<p>I have 2 kiddos, 'mudge. That may also account for some of the difference</p>
<p>Perhaps we should start our own list: schools most of us have been to, including multiple visits. We can explain our methodology as parent appeal, start our own website and publish our list. I bet we’d get advertisers and make some money. My #1: Stony Brook. Conservatively, must have been there 3,000 times.</p>
<p>POIH, not sure why any ranking would emphasize engineering and technology. It is called “best colleges”. It is not broken down by major. I also have no problem with liberal arts colleges and universities mixed together. My own children (who never viewed any rankings) mixed these types of schools and didn’t consider them in different piles.</p>
<p>The issue here (for me) even though I don’t follow rankings but since I did open up this thread, is that the methodology is pretty wacky and they didn’t gather any data independently. </p>
<p>Using online sites like ratemyprofessor is very odd as there is no reliability there. Kids at some colleges may rarely use that as they have internal ratings/evaluations on campus. My kids certainly have never visited that site. </p>
<p>Using Who’s Who? I think my kids and their peers at their very selective universities would not bother with Who’s Who. But that organization may be appealing to kids who attend lesser known or selective schools such as Doane or Ripon. </p>
<p>Looking at salaries of graduates using some corporate business listing, cuts out students and schools where graduates enter other fields. </p>
<p>Measuring student satisfaction is a neat idea, but it is the methodology here that seems pretty meaningless to me.</p>
<p>Quote: "These schools may be wonderful schools, not knocking them. But I have not heard of them and I do not believe they are widely known. "</p>
<p>My D is proud of the fact that she will be attending a school that many people from New England are not familiar with. The fact that her school is not widely known means nothing.
However, when you look at what this relatively unknown school has to offer (in her program) it really is a hidden gem. </p>
<p>The ironic thing is that her brother attended a very well known highly ranked school, and it happens to get more negative attention than all top ten colleges here on this little college forum! :eek:</p>
<p>Just goes to show you that even us “experts” on cc have a lot to learn !!! ;)</p>
<p>O.K. jym, I have a noticeable decline, too. I have visited 15 of the first 50, a total of 26 of the first 100, 24 of the second hundred, but only 18 of the next 200, and 12 of the final 210 listed.</p>
<p>sokkermom, The fact that a school is not widely known doesn’t matter to me at all either! You appear to be inferring that I think a kid should only attend a school that is well known. NOT SO! I was just observing that some of these “best schools” were ones I had not heard of and are not widely known. I suggest colleges to students all the time that are not widely known schools. In fact, I encourage many of these schools as some students are fixated only on schools they have heard of (which in some cases, are not good fits, or not realistic for them). My observations about the Forbes list was surely not a value judgement on how good the schools are or if one should consider these schools. Rather it was a factual observation.</p>
<p>Forget that they may not be widely known…There are schools that are simply far better than the ones mentioned on this list as being in the top 100. Forbes lost all credibility regarding anything that involves how to run a proper study or performing realistic research.</p>
<p>Well, I have always had a hard time with the notion of “best” colleges. What makes a school “best”? In the end, it is which school is best for YOU. So, George Fox, Principia, Westmont, or Capital may be fine schools and great fits for certain kids. No question. </p>
<p>The concept of “well known” doesn’t necessarily mean “best,” but by the same token, when a school is known on a national scale, it likely is for a reason in terms of developing a reputation. When a school is very selective, it also means something in terms of the student body and academic atmosphere generally speaking. </p>
<p>So, I admit it is odd to see Wabash considered ‘higher" in terms of “best” colleges, than Brown or Cornell or to see Rockhurst, Doane, or George Fox considered “better” than NYU. Or to see Sweet Briar or St. Mary’s of CA over Johns Hopkins. These schools may be better fits for certain for particular students. I have never purported to think that my kids’ colleges were “the best” but simply they were best for THEM. But it is unusual to see schools that are not well known even for those in college circles to be called “best” over some very well regarded schools. So, it is just an observation that schools that are not well known on a national scale are ranked as “better” by Forbes than schools that are considered highly regarded. But then again, I am not into “better” or “best” colleges but rather into which school is best for each candidate. That is why I am not into rankings at all. </p>
<p>The Forbes ranking, since we are discussing it, does, however, have a very weird level of validity and so it is hard to fathom their title of “best colleges” and it really doesn’t seem based on all that much. And so many of their “best colleges” don’t even appear in college directories that select a few hundred colleges to include.</p>
<p>The concept of “well known” doesn’t necessarily mean “best,” </p>
<p>Hey, Sooz, somebody has hacked into your account and is destroying your reputation.</p>
<p>Schmaltz, I am not worried about my reputation. I have never related to college rankings and the concept of “best” schools. I could not even tell you the ranking of my own college or my two kids’ colleges on USNews. </p>
<p>But thanks for looking out for me.</p>
<p>Oh come on, ladies. 
Schools that have a special place in your hearts did not come out as well in this admittedly odd ranking (that I put zero faith in) as you would have liked. I think y’all could at least admit a little bias and because of that it ruffles your feathers just a little bitty bit. Come on. You can do it. It’ll make you feel better. ;)</p>
<p>Soozie, 
Not picking on you but I had to look up Wabash on the list . Thank goodness <em>Duke</em> is ranked higher, even though Wabash beats out Cornell and Brown …;)</p>
<p>And I would wager a friendly bet that you do have an idea of the US News rankings of certain schools. Come on…we all sneak a peak at that publication once in a while…:)</p>
<p>I am sure Cornell’s ranking has ruffled a few feathers here on cc.</p>
<p>
Like a chicken backed into a wind tunnel. ;)</p>
<p>“I could not even tell you the ranking of my own college or my two kids’ colleges on USNews.”</p>
<p>And your husband has never measured…</p>
<p>…what he paid for your kids’ educations against how much smarter they got.</p>
<p>Did y’all know that Principia College, which beat out the fowl in the wind tunnel, is a Christian Science school? So at least the Big Red can rest assured its pre-med program is better.</p>
<p>Get your mind out of the gutter, 1sokkermom. Jeez.</p>
<p>Schmaltz,</p>
<p>You caught me…:o</p>
<p>For one thing, I don’t care where my kids’ schools are ranked. It doesn’t matter to me. I find the whole Forbes method very odd and the list very odd. I gave examples in relation to my kids’ schools, but could have easily done so with other schools, such as I did with Lehigh, Bard, Johns Hopkins, and Cornell in some of my posts. But I don’t CARE where they are ranked. My kids loved their colleges SO much and that is what I care about.</p>
<p>Until I had come to CC over 8 years ago, I had never read a college ranking. My kids have never seen the USNews rankings. We never paid attention to them. They apparently are very big on CC though, I have noticed over the years. </p>
<p>My kids could not tell you their colleges’ rankings. I don’t know the ranking of their schools but could look it up. Yes, I realize they are ranked pretty highly as I know they have good reputations and are widely known and competitive schools. I just don’t know what number they are on the ranking. And I don’t care. </p>
<p>Also, my own kid, when narrowing her college acceptances down to her final three favorites, she knocked an Ivy League acceptance off the list and put Smith before it. My kids picked their schools by fit. They did go to very selective schools, because the challenge level of those schools were a good match for them. But they picked which school met their own criteria and rankings were never a part of that nor have they ever seen the rankings. I can guarantee you that. </p>
<p>Schmaltz…the comment about the “husband measuring” is very crass. </p>
<p>And by the way, why do you assume my husband paid for all of college? Not the case.</p>
<p>Apparently 1sokkermom majored in Crass at Wabash.</p>