kdm88

Let me start by saying that I understand rankings aren't everything, and that there are probably some flaws in the USNWR ranking. Having said that, to go from a score of 100 last year to a score of 96 this year is a 4 point swing, which I have rarely if ever seen from a top school. This comes despite Amherst's acceptance rate dropping over 3% and their SATs remaining relatively flat.

That basically leaves resources and peer assessment. PA dropped from 4.8 to 4.6, so that accounts for a chunk of the drop, but resources must've gone down a lot too. Perhaps the PA dropped as a result of perceived financial issues that Amherst is having?

Add to all of this the chatter that Amherst has mismanaged their funds and have had to make cuts (like 5 dorms being closed), and I just wonder if Amherst's long and short term reputation and academic experience will be compromised.

I don't really care to hear analysis from either Amherst loyalists wearing rose colored glasses or from people from competing schools who intentionally overhype Amherst's issues and take glee in them.

Again, I don't care that Amherst fell to #2, that's meaningless. What concerned me was the 4 point drop in overall score despite tighter admission standards. It seems to confirm some of the talk out there about Amherst being in trouble financially.

Any insight, predictions, and/or analysis regarding Amherst's drop as well as its long and short term standing would be appreciated.

kwu

"PA dropped from 4.8 to 4.6, so that accounts for a chunk of the drop..."

No: Amherst's Peer Assessment score accounts for the entirety of the drop.

evertheoptimist

. . . It's the "second" best LAC in the country, whatever that means. You're reading way too much into this.

Curiosisity

Long story short: no. I don't think you should be concerned. Amherst may be having budget troubles and making some cuts, but that's basically universal for college and universities across the country right now. Compared to some place like Harvard, Amherst is in dandy shape. And even with that, Amherst is staying really committed to maintaining funding for financial aid and recruiting for low-income students. I think that really reflects a lot of integrity.

middsmith

Well, looks who's wearing purple-colored glasses.
Amherst borrowed $100 millions to cover expenses. Assuming 5% interest, that is $5 million cut from the budget from now until that $100 is paid back.
Long story longer, Haverford can't believe it'll have the same ranking as Amherst for the first time EVER.

mythmom

Wow. I almost laughed out load. I don't think this drop is significant at all. The financial situation is something else, but as of now Amherst is still an amazing, incredibly well regarded school.

And I am the mom of someone who goes to the other purple school.

bho

I can understand kdm's point. It's not the drop to second place that is concerning, but rather, what this drop indicates. The story behind the drop is far more concerning: serious financial trouble, and a peer assessment that has already taken a pretty big hit.

If things don't clear up soon, what is stopping Amherst from losing its top 1-3 standing long-term?

Ephman

I am a Williams guy so obviously I have zero incentive to pimp Amherst. But the drop in USNews is meaningless. The PA score fluctuation is just silly -- when Williams dropped to second in PA last year, it was equally silly. No one who is remotely objective and knowledgeable would not rank W,A,S, and I'd say even Pomona too as the highest possible academic rating you could give to a LA school. The fact that ANY of these are in ANY year not at 5.0 just indicates that people are uninformed, biased, or both.

Amherst also ranked ninth in selectivity (Haverford second??), which is even sillier. A/W/S/P are the most selective liberal arts schools, and everyone knows it. S and P have somewhat higher numeric credentials, W/A have somewhat higher non-academic credentials (more emphasis on athletics, etc.), but basically, if you can get into those four, you are likely to get into most of the other LAC's (Harvey Mudd and the military categories are in a different category, really, I'm talking about the traditional LAC's). USNews overemphasizes percentage of students in top ten percent, which is easily gamed (given different reporting rates) and which doesn't take into affect caliber of applicants' secondary schools. The LAC selectivity ratings are consequently a bit screwed up (personally, I'd give a little more weight to admissions percentage and at least some to yield, as USNews used to, I realize these can be games as well, but it is the only way to account for how desirable a school really is to applicants).

The only area that I'd be slightly concerned were I looking at Amherst is the debt load / financial issues. Amherst already has a slightly lower faculty-student ratio and slightly higher class sizes than a few of its peers, and as it expands its student body without expanding class offerings, that might move in the wrong direction. But those ratios haven't changed from last year, so that does not account for the drop in USNews. Rather, it is really the drop in selectivity and peer assessment that caused Amherst to dip so much, and neither of those represents anything remotely accurate (I mean, as others have noted, last year was Amherst's most selective in its history). Really, Amherst, Williams and Swarthmore have for 25 years been in the top 3, all have taken turns at number one, and there is no reason to believe that will change any time in the foreseeable future. Those three have the strongest / most illustrious group of alumni, among the most resources, the most cache among applicants, employers and grad schools, and year in and year out, the most competitive applicant pool. Pomona is right there, maybe a tiny half step behind.

Catfish

If PA really does account for most of the drop, then I would read this article before I got too worried about it.

On financial issues, there's a really good page up on the website here if you want to read more. The key thing to note is the report of the Advisory Budgetary Committee, whose recommendations were just adopted by the trustees, which gets the budget in line through 2012. More cuts may be needed, but as of now the ABC has recommended that faculty hiring actually be accelerated.

johnwesley

Yes, imagine being known for something other than being at the top of a magazine poll every year. Frightening. I hope Amherst regains its stature right away.

mythmom

johnwesley: You know that's not fair. Amherst is known for many other things.

And no need to be bitter. Wes is wildly popular. Who cares where it ranks? My D's beloved Barnard the same. It is a great puzzlement that Barnard can be where it is in the rankings and Columbia where it is because Barnard professors are on the faculty of Columbia and the kids share so many classes.

The folly of rankings.