WSJ College Rankings

Maybe… Babson is a really good school BTW. It’s all pride and bragging rights but heh, if I am paying what college cost these day’s a little bragging doesn’t hurt :joy:

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I am soon going to be rolling out the DOJG rankings (pronounced “dodgy”).

Schools will be able to bid for spots on the list :innocent:

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I didn’t look to far down but yea…

I’ve seen a lot of different rankings listed on admissions pages, including sometimes Niche rankings and such.

How much difference does it make to their application rates or yields? No clue. But I am sure many schools will see at least some value in referencing this.

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I think you are giving the typical family too much credit. Most of course never consider any ranking at all – they never even consider beyond their state system. Most don’t know the Ivy League is a sports division. But even among those that are aware of the US News ranking, they aren’t doing that much research on the rest. I’ve seen this many times. People often refer to “the rankings” ubiquitously when they are only citing USN specifically (“now that college X has dropped in the rankings…” etc.) I’ve had conversations with people and when I note the other rankings they stare blankly or even say they have never heard of them. Even here on CC, where people are very far from typical, I have seen people posting in a way that either overtly says or clearly implies that they think a college will be permanently hurt by the US News ranking going down even if the same college is still doing well or even going up in most of the other rankings, because to them the USN ranking is THE ranking from which most people judge in their estimation.

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I think all that is right as to the “typical” college prep family, but marketing of differentiated products is an interesting and complicated field. A given producer might be totally unknown to the vast majority of the market, but if they can get useful information to the right market segment, that can help them.

So here, for example, is Rose-Hulman’s rankings page (I am using them because they did well in this rankings):

https://www.rose-hulman.edu/about-us/rankings-and-distinction.html

They lead with the US News (although not the rankings most people know about), but then include pretty much everything.

And likely none of that means anything to the vast majority of college applicants. But Rose-Hulman just needs it to help with a few specific potential applicants, including the kinds who might find their way to such a page.

Yes agree. I was saying that of those who look beyond USNWR (not many), they are likely families that will dig into other rankings, surveys, data the schools provide.

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I would like to see a ranking that attempts to measure outcomes for all students, not just those that receive federal financial aid. The problem is that students attending the same school are spending widely different amounts, so the ROI differs from student to student.

But maybe the more rankings the better. The USNWR rankings may be the most widely known, but if a google search pops up 10 more lists, great. Rank schools on student experience. Rank them on satisfaction of alumni ten years out. Rank them on outcomes measured four different ways. Rank them on outcomes for five different majors. Rank them on campus/city. Rank them on undergraduate teaching quality.

The more info, the better. The more inside perspectives, the better.

I agree - otherwise why would so many want to go to UNC to study mechanical engineering (and they don’t have) but not NC State…not good enough - if not UNC, then UCLA or MIchigan.

Or why would people dismiss schools that are really great in certain specialties - like an Arizona or Minnesota in MIS or Tennessee/Michigan State in Supply Chain, etc.

It’s the US News national ranking or bust…for many that even look at rankings - and not sure how many actually do that.

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Many international students with whom I interacted in my admissions work were very interested in attending highly ranked schools. For those schools looking to boost international attendance, being highly ranked is a definite bonus.

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Is Purdue on the list? Curious and don’t have a WSJ subscription.

Purdue University 115

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Thanks! One of mine goes to Purdue and one to UConn and they are always trading little jabs based on reports. UConn community is celebrating hard tonight!

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how bad did UGA do? I’m guessing diversity score hurt them…

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170 University of Georgia

When you see schools like Rose Hulman and Babson near the top, it’s clear that being focused in high pay areas matter.

No way to explain UF over Duke though.

I wouldn’t panic that my kid’s school is ranked 100+ spots below where I thought.

You know the caliber of kids and that doesn’t change. Nor does the reasons they fell in like/love with the school to begin with.

I’d love to see the actual list…but I also don’t have a WSJ subscription. Curious if BU or Santa Clara made the list…and where.

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Boston University 200
Santa Clara 75

Anyone have a gift link? I’d also like to see the full list.

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That’s very interesting…I wonder why?