Rank Your Brain Function by Using Rankings Right

I find that people are fascinated and incredibly attached to reading all they can about college rankings. Rarely do I sit down with a student without hearing that their college list was closely modeled around the latest from US News or another "reliable" source.

We don't buy clothes without trying them on or go on vacations based on rankings- we choose these by process of adding our own opinions and needs. Why is it that we do not do the same with universities? The Internet is FULL of virtual tours, videos and comments to peruse. Aside from visiting campuses and representatives, I would, as an practice to strengthen the brain, hop right on the Internet and do some research online. It is the biggest resource one can reach out to and the hardest to manage if one doesn't know how. Consider using the same technique I tell my students to do when reading Wikipedia (which I used to detest- but heck- if I can't fight it or flee from it- might as well go with the flow)- use the resources and comments at the bottom of the article to check its veracity. Do it once and you'll know why. For me, studying reader comments on "a first draft" of 2012 admissions " from a source like the New York Time's "The Choice" education blog, is mind-blowing, peace of mind and mindful all wrapped into one.


Students are in a "real-world" learning phase by the end of high school and the college process is a perfect platform for teaching skills. When asked what they think goes into college rankings, my 10th and 11th graders have said things such as: admissions percentages, graduation rates, endowments received, reputation, "whatever the college wanted to say" (small skeptic) and "whatever the school paid for the spot" (big skeptic and not true as I far as I know). My questions back to them were: How do you know these are the variables and how is the math done? The response was silence. One of my mentors, a dean of admissions at a highly competitive liberal arts school in California broke it down for us college counselors in a discussion last year- an eye opener that I have used 100s of times over. Knowing the breakdown made me consider the most basic of questions to add to my teachings about rankings: Since admissions percentages seem to be the area that families get caught up on most often when scouring rankings-here's a smart question to feed a ready brain: How many of the applications College X received were from applicants that met all of College X's admissions requirements? Get the truer percentage by taking only the "fitting" applications and do the math using the number of those students who were accepted from this newly reduced "good" pool. Are the numbers the same as what is published in US News? Critical thinking opens minds.


It isn't that institutions should be wholly blamed for omitting information or that all media outlets are faulty at reporting what info they are given- although it would be nice to require more transparency and synthesis of information as good practice. I also don't think staying away from ranking articles sows rational thinking. Too much doubt leaves little room for finding the truth and not enough makes us easy targets. However, I DO think a little investigative work on part of the reader is not too much to ask for. Take the rankings with a grain of salt, and just like the US admissions process, be holistic in your judgment because there are more parts to a ranking than what someone says. YOUR ranking is more important than anything- so make sure you consider what is valuable to you- such as campus atmosphere, price, courses offered, internships provided, international student body, or any other assortment of criteria that would make a post-secondary choice YOUR choice. In fact, when a university asks that tricky question- Why do you want to attend University X on the application, this is the thinking that they would prefer to hear as opposed to telling them they are #1 in so and so (They don't need to hear something they already know. Heck, they aimed for that spot!!). Researching, evaluating sources, making connections and synthesizing will not only give you those supplemental answers for applications, but you will have confirmed that brain of yours WORKS and WORKS WELL before it gets on campus!