U.S. News Rankings
When prospective applicants talk about colleges’ “rankings,” they’re usually not referring to any official criteria but rather to the wildly popular – and controversial – annual survey by US News & World Report, which hit the newsstands in August. US News ranks universities and liberal arts colleges as separate categories according to measures such as acceptance rate, student-faculty ratio, and alumni donations. The magazine plugs that data into a formula and then produces its famous lists of the top 50 schools.
Colleges have a love-hate relationship with the rankings. On the one hand, they lend prestige and visibility (usually to schools that already have prestige and visibility). On the other hand, the schools contend that colleges are far too diverse to lend themselves to rankings and that the magazine’s straightforward formula fails to capture the essence of good teaching and learning. You should approach the rankings with a similar attitude.
We’d never recommend applying to schools simply because of their rankings. What we do recommend is that you scan the list and then do your own research. See which names are unfamiliar and then read up on them. Check out the familiar names and see which criteria you really care about. Most importantly, you should take stock of your own interests and ambitions and pick schools to match. US News should be a jumping-off point for your own research and soul-searching – but never the final word.
P.S. – Forbes.com has recently released its own college rankings. There has been lots of talk about the methodology used and the surprise listing of Wabash College at #12. See for yourself: http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/94/opinions_college08_Americas-Best-Colleges_Rank.html.
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