Princeton Review Academic Rating

BalletGirl
Tue, 04 Dec 2007 13:54:09 +0000

While measures of selectivity and measures of academic rigor/reputation often correlate, they don’t always. There are several schools that are more rigorous academically than they are selective. Schools like Chicago, Reed, Rice and Grinnell come immediately to mind.

The methodology behind Princeton Review’s academic reputation index is a bit sketchy, but I think they often get it right. Too often, I think we mistake selectivity (an input measure) with academic rigor (a processs measure) and thus focus too much on it in determining an institution’s quality and desireability. Given how colleges manipulate application pools to achieve “desirabillity”, I applaud Princeton Review’s attempt (as incomplete as it is) to focus on measures of academic quality.

jOHNROSS, a way that I read these measures is:

How hard is it to get into?

How hard is it to get through?

Virgina – Hard to get into; hard to get through

Lehigh – Hard to get into; less hard to get through

A very interesting place to see the selectivity/rigor dynamic at play is to look at both these measures in Princeton Review for New England and Midwestern liberal art colleges (LACs), especially those in the middle of the back.