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hawkette · 05-01-2008, 09:54 AM

xiggi,
Re your question about my ranking that

"places Duke ahead of Princeton or Harvard, and Notre Dame or ... Berkeley ahead of Columbia"

all fair observations as it relates to prestige in the academic and perhaps parts of the business world for these colleges.

Please understand that I may come at this college ranking from a less traditional standpoint as I think that students should be FAR LESS concerned with a college's ranking among academics and FAR MORE interested in the quality and nature of the undergraduate experience that they will actually enjoy once they get on campus. I believe that the academic differences among these institutions are generally much less than the non-academic differences and can be very important in the college search process as a student looks for the right fit.

As I noted earlier, I would weight my ranking factors as follows:

40% USNWR Ranking
30% USNWR Classroom Teaching Ranking
25% Social Life ranking drawn from input on previous CC threads
5% Athletic Life ranking as measured by 2007 Directors Cup standings

Others might choose different weights or other factors, but I think any ranking that any of us post should have some quantifiable elements rather just a straight name recognition or prestige listing. I think that looking at the full UNDERGRADUATE experience is a better way for the student.

jazzymom,
I hope that you would agree that a 5% weight is not that consequential to this ranking and I don't think it moves the needle for many (if any) of these colleges.

I don't think that a college's athletic programs relate to the academic quality of a college, but I do think that there can be a relationship between a school's athletic teams and the impact on the campus's social life. Good teams can breed greater campus excitement and most students will benefit from this. That is partly the reason for the 25% weighting to social life.

05-01-2008, 09:54 AM	#39
hawkette Senior Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 3,194	xiggi, Re your question about my ranking that "places Duke ahead of Princeton or Harvard, and Notre Dame or ... Berkeley ahead of Columbia" all fair observations as it relates to prestige in the academic and perhaps parts of the business world for these colleges. Please understand that I may come at this college ranking from a less traditional standpoint as I think that students should be FAR LESS concerned with a college's ranking among academics and FAR MORE interested in the quality and nature of the undergraduate experience that they will actually enjoy once they get on campus. I believe that the academic differences among these institutions are generally much less than the non-academic differences and can be very important in the college search process as a student looks for the right fit. As I noted earlier, I would weight my ranking factors as follows: 40% USNWR Ranking 30% USNWR Classroom Teaching Ranking 25% Social Life ranking drawn from input on previous CC threads 5% Athletic Life ranking as measured by 2007 Directors Cup standings Others might choose different weights or other factors, but I think any ranking that any of us post should have some quantifiable elements rather just a straight name recognition or prestige listing. I think that looking at the full UNDERGRADUATE experience is a better way for the student. jazzymom, I hope that you would agree that a 5% weight is not that consequential to this ranking and I don't think it moves the needle for many (if any) of these colleges. I don't think that a college's athletic programs relate to the academic quality of a college, but I do think that there can be a relationship between a school's athletic teams and the impact on the campus's social life. Good teams can breed greater campus excitement and most students will benefit from this. That is partly the reason for the 25% weighting to social life.