<p>Eh, don’t try to pretend like your post is not trying to take anything away from Haverford’s consistent success with Forbes and US News. </p>
<p>What people seem to forget is that college rankings are a way to sell publications. US News sells well in its college rankings because everyone sees what they expect to find as top American universities. If a brand name university weren’t highly ranked, people would just not buy the publication, and so goes the viscous cycle.</p>
<p>Forbes is the underdog and it stirs up controversy every year because they do not score “reputation” or “selectivity” as a leading factor in the “best colleges,” and they also compare baccalaureate colleges alongside large universities, which pushes out a lot of favorites from top spots. </p>
<p>I personally feel Forbes misses the point of college, i.e., it’s not to earn big bucks afterwards and be powerful, and a college education is not a commodity. If it serves any real purpose, it’s satisfying for parents to know their money is potentially, possibly, being well spent. “Best colleges” ? I don’t think any ranking can measure what’s best since one person might want that perceived Ivy prestige, another might want pure financial gain, and another might want that close, quaint and small college environment.</p>
<p>What I’m quite proud of, though, is that regardless of methodology, Haverford (among others like Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Carleton, etc.) still comes out on top. The Small Liberal Arts College is woefully underestimated, but always competes among the best.</p>