College Rankings
As most of you know, the US News & World Report rankings have been released, and the push is on for students and families who believe that getting into one of the US News top tier colleges will make or break their future. It's simply not true for US News or any other ranking tool.
There are several ranking tools--each with its own criteria. Make sure you know what attributes the particular tool is using, so that you can judge how important those attributes are to you. One tool that I think bears looking at is the Forbes list, which also just came out and which puts more of an emphasis on students' perspectives:
http://www.forbes.com/2009/08/02/colleges-university-ratings-opinions-colleges-09-intro.html
While any ranking list can be a useful tool to compare colleges on a given list of criteria, none should be used as a final authority as you construct your own college list. I know just how tough it is to listen to the hype, the peer pressure, the family pressure and so on--but take a risk; spend some time investigating colleges that may not be super well known but where you may be able to get an amazing education and college experience.
Try to investigate colleges outside your comfort zone, geographically, size-wise, etc. Even if you can't visit in person, you can explore college web sites and make use of virtual tour sites like www.ecampustours.com or www.youniversitytv.com/
I also recommend that you take tours at local colleges-one of each 'type' (e.g. large college, medium sized college, small liberal arts college, private/public, etc.) so that you can start to understand what kind of colleges are appealing to you. A lot of students from big high schools will immediately say NO to the idea of a small college, but then change their minds after checking out one or two small colleges with an open mind. For some students, having small classes taught by professors can be immensely satisfying compared with having introductory courses at a large college where you may have hundreds of students and more contact with grad students than professors, until you're a junior. For other students, a large campus and Division 1 athletics may be absolute requirements.
Let yourself experience a variety of schools, then use what you learn along with campus web sites, college search web sites (there are links on the right to a variety of such sites), virtual tour sites, books like the Fiske Guide, the advice of counselors at your high school, and of independent admissions consultants like me--put it all together to come up with a list of wonderful colleges to which you'll apply.
There are several ranking tools--each with its own criteria. Make sure you know what attributes the particular tool is using, so that you can judge how important those attributes are to you. One tool that I think bears looking at is the Forbes list, which also just came out and which puts more of an emphasis on students' perspectives:
http://www.forbes.com/2009/08/02/colleges-university-ratings-opinions-colleges-09-intro.html
While any ranking list can be a useful tool to compare colleges on a given list of criteria, none should be used as a final authority as you construct your own college list. I know just how tough it is to listen to the hype, the peer pressure, the family pressure and so on--but take a risk; spend some time investigating colleges that may not be super well known but where you may be able to get an amazing education and college experience.
Try to investigate colleges outside your comfort zone, geographically, size-wise, etc. Even if you can't visit in person, you can explore college web sites and make use of virtual tour sites like www.ecampustours.com or www.youniversitytv.com/
I also recommend that you take tours at local colleges-one of each 'type' (e.g. large college, medium sized college, small liberal arts college, private/public, etc.) so that you can start to understand what kind of colleges are appealing to you. A lot of students from big high schools will immediately say NO to the idea of a small college, but then change their minds after checking out one or two small colleges with an open mind. For some students, having small classes taught by professors can be immensely satisfying compared with having introductory courses at a large college where you may have hundreds of students and more contact with grad students than professors, until you're a junior. For other students, a large campus and Division 1 athletics may be absolute requirements.
Let yourself experience a variety of schools, then use what you learn along with campus web sites, college search web sites (there are links on the right to a variety of such sites), virtual tour sites, books like the Fiske Guide, the advice of counselors at your high school, and of independent admissions consultants like me--put it all together to come up with a list of wonderful colleges to which you'll apply.
Comments