What do college rankings mean

Upon hearing this, I pointed out to the student that according to the same ranking his father used, Ivy League schools such as Princeton and Yale both ranked below some regional universities which my student would not even consider. The truth is that many of the metrics used in these rankings are chosen haphazardly and weighted subjectively.

News and World Report ranking system for example. Ranking criteria like this show very well how and why universities with the largest endowments such as Harvard , Princeton, and Yale constantly rank in the top 3, while schools with similar if not better reputation in academics and research such as MIT , Caltech , and the University of Chicago , are almost always outside the top 3, and sometimes even outside the top 5.

Yet, I personally believe that there is huge value in using U. News Top National Universities charts to introduce American universities to my clients. It isn't easy to compare all the institutions based on one set formula. Some students might like engagement-based learning, while some students might like just listening.

Project yourself into the picture. You must ask yourself, "What do the editors of ranking guides really know about me? What tangible takeaways do college rankings offer that applies to your situation? Look for evidence that rankings will make a difference in your college planning outcomes. Ask yourself, "What's in it for me? Rankings don't get students into colleges, nor do they necessarily point you in the best direction for you. Over the last 30 years, the college-going process has turned upside down by ranking guides.

Whereas the focus should be on the kids—and what is best for them. College ranking guides focus on destinations that they presume to be most desirable. In reality, they are artificial metrics for quality in education that detract from rational, student-centered decision-making. Herein lies the disconnect. If ranking guides are handy to consumers, why do so many students apply to schools where the chances of gaining admission are less than one out of four?

And where is the usefulness of college ranking guides when barely half of the students entering college this year will graduate from any college during their lifetimes? Rankings promote a destination-orientated and obsessive approach to getting into highly ranked colleges. The student might head more critically than what is to accomplish or why that goal might be necessary, or how the institution might best serve the student.

When distracted by the blinding power and prestige that rankings bestow upon a few institutions, it is easy to lose sight of one's values and priorities and the full range of opportunities that exist. Brown University 8. Wesleyan University 9. University of Notre Dame Northwestern University. Princeton University 2. Harvard University 3.

Yale University 4. Stanford University 4. Columbia University 4. University of Chicago 7. MIT 8. University of Pennsylvania 8. Duke California Institute of Technology. The Carnegie classification establishes what type of school a school is by its mission:. Measures 1. Undergraduate academic reputation For our analysis , we took data from the U. News rankings and recorded the 25th and 75th percentile scores on the math and verbal subtests for 1, schools.

Then, we simply ranked all the schools by this standardized test score metric. One thing we discovered is that schools higher up on the rankings generally admit students with higher SAT or ACT scores. Though there is often public controversy over the value of standardized tests , research shows that these tests are quite robust measures to predict academic performance, career potential, creativity and job performance.

While it is true that wealthier parents tend to have students with higher test scores, it turns out the research robustly shows that test scores, even when you consider socioeconomic status , are predictive of later outcomes. Our ranking also disproves the notion that the No. Rather it shows that the vast majority of schools admit students who earn a score between and on the SAT — that is, on the combined scores on the SAT Math and Verbal.

Greater variations in test scores appear in schools that admit students at the low and high end of the distribution — those students who earn below a or above a on their SATs. Thus, test score rankings can mean different things depending upon which group of schools students and parents are considering.