Penn State news

soozievt
Fri, 02 Mar 2007 20:38:00 +0000

Rankings are the numerical order and ratings by such places like US News and World Report. For me, I don’t have ANY need to know where a school ranks in order to select colleges. Looking at school profiles in terms of their admit rates, stats of admitted students, etc. is necessary in order to find school where you have a chance to be admitted. There is no need to start with or consult rankings, however. I would not need to start with US News and World Report and have never consulted the list of rankings when doing college searches for clients, of which I have done many. College directories are just fine. Searching for specific academic programs is another way. For instance, I have done searches for clients of Sports Management, Interior Design, Creative Writing, Ancient History, Theater, Musical theater and so on. I look at their stats in relation to the stats of admitted students to a college. I don’t see why I need to know which school ranked first, second or third by USNews. My own kids and I hope the kids I work with, look for colleges that really match what they want in a school. For a top student, if she wants a very selective challenging school, she still doesn’t need to know about rankings, but just about finding selective schools that match her credentials and interests. Wanting a challenging school is not the same as caring about rankings or prestige. It is about fit. So, no, I still don’t see a need to know where a school ranks by USNews, but simply need a directory of colleges and be armed with criteria for selection and stats of the student. You referred to using rankings such as USNews as a way of finding colleges. I suppose one could do that. But to then jump to saying those on CC are all about rankings, I don’t agree. I wouldn’t select schools that way. I’d just research them. A directory is a good starting point to find schools that offer what you want and examine the basic stats needed. That is not the same as consulting rankings which orders schools from top to bottom by criteria that USNews uses.

In any case, as conversations go, one thing leads to another. I realize the article in the original post mentioned a ranking and we are talking about that concept and I am responding to your assertion that CC is about rankings. But I do want to say that it is cool that PSU’s MT program is putting on some new musicals. That is great for students. My D’s school does that as well and I think others do too. Those are great opportunities in addition to working on established musicals.