"Gaming" PA Scores and Stats

[k_amp_s]

<p>PA Scores:</p>

<p>

Richard J. Cook, the president of Allegheny College in Pennsylvania, will not say precisely how he used to rate his college’s competitors when the annual U.S. News & World Report peer review questionnaire showed up in his mailbox. What he will say is, **“I filled it out more honestly this year than I did in the past.” </p>

<p>“I checked ‘don’t know’ for every college except Allegheny,” Dr. Cook said, adding that he gave his own institution an outstanding rating.**</p>

<p>Then there is that survey that asks college officials to rate other colleges and universities. The survey, which counts for 25 percent of a college’s overall ranking, is the most heavily weighted factor. </p>

<p>That has spurred colleges to send glossy promotional brochures and updates on new programs to high-ranking officials at other colleges around survey time in hopes of impressing them. Despite such efforts, college officials say they suspect that some in their ranks deliberately downgrade their competitors to try to drive down their showing.

</p>

<p>Stats:</p>

<p>

So some colleges try to increase the number of applicants they receive — and turn down — by waiving fees and dropping requirements. Some send out applications by e-mail, with most of the student’s personal information already filled in. Others send out persistent e-mail appeals to high school sophomores, with breathless subject lines like “Time is running out.”</p>

<p>James M. Sumner, dean of admission and financial aid at Grinnell College, said a counterpart from a well-regarded institution told him that when computing average SAT scores he excluded the SAT’s of students accepted as “development cases,” whose grades and test scores are often below average but whose families are likely to make major donations. Mr. Sumner declined to identify the university.</p>

<p>U.S. News reports the proportion of a university’s alumni who contribute money each year, as a way of measuring consumer satisfaction. Michael Beseda, vice president for enrollment at St. Mary’s College of California, said he knew someone whose college sent him a $5 bill, asking him simply to send it back so it would count as a donation. Several colleges have admitted taking a single donation and spreading it over two, three or five years, to raise their annual numbers.

</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/17/education/17rankings.html?pagewanted=1&hp[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/17/education/17rankings.html?pagewanted=1&hp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[the_prestige]

<p>where’s Kluge? </p>

<p>probably gone to find his tinfoil hat…</p>

[Pat2323]

<p><em>EXACTLY</em> what I said in my thread. Thanks for the article, k&s.</p>

[barrons]

<p>So some guy at some second rate small LAC hardly anybody has heard of gets his obscure name in the paper by showing his ignorance. If he does not at least know his competition fairly well he is doing a crap job.</p>

<p>I can guarantee you the Presidents of every Big 10 school have a good knowledge of every other Big 10 school plus othyer key state flagships. They have peer studies done all the time. Besides fundraising that is their main job. You think the President of Toyota does not know what is in every Nissan and Mazda?</p>

[swish14]

<p>Ill bet the president of Toyota doesnt understand the nuances of Schwin bikes/Vespa scooters/or gulfstream jets. yet they are all in the same (transportation ) business.</p>

<p>That is what it is like trying to compare UCLA vs Rice vs Brown vs Virginia. They are all in education but they are not peers b/c their missions are very different. </p>

<p>Everyone just needs to admit that the rankings issue is nothing but a stunt to drive sales of an otherwise drab publication. Its about money period. They dont care about helping kids and their families find the best fit for their education and life development. It would be a like a crack dealer cared about your health. Buy it/get addicted/come back next year for the “new” version. Sucker.</p>

[barrons]

<p>I think they do a pretty fair job of putting UCLA, Brown and Rice where they belong relative to each other. It would be nice to have even more categories where Rice and Brown would not compete with UCLA but then you have a sea of mush. And all those schools are much closer together than bikes, planes and scooters. All offer great educations in nice environments. My best friend chose Wisconsin over Brown because it had about the best American History department in the country and he never regretted it. And he was a NYer.</p>