Top 3 Reasons NOT to Trust Rankings
Here's another important blog from Rick Clark at Georgia Tech. US News released their latest rankings this past Monday, but rankings aren't what they seem to be! So many other considerations for students as they develop their college lists.
Top 3 Reasons NOT to Trust Rankings
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Here is the final installment of the three-part series from Brennan Barnard and Forbes. This article discusses the data that should be made available to students and families as they research and decide to which colleges the student wants to apply. " In an age of information overload and creative “massaging” of data, it is incumbent upon colleges and universities to continue to seek approaches that better represent the value and experience of education on their campuses. Systematically we need to standardize the delivery of this information in equitable, logical, and comprehensible ways. Meanwhile, students and those who support them must look beyond facile averages that a basic web search will produce and demand better from the institutions of which day hope to be part. After all, “knowledge is power.”
Be A College Admission Data Scientist The second article in a three-part series about college admission from Brennan Barnard. This article discusses the wealth of data that's available to students, families, and colleges. It's important to know the source of the information and its credibility as you are doing your research. The US Department of Education College Scorecard is one site I use frequently, along with the Common Data Sets (CDS) from each college.
College Admissions: Who Knows What? From Forbes Brennan Barnard, education writer and college counselor, shares information about college rankings and information overload in the world of admissions. From Angel Perez, CEO of the National Association for College Admission Counseling: “We need to do a better job of centralizing college admission advice in just a few places where students can turn to for quality, trusted, information. Students are currently overwhelmed with information overload. It’s too much.”
This is the first of a three-part series. College Admission: Data, Transparency, and Match From one of my favorite college admission writers and Forbes magazine, a thoughtful article about choices and college decisions. So many important ideas here, including: "College can be transformative in many ways, but it is what you make it and the power of this experience, as he points out, is not about the one school you choose. It is more dependent on the approach you take once you are there and how you engage with the opportunities around you." Seniors, juniors and parents ...please take a few minutes to read this article.
The College Admission Paradox: Opportunity and Choice From CNN Health, an important article on how parents can help their kids through the college planning and admission process. So many tips here, including "What research has shown — but our ego and anxieties can obscure — is that the prestige of the college a student attends is not necessarily a direct indicator of their success in life." Focus on fit, rather than the college's name.
CNN Health A Top-Ranked College May Not Be Best for Your Kid As college decisions come in this month, I have to agree with writer Jeff Selingo that the college admissions process is in need of change. Please read this thoughtful article by someone who closely follows college admissions. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/03/change-college-acceptance-application-process/627581/?utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
Several organizations, including the National Association for College Admission Counseling, have asked US News to remove SAT and ACT as a criteria within their rankings. ""Using average scores of incoming students to rank an institution has never made sense, but is even more preposterous during a deadly pandemic."
Inside Higher Ed: Groups as US News to Exclude SAT and ACT I found this to be an interesting article for many reasons: Women in STEM, college majors and our "need" to have kids know what they want to do at age 17 or 18, finding a sense of belonging, and doing what is right for you, no matter what others say. From Medium.com.
You Only Got in Because You're a Woman First, we know that there is never one perfect college, but students still feel the sting of a rejection from ones that they think would be the best one for them. This article provides a perspective that, by attending a less selective school, students will still be surrounded by highly-academic students.
So You're Bummed Your Favorite College Said No.... An interesting article with many facts about admission at the University of California and California State University systems. Interesting to note that UCLA's acceptance rate will probably drop below 11%, down from 14% last year and San Diego State has placed 6,000 students on their waiting list.
In An Unusual Admissions Year... A very thoughtful article from Brennan Barnard and Forbes about the "fallacies and delusions" in college admissions that just need to die out. So many great points, but rankings have always been a hot button for me. From the article: "Stefanie Niles, vice president for enrollment and communications at Ohio Wesleyan University says that one of the biggest zombie ideas in college admission is that “rankings matter.” She counters, “they don't. Fit matters. A student's ability to take full advantage of the opportunities available to them on a campus is what matters, and one does that best when they feel challenged yet supported and encouraged.”
College Admission Zombies: Ideas That Need To Die Great news from the University of California Regents and UC Riverside. Money has been approved to build a new medical school building. This important step will allow UCR to increase the size of each medical school class to offer more opportunities for students as well as develop more doctors for underserved areas in California.
New Medical School Building Approved for UCR From the Wall Street Journal, more about the crazy state of college admissions this year, caused in part by colleges going "test-optional" since many students were not able to take the SAT or ACT. Waiving the SAT and ACT has resulted" in an unprecedented flood of applications and what may prove the most chaotic selection experiment in American higher education since the end of World War II."
College Admission Season Is Crazier Than Ever... From the New York Times, this article explores how five high school students managed to find volunteer activities during a time when most things are shut down.
NY Times: These 5 Teenager Managed to Volunteer This Year |
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