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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Everyone seems to hate the US News rankings, but they are the gold standard for now. [/quote]

Gold standard of what?  Hype?  Their attempt to quantify colleges means they pick "objective" criteria that are not most people's criteria, and that can be and are juiced by the colleges.  How do you measure attention paid to undergraduates?  Quality of life?  Rigor of teaching?  These are the factors most sane people will be looking at and they aren't captured by these ridiculous rankings.[/quote]

All the points you make and the points in the linked article are valid.  It doesn't change the fact that when someone refers to a Top 25 college they are almost always referring to the U.S. News ranking.  One reason the US News rankings caught on is that they generally track what most people think (partly due to the methodology).  When someone tries to introduce a new ranking that puts Wisconsin ahead of Brown or Cornell ahead of Princeton it just doesn't feel right.[/quote]

Who goes around talking about "top 25" colleges?  I have a DC starting the process and the only people I hear "bragging" like that are insecure.[/quote]
 
I'm not sure where you get bragging.  College is a big investment for many people.  Most people check reviews, reputation etc before making a big purchase or investment.  US News itself says the rankings are just a starting point.  [/quote]

Of course you should be careful.  Not just because its a big investment but more importantly because your DC will be there for four years.  In fact I find it weird that you are focusing on the idea of an investment instead of the fit.  Regardless, that is precisely why the rankings are bunk.  Ranking cannot tell you anything about the culture, rigor, quality of life-- whether or not it would be a good fit.  For that you need much more effective research -- visits, talking to actual students, even reading actual reviews is better than rankings.  There is a ton of information out there that is so much more reliable than gimmicky rankings.  Even as a starting point, rankings are bunk.  There are guide books that will talk more generally about things like academic rigor, academic philosophy (another thing not taken into account with rankings), culture.  Thats where you start.  Then you talk to actual students and go on visits.[/quote]

EVERYONE has some sense of rankings in mind when they start the process - no one researches the thousands of school options with a completely blank slate - let's see ow Harvard? Montgomery College? Kentucky?  I must get information on these schools.

It doesn't happen that way.  You go into the process with a general sense of rankings and select schools for further  investigation.

Whether you know it or not, the US News rankings play a role in your selection. [/quote]

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