College Rankings are a Joke :) Says ED Secretary

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by chrisjm18, Aug 13, 2022.

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  1. chrisjm18

    chrisjm18 Well-Known Member

    MaceWindu, Helpful2013, tadj and 2 others like this.
  2. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

  3. felderga

    felderga Active Member

    To be clear from an undergraduate perspective probably the Money Magazine rankings are the most useful in looking at schools based on perceived value and ROI.

    https://money.com/best-colleges/
     
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  4. JoshD

    JoshD Well-Known Member

    I think rankings have a place. Obviously they should not be a sole determinating factor for someone but they are a great starting point, especially for graduate school.
     
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  5. Gabe F.

    Gabe F. Active Member

    I worked as an academic advisor for more than a decade. We had an hourly undergrad working in our office who was a few months from graduating. I asked him what his plans were. He basically intended to take a gap year and then apply to graduate school at Oxford.

    I asked, "Why Oxford?". As you can imagine, he looked at me like I was insane. So, I followed that by saying "I get it. It's Oxford. World renowned, highly regarded, etc. But can you tell me how you know Oxford is right for YOU?". He was dumbfounded. As bright as this young man was, he had never once considered how HE - his personality, preferences, etc. - would fit into the culture of a school.

    This is story is, sadly, not unique. Folks get so caught up in rankings and name recognition that it comes at the expense of identifying the best fit for them.
     
  6. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    Unfortunately, in law a handful of schools and their graduates control access to the "higher level" jobs. Your chances of being a professor or landing a position in a big firm are nearly zero unless you graduate from one of these few schools. So if you want one of these career paths, a prestige pedigree is crucial.
     
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  7. JoshD

    JoshD Well-Known Member

    Same in business. You want a FAANG, MBB, etc. position such as a Program Manager or Consultant? Best chance is a degree from a Top B-School.
     
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  8. chrisjm18

    chrisjm18 Well-Known Member

    And that's the reason the ED Secretary is calling out the elitism that exists. Some of these supposedly prestigious schools do not provide a better education. But those who choose these schools often do so for the name and not necessarily because it's the best educational choice. Meh!
     
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  9. JoshD

    JoshD Well-Known Member

    I agree to an extent. However, in my limited experience, Dukes educational experience far outweighs SOSU and it is not even in the same ballpark.

    Do others have similar experiences? Sure. Do others have a different experience? Yup.

    I think it boils down to selecting the program that fits each individuals goals and desires.
     
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  10. chrisjm18

    chrisjm18 Well-Known Member

    Gaming the College Rankings

    "Once again, the reliability of college rankings has been thrust into the spotlight, thanks to recent charges that universities such as Columbia, USC, and Temple have misreported data to U.S. News & World Report. Ever since U.S. News began ranking colleges in 1983, educators have devoted endless hours to employing gaming techniques ranging from distortion of academic policies to outright falsification of data. Why do schools cheat, and what can be done about it?"


    https://www.higheredjobs.com/blog/postDisplay.cfm?blog=35&post=3120&Title=Gaming%20the%20College%20Rankings
     
  11. JoshD

    JoshD Well-Known Member

    I think so many people take rankings as the end all, be all that showing a high ranking means a lot for different programs. I do think, however, certain programs reach a certain point that they do not care. Harvard Business School and Stanford GSB are known to be the 2 best B-Schools. However, Chicago Booth is ranked higher than Harvard and I'd go out and say that not many would choose Booth over HBS even with the Booth being ranked higher.

    How do we prevent fraud? Well, US News and other ranking agencies could actually validate the information before posting the rankings.
     
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  12. Asymptote

    Asymptote Active Member

    Not much different than what Socrates was up against with the sophists in ancient Athens, when you come to think about it.
     
  13. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    Interesting observation. Do you mean that Socrates eschewed ideology?
     
  14. Asymptote

    Asymptote Active Member

    That, but even more so that his opponents - the sophists - were all about fame and fortune (and not necessarily truth).
     
  15. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    I thought they argued whether a “Davenport” is of the same essence as a “Chesterfield”.

    ok, not my best effort.:oops:
     

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