Posted on 09/29/2012 5:16:15 AM PDT by Sir Napsalot
The U.S. News & World Report’s annual college rankings came out earlier this month and — knock me over with a feather! — Harvard and Princeton were tied for first. Followed by Yale. Followed by Columbia. ...
U.S. News likes to claim that it uses rigorous methodology, but, honestly, it’s just a list put together by magazine editors. The whole exercise is a little silly. Or rather, it would be if it weren’t so pernicious.
Magazines compile lists because people like to read them. With U.S. News having folded its print edition two years ago, its rankings — not just of colleges, but law schools, graduate schools and even high schools — are probably what keep the enterprise alive. People care enough about its rankings to pay $34.95 to seek out the details on the U.S. News Web site.
And they imbue these rankings with an authority that is largely unjustified. Universities that want to game the rankings can easily do so. U.S. News cares a lot about how much money a school raises and how much it spends: on faculty; on small classes; on facilities; and so on. It cares about how selective the admissions process is.
(Read the whole article)
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
It is becoming more and more just like Japan/Korea/Taiwan/.... The only thing matters is which school you go to, and who you schoolmate with.
...I also would not be surprised to find out money had changed hands...wonder where these magazine editors hide theirs?
These folks are part of the MSM.
I’ve spent time at Ivy universities and at state universities, and there are smart people everywhere (including those who never went to a university). When I see lists like this it reminds me of those lists of ‘the 100 greatest guitarists’, or ‘the 100 greatest movies’ etc. In other words, not to be taken too seriously.
The Ivy league is supposed to produce the leadership of this country. Right now it looks like the Ivy League has failed miserably. If trade schools produced plumbers like the Ivy League produced leaders, we would not have any functional indoor plumbing in this country.
An example of how worthless these lists are:
South Dakota School of Mines & Technology graduates earn more than Harvard graduates.
Also note “...Payscale.com data is based on survey of ...users” therefore it is easy for Ivy League grads or others to inflate what they are actually earning. A truer test is supply/demand.
In 2011 there were 178 mining engineering grads in 2011.
Actually I think this extends beyond the Ivy league into most “elite” universities. In my long engineering career, I'm employed many folks from a variety of educational institutions and although it's always risky to generalize, I've noted the “elite” school grads are more likely to have a “I'm a cut above” chip on their shoulder and be less likely to be effective members of a team, especially under pressure. On the other hand, the graduates from small local schools, especially those who put themselves through school by working, are more likely the guys and gals that’ll merge into a team or lead a team successfully and with humility - a key ingredient of leadership.
I don't know if it's the nature of the kids getting accepted into the schools or whether it's bred into them while they're there, but I've come to view a degree from an “elite” institution with a certain degree of consternation when considering new applicants right out of college.
I've told my college bound kids that university name on the diploma may help you land exactly one job - your first. After that, it's what kind of person and employee you are that will determine your success. I think they get it.
The Ivy league is supposed to produce the leadership of this country. Right now it looks like the Ivy League has failed miserably
I don’t think looking at politicians as the reason to say Ivy failed. There are some great business types out there from Ivy’s who are doing great. All politicians fail period of the school they go to. They all disappoint at some point or another.
And that opinion includes Lee Iococca, who many conservatives consider a hero. His use of government money to bail out Chrysler may have worked, but there is a direct line from the Chrysler bailout to the hubris required to think that Solyndra was a good idea.
No, the Ivy League has been living off a reputation for a long time, but the mascot should be Teddy Kennedy, another fine example of what an Ivy League education can do for you.
I am with you.
‘Elite’ institutes nowadays only churn out ‘elitists’.
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