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Health & Fitness

Holiday Help for College Bound Students

‘Tis the season for high school students across the country to be bombarded with advice from well-meaning relatives who want to discuss their college applications. Aunts, uncles, grandparents and anyone else sitting at the holiday dinner table will have an opinion on which colleges are the “best.” Students repeatedly tell us how uncomfortable these family dinners are and ask for suggestions on how to get through the holidays.

Each August, U.S. News & World Report publishes a guidebook titled “America’s Best Colleges” that features college rankings based on a mix of reputation and statistical data about the colleges.  These rankings, among others, while interesting, are a major contributor to the college frenzy in our country and the stress put on students by even their own family members. When our students are faced with a discussion about these rankings, we recommend they politely turn the tables and give their family members some accurate facts.

Students can quote Edward Fiske, an expert in the area of college counseling, and say, “The question is not ‘What’s the best college?’ The question is ‘What’s the best college for me?’”  The rankings simply do not measure the educational experience of a particular college for an individual student.

Most college rankings out there today measure virtually everything but the actual performance of the graduates from the college being ranked.  The rankings are not based on any direct measure of educational quality, such as good teaching or student satisfaction.  In the perverse rankings world, the more applicants a college rejects, the “more selective” it appears and the higher its ranking.  Rankings simply do not measure what they are supposed to assess: the educational experience for an individual student.  Merely knowing which colleges are the most selective or enjoy the highest reputation among college presidents does not get a student very far toward finding a good match.  Lists cannot tell a student what it feels like to hang out on campus on the weekend or what type of students will be in her freshman classes.

Another major flaw with college rankings is the reliability of the data provided by colleges to the ranking authorities.  The rankings are big business for colleges, and as a result, more and more colleges provide false or inflated data in order to receive a higher ranking.

While it is no doubt interesting to read the lists of college rankings, that is really all it is.  Take these rankings for what they are, a way to sell magazines.  If all else fails, perhaps the timing will be right to excuse yourself from the conversation to help yourself to more pie.

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