Finally!

[ellid]

Someone is refusing to participate in US News & World Report's "college rankings." This pleases me because a) the "rankings" have little to do with educational quality and rely heavily on campus amenities (Mount Holyoke's ranking went up the year they installed a croquet pitch), and b) the reasons the "top schools" drop in ranking can be idiotic and anti-educational (Smith's ranking dropped several slots because one quarter of the freshman class last year was composed of girls who were the first members of their families to go to college).

Why do we need rankings, anyway? I sure don't remember this figuring at all into my college choice....

Comments

[shalandara.livejournal.com]

Why do we need rankings, anyway? I sure don't remember this figuring at all into my college choice....

I didn't pay attention to rankings when I applied. My choices were: JMU, UVA, William&Mary, Haverford, and Washington (the one over in Chestertown, MD). I got early into JMU and Washington so I never finished my applications to UVA or W&M. My real choice was Haverford but I got waitlisted there. Probably for the better that I went to JMU. My middle & high school was a private Quaker school and so haverford would have been exactly like the previous 6 years. JMU was different : large and filled with a variety of people.

Yes, it happened to be high in some ranking chart then (best smaller southern public school or some sort) but that didn't facotr into my consideration at all. And yes, I had people really surprised that I didn;t finish my applications to UVA and W&M ("What do you mean you don;t want to know if you get in" or "What do you mean you would choose JMU over them?!?!")

[ellid.livejournal.com]

I went to Smith because I fell in love with the campus, and because it was Gloria Steinem's alma mater. I didn't realize until after I'd been accepted that I'd ended up at a so-called elite school - I was from Pittsburgh, and most of my high school classmates hadn't even heard of the place. They wondered why I hadn't gone to Pitt or Duquesne, or Chatham if I wanted a "girls' school."

[rwday.livejournal.com]

Smith's ranking dropped several slots because one quarter of the freshman class last year was composed of girls who were the first members of their families to go to college

This is considered a bad thing? Bad for the Old Boys' Club (or Old Girls' in this case) maybe, but not bad for the college, for the students, or for the country.

Insane.

[ellid.livejournal.com]

I was appalled. The school, the professors, the physical plant, the library - none of that has changed. Only the students, and evidently they're now a liability because so many of them are from non-college families.

Absolutely disgusting.

[shalmestere.livejournal.com]

Agreed--but I've been reading recently about a disturbing trend amongst "first-generation" urban college students: they borrow heavily to go to college, drop out because they can't keep up (either because their high-school preparation was poor, or because they're trying to juggle college and a full-time job), and then can't afford to go back because of their crushing debt load. Not offering this as an excuse--just providing another piece of the puzzle....

[crazykimmy.livejournal.com]

I think that's what the rankings are really there for honestly. To maintain that club.

Rankings

[shalmestere.livejournal.com]

I wasn't looking at the rankings when I applied for undergrad or grad school, but I have to confess that reading the Gourman Report grad school rankings after the fact provided some small comfort when I moved East (because in so many disciplines, the top schools were in the Midwest :-D).

[musikologie.livejournal.com]

Kate Will, the chair of this group, is the president of my college. Color me un-surprised. Although I am slightly surprised that they didn't name said college in the interview. Huh.

[drusillas-rain.livejournal.com]

The school I work for only focuses on 2 or 3 key rankings, and refuses to participate in many others, some of which are high profile but really poorly put together. There's no surprise that we score badly on those.

[lherelenfeline.livejournal.com]

Most law schools dont give a shit about the rankings... so its a good thing undergrad is following suit.

[escritoireazul.livejournal.com]

I didn't look at rankings at all when I chose my undergrad; I was a first gen to go to college, and I was recruited. Only one school offered me a ton of money before I had even applied AND had a program in which I was interested (small press publishing), so it was the only school to which I applied.

Sometimes I do wish I had had a better idea of what to look for in a school, because I could have gone to a better school and been actually challenged, but I don't regret my choice.

In looking at professional degrees, coming out of a practically unknown university, being recruited by top ranked schools was interesting. I'll admit, it felt good. I didn't choose my new school because it's ranked high, but that name recognition is a nice bonus after my last experience.