Do US News Rankings Have any Impact on Admissions?

[Anonymous]

In the olden days, US News mattered.

It has jumped the shark and with so much more information available to parents today, it is but a very small part of the college selection process.

With its new metric changing to valuing social equity factors over academic criteria, that has hurt what little relevance it has had.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In the olden days, US News mattered.

It has jumped the shark and with so much more information available to parents today, it is but a very small part of the college selection process.

With its new metric changing to valuing social equity factors over academic criteria, that has hurt what little relevance it has had.

Wrong. It still matters very much to the average American family looking at different colleges. Most people don’t care about the methodology that has so many DCUMers clutching their pearls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the olden days, US News mattered.

It has jumped the shark and with so much more information available to parents today, it is but a very small part of the college selection process.

With its new metric changing to valuing social equity factors over academic criteria, that has hurt what little relevance it has had.

Wrong. It still matters very much to the average American family looking at different colleges. Most people don’t care about the methodology that has so many DCUMers clutching their pearls.

Sure, but the kind of families looking at top 30 type schools are generally pretty well informed. And they'll largely be aware of the changes in methodology at US News that have caused rankings to swing so wildly in the last year or so. For most, social mobility and equity don't figure too prominently in their decision making, which makes US News less useful than it once was. Which is a good thing overall. Fit is the only things that really matters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the olden days, US News mattered.

It has jumped the shark and with so much more information available to parents today, it is but a very small part of the college selection process.

With its new metric changing to valuing social equity factors over academic criteria, that has hurt what little relevance it has had.

Wrong. It still matters very much to the average American family looking at different colleges. Most people don’t care about the methodology that has so many DCUMers clutching their pearls.

Every year the media interest in US News goes down. This year it cratered. Schools used to tout their inclusion in some list almost immediately upon publication. Local news would cover how great/bad a certain college did.

Look at the dearth in media coverage this year.

Their influence has been declining for years. The internet brings vastly more information today than 20 years ago. Changing their methodology to create whacko results like UC Merced being a top school, etc. caused more mockery of the publication.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the olden days, US News mattered.

It has jumped the shark and with so much more information available to parents today, it is but a very small part of the college selection process.

With its new metric changing to valuing social equity factors over academic criteria, that has hurt what little relevance it has had.

Wrong. It still matters very much to the average American family looking at different colleges. Most people don’t care about the methodology that has so many DCUMers clutching their pearls.

Every year the media interest in US News goes down. This year it cratered. Schools used to tout their inclusion in some list almost immediately upon publication. Local news would cover how great/bad a certain college did.

Look at the dearth in media coverage this year.

Their influence has been declining for years. The internet brings vastly more information today than 20 years ago. Changing their methodology to create whacko results like UC Merced being a top school, etc. caused more mockery of the publication.

False. Google US News college rankongs. I went to page 29 (x18 news reports a page) and have lost interest. Check facts before you post

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course the rankongs have an impact!

https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w7227/w7227.pdf

That is from 25 years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the olden days, US News mattered.

It has jumped the shark and with so much more information available to parents today, it is but a very small part of the college selection process.

With its new metric changing to valuing social equity factors over academic criteria, that has hurt what little relevance it has had.

Wrong. It still matters very much to the average American family looking at different colleges. Most people don’t care about the methodology that has so many DCUMers clutching their pearls.

Sure, but the kind of families looking at top 30 type schools are generally pretty well informed. And they'll largely be aware of the changes in methodology at US News that have caused rankings to swing so wildly in the last year or so. For most, social mobility and equity don't figure too prominently in their decision making, which makes US News less useful than it once was. Which is a good thing overall. Fit is the only things that really matters.

The vast majority of families are looking beyond top 30 schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the olden days, US News mattered.

It has jumped the shark and with so much more information available to parents today, it is but a very small part of the college selection process.

With its new metric changing to valuing social equity factors over academic criteria, that has hurt what little relevance it has had.

Wrong. It still matters very much to the average American family looking at different colleges. Most people don’t care about the methodology that has so many DCUMers clutching their pearls.

Every year the media interest in US News goes down. This year it cratered. Schools used to tout their inclusion in some list almost immediately upon publication. Local news would cover how great/bad a certain college did.

Look at the dearth in media coverage this year.

Their influence has been declining for years. The internet brings vastly more information today than 20 years ago. Changing their methodology to create whacko results like UC Merced being a top school, etc. caused more mockery of the publication.

Um... every university I can think of has their current USNWR ranking on their website. I just did a random google search. The only school that notably did not was Harvard - because why would they?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the olden days, US News mattered.

It has jumped the shark and with so much more information available to parents today, it is but a very small part of the college selection process.

With its new metric changing to valuing social equity factors over academic criteria, that has hurt what little relevance it has had.

Wrong. It still matters very much to the average American family looking at different colleges. Most people don’t care about the methodology that has so many DCUMers clutching their pearls.

Every year the media interest in US News goes down. This year it cratered. Schools used to tout their inclusion in some list almost immediately upon publication. Local news would cover how great/bad a certain college did.

Look at the dearth in media coverage this year.

Their influence has been declining for years. The internet brings vastly more information today than 20 years ago. Changing their methodology to create whacko results like UC Merced being a top school, etc. caused more mockery of the publication.

False. Google US News college rankongs. I went to page 29 (x18 news reports a page) and have lost interest. Check facts before you post

+1
I find it sort of amusing that certain posters are just positive USNWR rankings mean nothing these days. A simple google search tells a very different story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the olden days, US News mattered.

It has jumped the shark and with so much more information available to parents today, it is but a very small part of the college selection process.

With its new metric changing to valuing social equity factors over academic criteria, that has hurt what little relevance it has had.

Wrong. It still matters very much to the average American family looking at different colleges. Most people don’t care about the methodology that has so many DCUMers clutching their pearls.

Every year the media interest in US News goes down. This year it cratered. Schools used to tout their inclusion in some list almost immediately upon publication. Local news would cover how great/bad a certain college did.

Look at the dearth in media coverage this year.

Their influence has been declining for years. The internet brings vastly more information today than 20 years ago. Changing their methodology to create whacko results like UC Merced being a top school, etc. caused more mockery of the publication.

Weird, I feel the opposite. I feel like every local and regional station across the U.S. has touted the local schools’ rankings. Simple Google search confirms this.

And places like Reddit have only amplified the reach of the rankings, unfortunately

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the olden days, US News mattered.

It has jumped the shark and with so much more information available to parents today, it is but a very small part of the college selection process.

With its new metric changing to valuing social equity factors over academic criteria, that has hurt what little relevance it has had.

Wrong. It still matters very much to the average American family looking at different colleges. Most people don’t care about the methodology that has so many DCUMers clutching their pearls.

Every year the media interest in US News goes down. This year it cratered. Schools used to tout their inclusion in some list almost immediately upon publication. Local news would cover how great/bad a certain college did.

Look at the dearth in media coverage this year.

Their influence has been declining for years. The internet brings vastly more information today than 20 years ago. Changing their methodology to create whacko results like UC Merced being a top school, etc. caused more mockery of the publication.

False. Google US News college rankongs. I went to page 29 (x18 news reports a page) and have lost interest. Check facts before you post

+1
I find it sort of amusing that certain posters are just positive USNWR rankings mean nothing these days. A simple google search tells a very different story.

+2. They want to tear it down because their kids' schools or their own school doesn't (in their own mind) perform well in the USNWR rankings. sour grapes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of course the rankongs have an impact!

https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w7227/w7227.pdf

That is from 25 years ago.

even more true today!