By Bethany Hutchens

Gargoyle staff reporter


Posted Friday, March 16, 2007, The OG, features & in depth

OUT OF MORE than 2,000 higher learning institutions in the United States, how are students to choose which one is right for them? Most students and parents turn to college ranking systems such as U.S. News & World Report's “America's Best Colleges.”

Thankfully, I started out with a clear idea of what I wanted in a school. First, I ruled out all colleges in Illinois (too boring).

Second, I wanted a college that would give me personal attention, so I looked for small schools with an undergraduate focus.

Finally, I looked for schools that were strong in the subjects I wanted to study: international relations and languages.

My dad and I narrowed my initial list of 13 schools down to the following seven:

• Wellesley College, Wellesley, Mass. This is my first choice, mostly because of the gorgeous campus and the location right by Boston. It's a down-to-earth women's school, where the students are rumored to date Harvard and MIT boys, so I guess there's some male companionship. The downside is that there are no merit scholarships and it's very expensive. It's also my Dad's first choice, probably because Hillary Clinton went there.

• Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio. I like Kenyon because of its artsy, small-town feel. Gambier has only 600 residents, which is small to say the least, but I really like Kenyon's writing and international relations programs.

• Scripps College, Claremont, Calif. Another women's school, Scripps has fewer than 1,000 students and takes care of the arts in the Claremont Consortium.

• Pomona College, Claremont, Calif. Pomona is also part of the Claremont Consortium. I like it because of its academics. It's my reach school, and I probably won't get in.

• Duke University, Durham, N.C. Duke is the exact opposite of all my other schools. While the others are small, arts-oriented, and left of center, Duke is a sports powerhouse located in the South. Maybe that's why I'm so drawn to it.

• Washington University in St. Louis. Wash U is a Uni staple with great academics and a nice, clean campus. It's also located right across from a museum. I love museums.

• Earlham College, Richmond, Ind. This is my safety school. I'm friendly with the admissions officer, who embodies the friendly, laid-back atmosphere of the college. Part of me just wants to go here, but I'm afraid I'll be a big fish in a small pond.

In retrospect, I was lucky that I knew what I wanted from a college. I didn't have to rely on the rankings to guide me.

Lately, college ranking systems have been accused of using flawed systems that don't really provide clear information on which college is the “best.” Other critics say that the “best” college for everyone doesn't exist, and that students should focus on a college that fits their needs.

U.S. News & World Report uses a system of weighted categories to determine a college's rank. The categories given the most weight are:

— Peer assessment, as measured by an opinion survey of top academics (25 percent);

— Retention, as measured by a school's six-year graduation rate and proportion of freshmen who return for their sophomore year (20 percent);

— Faculty resources, as measured by class size, faculty salaries, proportion of highest-degree holders, student-faculty ratio, and proportion of full-time faculty (20 percent);

— Student selectivity, as measured by SAT/ACT scores, proportion of freshmen who graduated in the top 10 percent or 25 percent of their high school classes (percentage depending on type of college), and acceptance rate (15 percent);

— Financial resources, as measured by per-student spending (10 percent).

But how well do these categories work in evaluating a school? Not well at all, say critics.

The opinion survey, which carries the most weight, rewards colleges that focus on research. However, as Amy Graham, a former director of data research for U.S. News & World Report, and Nicholas Thompson, an editor of The Washington Monthly, have reported, students in research-oriented schools report less satisfaction compared to students at smaller teaching-oriented colleges.

As Graham and Thompson have noted, at one time “academics believed in a simple equation: Good students plus good faculty equals good school.”

However, there is no guarantee that a school with good students and good faculty will necessarily choose students over research. And, in fact, based on comments from students at research universities, it is often the students who are neglected.

College reputations also play a huge role in college rankings. The U.S. News and World Report changed its original methodology to make sure the most prestigious institutions (e.g., Harvard, Yale, Princeton) would always end up at or near the top.

In 1998, a group of educators created the National Survey of Student Engagement to assess how well colleges engage their students in the learning process. The team gathered data and came up with an “Institutional Engagement Index” that evaluates how effectively colleges teach.

The four top-scoring schools? Beloit, Elon, Sweet Briar, and Centre. All of these colleges have a reputation as good schools, but none is prestigious, and none is Ivy League.

What makes this so important is that parents, students, and even colleges really care about rankings. Some leaders, such as Michele Tolela Myers, president of Sarah Lawrence College, are pushing back and challenging what they see as a system gone awry. But rankings, whether by U.S. News or some other institution, will probably be with us for as long as people look on colleges as status symbols.

I was unaware of these issues during my college decision-making process. I'm happy to report that I never once looked at the rankings.

I made my decisions after a little more than a year of research, mostly in the Fiske Guide to Colleges, a book that does not rank but combines statistical data, first-hand impressions, and student interviews to describe each college.

The Fiske Guide became my college Bible, and without it I surely would have been lost.

All the colleges that I applied to are right for me. I'm happy with myself for not giving into the hype of the Ivy League (exacerbated by rankings) and for sticking to my guns by choosing small colleges that I know will give me the attention I need.

Earlham, my safety school, recently admitted me, so I have at least one place where I can go in the fall.

As for the rest, the wait continues …

THE SERIES SO FAR

— Audio podcast: Introducing our college journey

— Article: Andrea takes the PSAT … and finds out how she did

— Article: Bethany looks for a college … and ignores the hype