Reply to Which universities have gone DOWN in stature over the years?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think different things go in and out of vogue. If you're from a family that doesn't value liberal arts, then a school such as Williams might not make your list no matter what the college's ranking is. If value is the top priority, you'd likely want your kids to accept a free ride via a Jefferson Scholarship to UVA over Princeton. If your priority is that professors are teaching your student and getting to know them well, then you'll choose Dartmouth over Harvard. If the Greek system is a non-starter, then you'll choose Williams over Dartmouth. I'm not saying it's that simple, but every kid and family isn't prioritizing the same things. My child turned down Columbia last year (despite it being ranked #3, and at the time no one knew those numbers were fudged) because they didn't want to take the Common Core curriculum. They didn't want to do that much reading and have that many prescriptive classes. For another kid, that might be WHY they would choose Columbia. Over the next few years, as we get more used to the way things are right now, people will broaden their perspective and include schools that they might have considered objectionable in the past. It's hard to be tip of the spear, and to be blindsided by admissions, but now that I have another child about to start that process, I'm far more interested in a school's stability over time, whether or not students are employed when they graduate, whether the school offers their area of focus, and whether or not we can afford the school. I do know that I will spend the bulk of our time visiting schools that would, using the new metrics, be considered targets or safeties. I want them to be excited about wherever they go, and to have at least one safety that gets them feeling pumped and good. What are we doing to kids when we start poo-pooing schools because they fall from 13 to 17 in the rankings? As one last anecdotal point, the most talented person I ever worked with went to Emerson in Boston, and the second most talented colleague went to Catholic in DC. I went to top five schools for undergrad and grad myself, and I think those two both run circles around me.[/quote]

Well said.[/quote]

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