Editor’s note: In this Future View, students discuss college rankings. Next week we’ll ask, “Most men’s single-sex colleges went co-ed long ago. But what about women’s colleges? Vassar began admitting men in 1969, and now Notre Dame of Maryland University, a women’s college, has abruptly announced it would begin admitting male undergraduates next fall. Should single-sex colleges still exist?” Students should click here to submit opinions of fewer than 250 words before Sept. 27. The best responses will be published that night. Click here to submit a video to our Future View Snapchat show.
College rankings don’t matter. In reality, colleges are so different that they cannot be compared. Some rankings are based on post-college careers, funding, applicant numbers and acceptance rates. Others detail where to find the most beautiful campus, best food and nicest housing. How can you weigh all these factors to create a single ranking scale?
When deciding where to go to college, students have to consider what is most important to them. Do you want a big public sports school in the South? Do you want a small private liberal-arts college in New England? Do you want the prestige of the Ivy League? Every student will weight colleges’ attributes differently, and relying only on rankings may produce the wrong school. Administrators should focus on other means of attracting students and stop caring so much about the oversimplifed ranking numbers.
—Ryan Hagerman, Quinnipiac University, political science
Would You Choose the 300th Ranked School Over the 10th?
The U.S. has over 5,000 colleges and universities. Students and their families need some way to compare them. While university rankings aren’t the only thing people should consider when picking a school, they are an important factor for many students and their families. It may be taboo to admit you picked your school for its ranking, but most students will go to one of the top-ranked institutions to which they are accepted. This is because, though the ranking system isn’t perfect, it does offer important information. The difference between the 100th and 110th ranked schools may be essentially meaningless, but the gap between the 500th and 2,000th isn’t.
—Eamon Collins, Iowa State University, computer engineering
Unhealthy Competition
A student’s…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at RSSOpinion…