<p>I’m afraid I’ve joined the same circle-jerk I left months ago. My mistake! Those schools seeking to deemphasize the SAT have a different philosophy concerning what qualities they are looking for in a student. Many folks find traditional rankings a comfort for themselves or their kids. Others, even some like my NMSQT scholarship-winning daughter, find other things more important. She learned that. I say, “To each their own.” I don’t minimize the importance of the ratings to those who need that kind of consensual validation. I’ve used them myself to familiarize myself with good schools. But the point is it’s not gospel, it’s flawed, and it penalizes schools who place more importance on independence and independent learning in the liberal arts tradition, especially when it uses concocted data to replace SAT scores they can’t get. Many of you over-simplify and stereotype those schools. That’s unfair. Retire now to the sanctity of the Top-25 and quit making generalizations and subjective comments to the detriment of schools that try to make a difference in their own way. It’s unbecoming, and shows a prejudice against free-thinking which should be a bastion of all centers of thinking…and all colleges. Don’t forget that education is supposed to teach kids to think. Not how to shut their minds. I’ll leave you to your mental gymnastics.</p>