# How prestigious is the US News college rankings? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 9, 2019, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-prestigious-is-the-us-news-college-rankings/839940 "2019-09-09T17:36:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-prestigious-is-the-us-news-college-rankings/839940/21 "2019-09-10T20:02:40Z")
Most of the schools near the top are interchangeable. However, as someone who went to a small liberal arts college that nobody has ever heard of, I still check every year that we remain the #1 college in the hopes that someday I’ll mention where I went and not have somebody ask “Is that a girls’ school?” (not that there is anything wrong with girls’ schools although there are fewer and fewer remaining). Also it doesn’t hurt that our arch rival since 1821 is consistently ranked #2 which gives us bragging rights, and lets the cheerleaders continue to chant “US NEWS! US NEWS!” whenever we play them. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-prestigious-is-the-us-news-college-rankings/839940/22 "2019-09-10T20:34:45Z")
The USNWR law school rankings are pretty much the gold standard, but lots of commentators (notably [Above the Law](https://abovethelaw.com/tag/u-s-news-law-school-rankings/)) point out that the rankings are useless and a lot of the non-T14 schools try and game them. > [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Student parking? It won’t be on any major ranking because nobody fucking cares. Sure, students care when they’re attending, but nobody picks a school because it has ample parking. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-prestigious-is-the-us-news-college-rankings/839940/23 "2019-09-10T21:08:13Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > Most of the schools near the top are interchangeable. However, as someone who went to a small liberal arts college that nobody has ever heard of, I still check every year that we remain the #1 college in the hopes that someday I’ll mention where I went and not have somebody ask “Is that a girls’ school?” (not that there is anything wrong with girls’ schools although there are fewer and fewer remaining). Also it doesn’t hurt that our arch rival since 1821 is consistently ranked #2 which gives us bragging rights, and lets the cheerleaders continue to chant “US NEWS! US NEWS!” whenever we play them. Well, at least they’re not chanting “Anassa kata, kalo kale.” ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-prestigious-is-the-us-news-college-rankings/839940/24 "2019-09-10T22:02:30Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Well just how “bad” can a school get? I mean if students graduate and then find out nobody will hire them, well word gets around fast. What companies come and recruit there? There are plenty of schools that have awful reputations and yet they still manage to ensnare unsuspecting students. Because word of mouth doesn’t travel everywhere. Word of mouth doesn’t stand a chance against glossy advertising. And word of mouth can easily be ignored. Like, maybe your cousin warns you about a school based on her negative experiences there, but you decide to take your cousin’s account with a grain of salt because she’s a snob while you aren’t. A lot of students are still being taught that it doesn’t matter where or what they study as long as they earn a degree. As long as enough people believe this, you will find people enrolling at bad schools. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-prestigious-is-the-us-news-college-rankings/839940/25 "2019-09-11T17:17:50Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > There are plenty of schools that have awful reputations and yet they still manage to ensnare unsuspecting students. I’ve talked to a lot of people who went to crappy schools. Esp. private ones when a mile away is a much better state school with lower tuition, or worse, for-profit ones. A _lot_ of less-than-logical answers. People all too often make key life decisions based on the oddest factors. E.g., the kid of friends of ours went to the state school farthest from from home while still being in-state for money reasons. Bypassing a bunch of better places not as far away. And that’s far from the worst example. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-prestigious-is-the-us-news-college-rankings/839940/26 "2019-09-11T17:42:21Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > The USNWR law school rankings are pretty much the gold standard, but lots of commentators (notably [Above the Law](https://abovethelaw.com/tag/u-s-news-law-school-rankings/)) point out that the rankings are useless and a lot of the non-T14 schools try and game them. > > It won’t be on any major ranking because nobody fucking cares. Sure, students care when they’re attending, but nobody picks a school because it has ample parking. It’s all very recursive for law schools. You rank higher if you have a higher reputation. You also rank higher if you get more applicants. And, of course, you have a higher reputation and get more applicants if you rank higher. Round and round. Meanwhile, because law school hiring is so insanely competitive, everyone gets taught by professors from the same five law schools. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2019, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-prestigious-is-the-us-news-college-rankings/839940/27 "2019-09-13T00:43:26Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Well just how “bad” can a school get? I mean if students graduate and then find out nobody will hire them, well word gets around fast. What companies come and recruit there? > For example in auto mechanics I simply emailed various shops in the area to ask where they hired from. Yes some were more recommended than others. I suppose it’s the difference between working for a local auto mechanic and working for Tesla. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2019, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-prestigious-is-the-us-news-college-rankings/839940/28 "2019-09-14T14:46:42Z")
I’ve worked for four different universities. They take the rankings very seriously, and do their best to game the system. The thought is that prospective students use them to decide where to apply. I don’t know if that is true or not, but it is definitely the perception among university administrators. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2019, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-prestigious-is-the-us-news-college-rankings/839940/29 "2019-09-14T14:58:54Z")
**Tim,** agreed. This includes, in some cases, firing different classes of employees in order to adjust the ratios of, say, research to teaching faculty, then using grad students to teach classes that are really out of their expertise. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-prestigious-is-the-us-news-college-rankings/839940.md?page=1)