While USNWR comes in for some (justified) criticism, I do think it can make people aware of schools they might not be familiar with, especially schools in other parts of the country that may not get as much buzz at a given HS. Even though the ranking criteria might be specious or irrelevant to a given student, seeing that it’s in the top 50 or 100 or whatever might prompt them to look at a school that wasn’t previously on the radar.
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