<p>US News uses statistics concerning retention of students, faculty resources, alumni giving rank, and financial resources. Statistics are not very indicative in the first place, and the latter three consider issues of money. Of course, it’s not how rich the college is that determines its abilities to teach students and provide experiences for them.</p>
<p>There’s an “assessment” aspect of it, too, but it’s based off of a five point scale, and any sort of ranking on such a limited scale cannot be balanced. They also take into account faculty salary, which while possibly indicative, isn’t exactly a fantastic way of deciding whether or not a professor enjoys or is proficient at teaching. </p>
<p>Last but not least, they use student selectivity. I abhor that piece of statistic. All that indicates is that many students applied. The selectivity percentage doesn’t decrease, because the college is becoming more choosy from its usual pool of applicants. It decreases, because its pool of applicants increases. That’s the reason why colleges spend so much time sending e-mails and encouraging people to apply, not because they expect to accept them, but because that will increase their chances of getting many applicants.</p>
<p>US News does not have to ability to sit into a classroom and grade the school on the actual quality of classes. US News also does not take into account “opportunities” available at the school (no look at career services, extra-curriculars, involvement in communities).</p>
<p>Don’t look at rankings. If you want to see what a college is like, read reviews. They are more likely to be biased, but if you read them critically, you will get so much more out of them than you will any sort of statistic-based rankings.</p>