<p>Well, the updated list is in the newer thread, </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/437362-still-looking-college.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/437362-still-looking-college.html</a> </p>
<p>and I hope I’ve made it sufficiently clear in that thread that the only designation of “selectivity” among the colleges is the Barron’s methodology, which I agnostically adopt in the absence of another methodology. </p>
<p>As for the main other point, I would never recommend that a student look at a list of colleges and just go top-down to choose colleges to apply to. (That’s why my lists are alphabetical rather than rank-ordered.) A student with specialized interests might look at the detailed descriptions in the college guides I consulted, </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/5117504-post10.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/5117504-post10.html</a> </p>
<p>(in particular, the Rugg’s guidebook purports to list colleges by what major programs they are strong in) and then choose colleges on that basis. I expect that the college application list for each of my children will “skip over” some more nationally famous/more selective colleges to include colleges that are good fits for their interests.</p>