"… College admission is not heart surgery, and it is certainly not life or death, but there are parallels. It is a significant investment, and a personal one. Yet, when many students and families approach their college search, they default to commercial rankings as reliable indicators of quality and match. The truth is that quality is relative and match is distinctive.
US News and World Report is a prime example of the arbitrary nature of these subjective classifications. Did you know that 20% of the “best colleges” rankings are based on expert opinion and peer assessment? That’s right, each spring, a select group of college administrators (presidents, provosts and deans of admission) and high school counselors, are contacted by US News and asked to rate colleges on a scale of 1 (marginal) to 5 (outstanding). Here are the areas they are asked to assess:" …