<p>I attended a top 10 college in the North East. Even so, rankings mean nothing to me. Those relying on rankings are basing their decisions on a system that is rife with errors. </p>
<p>Take this: for the last thirteen years, Emory has misrepresented their admissions statistics, intentionally fabricating the mean SAT score as well as misrepresenting the percentage of students who came from the top 10% of their high school class (87% vs the true 75%). Why they are still included in the USNews rankings is beyond me. I would never trust a school that engages in such unethical practices.</p>
<p>[Emory</a> University Sent False Data To Rankings Groups For More Than A Decade: Report](<a href=“HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost”>HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost)</p>
<p>So if we can’t trust these rankings, then what can we do? We must make use of the data available to us. For one, Lehigh’s employment rate upon graduation is a whooping 96%, compared to Emory’s 91%–if this is even the true statistic. Moreover, Lehigh is tied with MIT for Return on Investment (ROI); Emory barely makes the top 100. These are the metrics that matter.</p>
<p>[Colleges</a> with the highest-paid graduates - Lehigh University (7) - CNNMoney](<a href=“http://money.cnn.com/gallery/pf/college/2012/09/27/colleges-highest-paid-graduates/7.html]Colleges”>Lehigh University - Colleges with the highest-paid graduates - CNNMoney)</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report-2013/full-list-of-schools[/url]”>http://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report-2013/full-list-of-schools</a></p>
<p>Best of luck with your decision. I know what mine would be.</p>