Reply to If the colleges are all lying about their stats, why does anyone care about rankings?

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Reply to "If the colleges are all lying about their stats, why does anyone care about rankings?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]"    No one thinks the colleges actually lie but not listing a couple dozen students who didn't tell them they are withdrawing so that a 96% retention rate becomes 97% and UVa is one point ahead of Michigan, yeah, that kind of stuff happens. It's no different than what you see on pretty much every ad on TV.

Stop...you are just making up stuff. UVa is unethical but Michigan is??? Come on... "

That was not the poster's point.  The point was that colleges, including BOTH UVa AND Michigan, build their reported statistics in ways that make them look good, just like TV ads.

The only reason they do this is because lots of crazy people somehow think that going to a school ranked #25 is better than going to the one ranked #35.

They then spend ridiculous amounts of money (too often money they don't have) to obtain this imaginary advantage.[/quote]

Fair points, but I’ll bet you think #25 is better than #75, or #125. I would also argue that though the rankings might be based on questionable methods (okay definitely) reality often follows perception. When a school rises on the list more competitive students notice it and apply. Before you know it the quality of student has changed. Look at Northeastern. Kids who wouldn’t have considered it 10-15 years ago are finding it impossible to get in now. Rankings did that, for better or worse (okay worse - but not for Northeastern!).

For me it’s a fun hobby, rooting for my alma and my kids’ schools. And yes if they plummeted I’d be a little worried because the perception of brand value is a real thing, however dumb it might be. [/quote]

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