Does US News reduce stress?

College Search & Lists
1

<p>Does US News reduce stress by increasing the pool of “elite schools”?</p>

<p>Newsweek columnist Robert Samuelson defends US News rankings in the following op-ed</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19464705/site/newsweek/[/url]”>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19464705/site/newsweek/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>What do you think of his point below?</p>

<p>“Third, the U.S. News rankings actually relieve the stress slightly by enlarging the pool of “elite” schools … The use of semi-objective standards dilutes raw snobbery. (The same leveling applies to U.S. News’ separate ranking of national universities.)” </p>

<p>.</p>

2

<p>I could see that.</p>

<p>w/o the news I think that that Ivies/Stan/MIT/Caltech might be even more difficult to get in, as they are more universally known.</p>

3

<p>agreed. Some of the colleges at the top of the rankings i had never heard about and now im applying to them and am happy that the us news rankings give the information that helps students select what schools are right for them.</p>

4

<p>LACs benefit as a whole, and few more than a certain college in New England which is no longer referred to in the popular media as “Connecticut Wesleyan”. :D</p>

5

<p>Perhaps this is true, but only slightly. It creates a greater pool of elite colleges, but only about 20-30. The rest are forgotten about.</p>

6

<p>If US News seperated public and private schools in its national university rankings (the way they seperate national university from liberal arts colleges), you could create even more elite schools. </p>

<p>Given the large size of public schools (even the top ones), huge numbers of students could have their stress reduced by attending one of the top 10 or 20 public schools (as opposed to a much lower ranking on the current ranking system)</p>

7

<p>You either like the system or you do not.
To those who are accepted to the top tier schools, these rankings confirm their status or prestige.<br>
Use them as guidelines rather than as whether mine is better than yours.
The top 250 schools are great. Each one will give you what you put into it.
Better to find a good fit than to get in and hate it.
I have seen many students who have graduated schools outside of the 250 who have gone on to the finest graduate schools in the nation.
Find one where you will excell and ace out.
Grad school is where its at.</p>