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Keeping college rankings in perspective
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In an age where there’s a list for absolutely everything, it only makes sense that lists which rank colleges would be extremely popular. They seem like the perfect way to choose which schools to apply to. After all, if a school isn't at the top of the list, it means they’re not worth going to, right? Wrong.
You see, some rankings tend to measure things like reputation (25% of the overall score). And here’s a really interesting piece; this part of the ranking is determined by the grades given to the school by other colleges and universities. Aside from the obvious problem of the impossibility of all colleges knowing enough about each other to give an accurate and fair assessment, such an evaluation is highly subjective and may be of questionable value when students are searching for the right college for them. Obviously, some colleges have had a problem with this too since 46% of the college leaders who were sent the peer survey this year refused to even respond. (The comments Mark Gordon, incoming president of Defiance College in Ohio shared with Crescent-News.com about the relative value of rankings are definitely worth reading.)
What worries me about the rankings in U.S. News & World Report is what you can’t see as you flip through the magazine. You can’t see what’s behind the statistics. You can’t know if a school has given a different interpretation to the survey questions which may give a more favorable view of full time faculty on campus than is strictly accurate. You can’t know if the groundbreaking research being done includes undergraduates who are getting credit when the results are published or if only grad students have access to those opportunities. No, for those answers you have to go deeper - and that takes more than just flipping through a magazine.
It requires that students look beyond the name of a school to what the school really has to offer them. That means taking a good look at what kind of learning environment suits them best. A student who is a hands-on learner should look at different schools than one who prefers a lecture style type of curriculum and vice versa. Both could probably survive at a school that uses a different type of methodology than they prefer, but will they thrive there? Will they reach their potential? Or will they merely just survive?
Not sure how to determine whether a school will provide what you need? Based on the National Survey for Student Engagement Benchmarks for Effective Educational Practice, here are some questions you should be asking about each campus:
- How academically challenging is the school?
- To what extent does the school encourage and employ active and cooperative learning?
- What is the level and quality of faculty-student interaction?
- To what extent are enriching educational experiences available and accessible to all members of the student body?
- In what ways does the school promote a supportive school environment?
If you insist on using rankings, use your own. You are the expert on how you learn best, the kind of learning environment where you shine, the academic and co-curricular programs you are looking for, the social environment where you feel most comfortable, and what you can reasonably afford to pay for your education. Put these things together with the answers you get to the questions above and you’ve got a ranking system that may actually help you find a college that’s a great fit.
Still need help? I urge you to seek out the expertise of your guidance counselor or an independent college counselor. Their experience may enable them to guide you to a few schools you may not have considered because they are not as well known, but just might be the perfect fit for you.
Other articles you might find interesting:
College admissions hot topic: are you struck with brand name paralysis?
Visiting campuses: You’ve got to see it for yourself
Making applying to college less stressful
Beginning the college search
Budget cuts necessitate asking new questions when considering a college
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