At What Price?

roadlesstraveled
Mon, 20 Feb 2006 15:40:27 +0000

{{but still I would emphasize that there is some ineffable quality that comes across in any visit to Smith that transcends statistics
We did look at Colgate (a school we probably would never have considered if NOT for its ranking)}}

You only looked at Colgate because of the ranking.
How is “some ineffable quality of Smith going to come across in any visit to Smith” if students take the same approach as you did with Colgate and only visit colleges above a certain number in the rankings?

Fwiw- The very fact Smith moved 5 spots in one year demonstrates the idiocy of the ranking. How much could have possibly changed in 12 months to dictate at 5 spot move at any college?

A couple of colleges moved 3 spots. Wesleyan dropped from 9 to 12. Again, what could have possibly changed that much in 12 months to cause a college to move 3 spots?

From U of Chicago magazine. This should be required reading for all high school students and parents.

“If schools change so slowly, how slowly will the rankings change? And if the rankings change too slowly, how will U.S. News sell magazines? “The way they sell magazines is by causing different outcomes,” says Provost Stone, “and they cause different outcomes by changing the criteria and by changing the weight they give the criteria. U.S. News wouldn’t sell magazines if their rankings changed as slowly as the institutions.”

“Although the 1995 Wall Street Journal article prompted U.S. News to guard against schools reporting inaccurate data, many institutions have become craftier at making themselves look good, some changing academic policies to improve their standings. Some schools purge alumni databases, removing people unlikely to donate (e.g., students who did not graduate) in order to increase the alumni giving rate. Other schools market to students who have no realistic chance of being admitted simply to drive up the school’s applications and thus its selectivity rate.”

“If SATs are optional, only high scorers submit them, thus increasing the average score a school can faithfully report. Schools also benefit from an increased number of applications from students who see their SATs as a barrier to other institutions, thus driving up the school’s selectivity along with its application rate. Currently about 20 percent of colleges and universities don’t require SATs or ACTs.”