The US News and World Report Best College Rankings is considered by many high school students and their parents to be the final word on a college’s desirability. Not surprisingly, many others believe that the rankings represent everything that is wrong with college admissions today. The reality is that the rankings are made up of numbers and it is up to individuals to decide how to use those numbers. For those considering using the rankings, you should be aware of the following.
College Rankings
States with Highest Representation at Elite Colleges: 2013
Last year I looked at the state of origin for the freshman class at 19 nationally recognized colleges. This year I’ve changed the list and expanded it to 25. No real methodology involved, I just wanted to include schools from different areas.? Basically, I wanted to get an idea of how likely students at these schools would be interacting with a national cross-section of students as opposed to mostly students from the same region.
Best 100 Universities and the Ticket to the American Dream
Thanks to US News College Rankings, we know what are the “Best” 100 universities in the country. If you want to know specifically what they are best at, you can find out here. But how good are they at making sure that attending the “Best” University isn’t limited by economic need?
After all, despite the current economic situation, college graduates still make more money than high school graduates so a college degree is considered a ticket to the American Dream. And if you can get into one of US News College Rankings top 100 Universities–that should be a first class ticket.
Do College Rankings Matter?
The Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has done everyone a favor. It has a table that displays all of the undergraduate institutions of students who have attended the school.
Don’t get it? US News and World Report ranks Washington University as one of the top medical schools in the country. And you may have heard, they rank undergraduate institutions as well.
More Useless College Rankings
I would suspect that the average parent of a high school junior would think it would be nice to know the most expensive colleges in the country so that they can stay away from them. The more astute parents would really like to know which actually have the highest net price since they realize that most students don’t pay the listed tuition price.
The Selectivity Myth: Or No Really, I Can Get Your Kid into the Ivy League
A couple of weeks ago I came across a link to an Time article titled: College Admissions: The Myth of Higher Selectivity by Dan Edmonds. I read it, thought about commenting because of the cherry picking of stats used, and then got over it and decided I had better things to do.
Then this past weekend I found myself reading College Admissions Misconception by The Ivy Coach, a blog by a private college counseling group that is “Making Ivy League Admission A Reality.”
Which Colleges Spend the Most on Football?
Unless you were in a semi-vegetative state last fall, you probably know that the colleges of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) dominated the top 25 football rankings. But you might be surprised to learn that the SEC didn’t have the highest conference average operating expenses. That would be the Pac 10, followed by the Big East, the Big Ten, and then the SEC.
Fantasy Football and Finding the Right College
I didn’t make it to the championship in fantasy football this year. Even though I’m tied for the number of championships in the league, that’s not what really bothered me this year. This year I lost twice to “Stan”-not his real name. Stan always finishes towards the bottom of the league. But this year he came in third and it wasn’t because of any brilliant player moves or insight into drafting. This year, Yahoo drafted for him and he played the players as assigned and he had his best season ever.
College Search Websites: Princeton Review and US News
The last two college search websites, The Princeton Review and US News College Rankings, take a different approach than the previously reviewed sites. Rather than provide different factors for you to rank and search on, they essentially rank the schools for you. The user is expected to use the rankings to select colleges for consideration and then take a look at location, school size, graduation rates etc. Both sites have multiple rankings to choose from but do allow for a basic search with US News being much functional than the Princeton Review’s.
