Is the prestige of the top schools justified?

College Search & Lists
1

<p>Okay, I was punching some numbers from college search and USNWR rankings, and I got some really data. If you look at the graph of per capita endowment of colleges, it fits a power distribution (the f(x) = c/x curve). However the graph of SAT scores and grades both appear to be linear. </p>

<p>So I ask, does it make sense that as the talent/preparation of a school’s student body increases linearly, it’s wealth and prestige increases according to the 1/x curve? </p>

<p>(Note: I really don’t know what to make of this data. It’s very possible that the top schools really do need their enormous wealth, because the education of top scientists and thinkers is very expensive. It’s also very possible that the top schools, aside from their educational quality, benefit a great deal from their prestige. I’m really just trying to spark an interesting discussion). </p>

<p>Graphs: </p>

<p>Endowment (in thousands of USD): </p>

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<p>Percent in top 10% of high school class: </p>

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<p>75th percentile of Math SAT: </p>

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2

<p>“So I ask, does it make sense that as the talent/preparation of a school’s student body increases linearly, it’s wealth and prestige increases according to the 1/x curve?”</p>

<p>No, it makes no sense. But then again what is the definition of sense? One only needs to look at the graduates of our elite institutions of “higher” learning who are in government, journalism and professional fields such as finance and medicine, to see that their collegiate experience did next to nothing to develop critical thinking skills, advance intellectual honesty or inspire spiritual awareness.</p>