Reply to New USNEWS Rankings - Virginia back in the Top 25!

Forum Index » College and University Discussion

Reply to "New USNEWS Rankings - Virginia back in the Top 25!"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The full rankings are here:

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities

The thing that caught my eye is Brown and WashU dropping.  Chicago is now Top 3 - Stanford fell a bit.[/quote]And that totally changes your opinion of those schools, right?  :roll: [/quote]

"totally?" NO.

USNEWS rankings [b]remain the gold standard,[/b] but they are just one data point. The rankings are easily accessible and, as such, get embedded in the psyche around the globe. In China there is an absolute obsession with the USNEWS rankings. In American most everyone pretends they don't care about USNEWS rankings, but they do (at least a bit). Schools certainly care - some more than others. But does anyone base their opinion "totally" on the rankings? Highly doubtful.[/quote]

You are kidding me, right?  You really believe this stuff?? :shock:

-np[/quote]

Not me. I rely "totally" on anonymous message boards.  :roll:

Seriously, in rough order of relevance, here are data points that are relevant in forming an opinion of a school.

First hand current experience - a campus stay with an acquaintance currently enrolled (where possible) is far more informative than a tour to stay organized by the school

Past first hand experience - perhaps from a parent - schools obviously change, but past experience is still relevant.

Word of mouth from people you know - possibly biased, but you should be able to filter that if you know the source

US News and (to a lesser extent) other rankings - objective data based assessments. Be sure you understand what the ranking in measuring - it may not be important to you. In addition, rankings are very influential on the perception of future employers etc. - so ranking can impact the value of the degree you earn.

High school counselors - often have considerably more information about some schools than others. Be sure to understand how well the counselor knows the particular school you are interested in.

Anonymous student forums - theses are "boots  on the ground" and usually pushing a pov, but if you invest enough time on those forums you'll get a sense of the school

School websites, printed materials and organized tours - provide basic information, but often quite different from the reality of the student experience.

Anonymous parent (or other non-student) dominated forums. You can get a nugget or two, but the information is largely second hand based on what students tell parents, which may not be the whole truth.

Lots of data to gather and digest, but it's a fun process and ultimately a personal decision based on the unique needs of your child.
[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics