| Its ironic that people on this thread point to the ranking of SMU and Samford as proof that the Forbes list has no value, when fans of other schools point to the ranking of Wash U. by U.S. News as evidence that its rankings are flawed.
One other point, concerning the quality of the learning experience, the criteria used by U.S. News such as financial and faculty resources are used for this element. However, in the real world financial and faculty resources aren't necessarily reflected in a quality learning experience on campus. Much of these resources at a research university such as Wash U. go to the quality of research on a campus, not necessarily relevant to the undergraduate learning experience. In the past year Time had a cover story on how it could be argued that many of the small liberal arts colleges have a better learning experience than at the larger universities that some consider more prestigious. They pointed out that the emphasis at these schools is on teaching rather than research. While U.S. News may consider having high paid professors on staff who were hired for their research ability rather than their teaching abilities to be indicative of a quality learning experience Time did not. Sure Rate My Professor isn't 100 percent reliable as to the learning experience on campus, but it does provide some indication of what students are experiencing - The same can be said for U.S. News notwithstanding the views of Time Magazine. I wouldn't totally ignore the ratings because of their dubious connection between financial and faculty resources and the quality of the learning experience on campus. I also wouldn't totally dismiss the Forbes list. |