots. I just thought it’d be fun, but ah, alas. stupidity is irritating!</p>
<p>Since you guys don’t seem to believe me…</p>
<p>Read Post #24:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/columbia-university/322094-str-weaknesses-upenn-vs-columbia-2.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/columbia-university/322094-str-weaknesses-upenn-vs-columbia-2.html</a></p>
<p>Other schools that game the system include Duke and USC.</p>
<p>I think WashU games the rankings this way:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Advertises WAY too much. WAY too much.</p></li>
<li><p>No supplement essay. Come on now, for a top school, it should have supplement essay.</p></li>
<li><p>Waitlists overqualified applicants to preserve yield, unless applicants express strong interest. (I could be wrong, but I feel this way through a lot of observation around CC)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>It’s my personal opinion as to whether these behaviors should be considered “gaming” the system. Of course, every school CARES about rankings, but I’m just personally skeptical of some of their admissions strategies.</p>
<p>As for Penn:</p>
<p>Too much focus on top 10% of high school class, to get favorable USNWR ranking.</p>
<p>That’s all I can think of. Similarly to Chicago, its supplement is actually very long, and thus I think the pool of students applying to Penn is self-selective, hence the high admissions rate. I don’t believe I’ve heard of someone getting rejected/waitlisted for being overqualified. What I mean is, I don’t think I’ve seen anyone get into HYPSM AND get rejected/waitlisted at Penn.</p>
<p>As for the topic of the thread… I think without Wharton, Penn would lose a lot of prestige and a lot of applicants, and a get a higher admissions rate. Thus, it would then be like, 7th, leaving only a three-way tie for 4th place (which is still completely ridiculous; USNWR is definitely getting paid off).</p>
<p>Everything stated above is very true. Plus they also manipulate their class sizes to get a lower average class size. Same for average GPA and SAT; I think they leave out recruited athletes when calculating them.</p>
<p>Also, if you want to know more about how these colleges game the rankings, do a simple Google search, don’t just ask us!</p>
<p>
…harvard doesnt have a supplement essay. neither does duke</p>
<p>
One unnamed, unattributed and "missing article? That’s all I need.
Please do NOT feed the ■■■■■.</p>
<p>I just did!!!</p>
<p>Read Post #24:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/columbia-university/322094-str-weaknesses-upenn-vs-columbia-2.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/columbia-university/322094-str-weaknesses-upenn-vs-columbia-2.html</a></p>
<p>Also, if you want to know more about how these colleges game the rankings, do a simple Google search, don’t just ask me!</p>
<p>Honestly? Please read before you comment!</p>
<p>“…harvard doesnt have a supplement essay. neither does duke”</p>
<p>Are you sure about this? I applied to both last year, and I’m pretty sure Harvard does. Duke may only have a “why duke” type of thing; I don’t remember, but it has more than WashU.</p>
<p>"Penn and Duke reduce class sizes, which arguably improves undergraduate education, and this still counts as manipulation?</p>
<p>The undergrads of Columbia and other schools would be lucky to have such “manipulation” wrought upon them… "</p>
<p>Post #25…</p>