<p>Colgatedad,</p>
<p>What you may not realize when you say “In other words, books which don’t list”, by virtue that these books tend to be a “BEST” college guide, they do, in effect, list; they list the top 200 or 300 colleges academically, or top 10%. That the Princeton, NY Times, Fiske, Yale etc. guides select the “TOP” 200/300 schools out of 3,000 is a ranking of sorts. It is no coincidence that almost all of the schools listed tend to be the top 200/300 schools in USN&WR. Now, I agree that within those 200/300 there is no numerical order, but most if not all books provide “Ratings”, usually in the form of stars (1-4) for academics, quality of life, professors, etc. so as such still get into relative ratings/rankings. Again, giving people what they want: a tool to compare and rate A to B.</p>