<p>Should you not wait until the 18th to have this conversation? In only two days, the USNews will unveil its yearly rankings–the real ones, that is-- with its contingent of regular over-protected schools, and just sufficient changes to keep people talking. Last year’s treatment of a few LACs was sufficient evidence that the current ranking methodology is a fraud. This year should not be different as I suspect some questionable movements in the schools that are just between AWS and the schools listed in the 8th position. The only question will be about the size of the payoff for the statistics’ manipulators. </p>
<p>The ONLY value of the rankings is found in the neatly collated columns filled with trivial information that takes a long time to gather from CDS reports. From there, everyone can pick and choose the columns he or she likes the best. Speaking about Best, as in best college, that is something that the USNews should not include in the title of its report. </p>
<p>Too bad they can’t measure the most satisfied students and families, at least correctly.</p>