Many American colleges balk at U.S. News rankings

Here's an interesting article from the Washington Post.

The title is : Which College Guides Are the Best

Excerpt :

"The ones I used most often were "The Best 331 Colleges" by the Princeton Review and "The Unofficial, Biased Insider's Guide to the 320 Most Interesting Colleges" by Trent Anderson and Seppy Basili of Kaplan Inc. (and as for MY potential bias, it must be said that Kaplan is a very important part of The Washington Post Co., my employer and the company in which a substantial portion of my retirement savings are invested.)

Those two books were fun to read, with jazzy writing and useful rankings of various sorts, such as Princeton Review's playful surveys of which schools were most likely to have "Dorms Like Dungeons" (the State University of New York at Buffalo, my boss's alma mater, was number one) and which tended to admit "Students Most Nostalgic for Bill Clinton" (Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Ore., led that category)."

Just FYI.

Personally, I found this guide to be the BEST OVERALL :

This guide actually profiles the colleges IN DETAIL including the students, faculty and core curriculum.

Oh, we gamed the system -- WITHIN REASON.

It's that "within reason" part that is so hard to get exactly right. But if parents make sure that the kid's best interest comes first (and that the kid is the one who makes the ultimate decision) it's probably o.k., at least as o.k. as it's going to get.

My daughter's prep school has 4 full time college counselors who really earn their hay ration . . . and hubby and I let daughter and her college advisor take the lead and just helped do the legwork.

Now my NEXT kid is a different story! He's bright but not bookish at all, very athletic and outdoorsy (quite unlike No. 1) -- and he is bound and determined to join the Marine Corps straight out of school, get a tour or two under his belt, and then go to college on an ROTC scholarship and/or the GI Bill. This was his idea with a few minor nudges from parents (you don't present ideas to this one, he has to think of it himself) but on sober reflection we decided that we could go along with it! He could use the stability and order of the military, he gets to serve his country, and college would be a complete waste of time for him right now. As a mother naturally I worry about his being in harm's way . . . but when you have an active risk-taking sort of boy's boy, Iraq is probably less hazardous than Interstate 285 on a Saturday night (and I'm only half kidding).

Here's another interesting guide to the college guides from SLATE MAGAZINE entitled Which College Guides Are the Best ?

EXCERPT :

college search is like shopping for clothes. The entire experience varies radically depending on the tastes of the buyer. In the last 14 years, for instance, I have been through three college searches with my children. The first was easy: He had one school in mind, applied early, and got in—that quick, no-fuss shopping typical of teenage boys. The second child was more difficult. He is a golfer and a biker and announced that no matter how distinguished the institution, he would not apply to any schools where a flake of snow marred the landscape. Unfortunately, no college guides could help narrow his search—weather reports and listings of local green fees were more important to him than statistics and rankings.

......

The results, from worst to best:

The Insider's Guide to the Colleges 2006 by the Staff of the Yale Daily News, 1,017 pages, $18.99

The Yale Daily guide is the smallest and lightest of these books. It also has some of the best student quotes. A student at UC-San Diego says, "I feel like I need a megaphone and binoculars to participate in class sometimes." A Johns Hopkins University undergraduate says the dining halls are "like eating at a five-star restaurant, except the opposite." But it is also the least informative. It rarely offers more than basic data and offers little insight into details such as which schools are affordable, which schools help you survive the trauma of freshman year, or which schools have the kind of extracurricular activities you crave. It reports on just four schools in my sample and is probably useful only to applicants considering the most selective colleges. In this era, getting into schools like Yale is akin to winning the lottery. Take a look at the bigger books—you might find something you like.

Depth:16 (out of 25)

Verve: 21 (out of 25)

Detail: 15 (out of 25)

Student Perspective: 24 (out of 25)

Total: 76 (out of 100)

Peterson's Four-Year Colleges 2006 by Thomson Peterson's, 3,087 pages, $32

I have not used Peterson's before and am surprised by its structure. The front of the book has standard short descriptions with the usual data on each college, such as average SAT scores, major departments, sports, and activities. But the back of the book lists advertorials "written by admissions deans" in place of independent assessments. Perhaps these are helpful to some readers, but personally I feel duped buying a $32 book that seems to rely so heavily on subjective write-ups written by the universities themselves.

I found nothing inaccurate in the Peterson's advertorials, but I prefer to rely on more objective perspectives from outside observers.

Depth: 20

Verve: 19

Detail: 21

Student Perspective: 17

Total: 77

The College Board College Handbook 2006, 2,069 pages, $28.95

The College Board book gets major depth points for being the only guide to take community colleges seriously. It has data on more than 1,600 two-year schools, a great boon since nearly half of all U.S. undergraduates attend such colleges. Its four-year college outlines are fine, with lots of good data, but it misses some important details. Elon University, for instance, is unusual because it scores very high on the National Survey of Student Engagement—an increasingly influential measurement of which colleges teach best. But this guide does not address that. Like U.S. News and Barron's, The College Board contains all the standard numbers. But because it does not discuss details like which departments are strongest, or the differences in student interests and living styles, it's not easy to determine which school might be best for you or your child.

Depth: 24

Verve: 15

Detail: 23

Student Perspective: 18

Total: 80

U.S. News & World Report Ultimate College Guide 2005, 1,763 pages, $26.95

Blessed with remarkable data from its "America's Best Colleges" surveys, the U.S. News guide helpfully ranks schools in different categories, such as the priciest private schools, the cheapest public universities, and the best values. The guide also addresses the important issue of how well colleges retain their freshmen, with a list that ranks schools accordingly.

The individual college descriptions, however, are a bit thin. The basic data on academic and financial aid are there, but U.S. News doesn't address issues that don't fit the standard categories. For instance, the guide does not mention Ursinus College's Common Intellectual Experience course, one of the few freshman courses in the country that every student is required to take. Elon's high marks on the National Survey of Student Engagement are also ignored.

Depth: 20

Verve: 20

Detail: 22

Student Perspective: 19

Total: 81

Barron's Profiles of American Colleges 2005, 1,669 pages, $26.95

Like the U.S. News, College Board, and Peterson's guides, Barron's provides a thick clump of useful data on each college, including composition of the student body, housing options, financial aid, special programs, sports, and transfer rules, but it does not present it in an entertaining or vivid manner. I give it some perspective points for student-friendly data: It gives the exact requirements for completing a major, and it also presents a helpful list of which colleges have which majors. But it misses unusual but potentially important details, such as the progress Alcorn State has made in providing extra tutoring and other support for freshmen so that more of them are able to return for their sophomore year.

Depth: 21

Verve: 21

Detail: 23

Student Perspective: 18

Total: 83

Choosing the Right College 2005: The Whole Truth About America's Top Schools, Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 972 pages, $28

Choosing the Right College differentiates itself from the other guides in ways both good and bad. Its ideological leanings will offend many readers. It concludes that Brown "was little but a left-wing echo chamber" until some right-of-center groups were formed. And it has narrow coverage—only 125 schools, and just four (University of Chicago, Harvard, Pomona, and UC-San Diego) of the 10 on my sampling list.

But its school profiles offer many interesting details the others lack. For example, none of the other guides names specific professors who make their campuses great. The Davidson College profile identifies nine top professors in seven departments loved by students. While other guides have a generic feel, with general statements and few recent examples, Choosing the Right College is often as fresh as the latest headlines. For instance, other guides address Pomona's smog problem—an old story—but this guide covers the school's reaction to an alleged hate crime that occurred on campus in 2004.

Depth: 24

Verve: 24

Detail: 15

Student Perspective: 23

Total: 86

Fiske Guide to Colleges 2006 by Edward B. Fiske with Robert Logue, 774 pages, $22.95

The Fiske Guide is popular: Fans say the amount of information strikes the right balance—there's enough so it's useful but not unwieldy. Personally, I find the book strong on student perspective but lacking in verve and details. For instance, it says many Harvard students find "the most rewarding form of instruction is the sophomore and junior tutorial, a small-group directed study in a student's field of concentration." I have heard frequent complaints from Harvard undergraduates about these often poorly organized bull sessions.

The summaries of each profile aptly pinpoint what students may want to know about a particular school. In a profile of the University of Maryland, College Park, Fiske speaks directly to the needs of students seeking more challenging academic environs by highlighting the College Park Scholar program's classes for high-achieving admittees. It also points out that Vanderbilt's strengths in business and engineering are rare among Southern schools, which applicants may want to consider.

Depth: 22

Verve: 22

Detail: 19

Student Perspective: 23

Total: 86

The Unofficial, Biased Guide to the 331 Most Interesting Colleges 2005 by the staff of Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions, 720 pages, $19

Since the title mentions bias, this is a good time to point out that Kaplan is part of the Washington Post Co. So is Slate magazine. So am I—I've been a Washington Post reporter for 34 years. But I have tried to be objective, and the Unofficial, Biased Guide deserves high marks. It helpfully exposes students' real feelings about issues. For instance, some Dickinson College students find the campus "a little too close for comfort, and grow tired of seeing the same people, day in and day out." A junior at Providence College says, "Homework is not necessary for a solid grade in my classes."

Kaplan admissions experts Trent Anderson and Seppy Basili used to brighten the volume with wry judgments of each school. An "Experts Say" box has replaced their insight, but the editors have preserved some of their best lines. On Ithaca College: "Get ready to spend four years tripping over Cornell students."

Depth: 23

Verve: 23

Detail: 20

Student Perspective: 23

Total: 89

The Best 361 Colleges 2006 by the Princeton Review, 810 pages, $21.95

The Best 361 Colleges takes a refreshingly playful approach—a good read for someone who knows little about colleges. I like the mischief-making rankings, based on student surveys of which college are most likely to have "Dorms Like Dungeons" or "Students Most Nostalgic for Bill Clinton." The profiles are also lively and full of student quotes—one freshman at Kenyon remarks, "It is odd for me, as a 4.0-plus high-school student, to hope for a C in my science classes"; a West Point cadet comments that students "get graded on how well they beat up their classmates." It offers "The Inside Word," too, a quick and helpful summary of what makes each school unique. Students also get the all-important sense of whether they have a chance at acceptance.

By providing the most complete and colorful feel for each school, The Best 361 Colleges comes closer than any other guide to putting you on each campus. And when it's not always possible to visit each and every school in person, what more can you ask for?

Depth: 23

Verve: 24

Detail: 20

Student Perspective: 23

Total: 90

Think we had an earlier edition of that one, it looks familiar.

There was also a guide that focussed on the classical "liberal arts education", and talked about schools that retain a core curriculum and require well-rounded study. My daughter's school rates high in that way, and I had talked up the value of the old "trivium and quadrivium" to her.

The second child was more difficult. He is a golfer and a biker and announced that no matter how distinguished the institution, he would not apply to any schools where a flake of snow marred the landscape.

There's an online service (you have to sign up through your school) called collegeboard.com, that has a very complicated and detailed search engine to narrow your search to colleges that meet all sorts of odd requirements -- the usual stuff like size, location, selectivity, and more unusual stats like percentage of students that pledge a frat or state a religious affiliation. Of course for records of snowfall in a particular location, weather.com would probably do the job!

That is a really neat rating list, btw. For that sort of evaluation the brain of the college counselor gives a quick short cut! We found her very, very helpful, because that's what she does all day. It was also interesting because she had a quiet sort of pipeline to the schools' admissions offices, and was able to get some feedback for us in a very general way. She got calls from people in admissions at two of the schools (as it turns out daughter's first and second choice) urging her to apply (and later in the process, to attend). They didn't want her badly enough to offer any money though! < g >

Your family must have jobs, and that is why you weren’t offered $$$. My daughter, to prove a point, sent 2 applications with identical stats, but on one she put that she was a minority. She was pestered to death by that school but ignored by the same school under her real name. It was quite amazing. She wrote her senior thesis on this and was really enlightened by wha she witnessed.

My daughter, to prove a point, sent 2 applications with identical stats, but on one she put that she was a minority.

Care to share with us the name of that school just for our edification ?