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Charlie
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2004 3:45 am
Post subject: College Rankings Changing University Policy |
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I would like to know if anyone knows of any articles about how US News
College Rankings have changed the way Colleges and Universities shape
their policies. Does anyone have an opinion on the subject? |
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Dodge Johnson
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2004 6:55 pm
Post subject: Re: College Rankings Changing University Policy - you bet! |
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| Quote: | I would like to know if anyone knows of any articles about how US News
College Rankings have changed the way Colleges and Universities shape
their policies. Does anyone have an opinion on the subject?
|
Absolutely.
The US News College Rankings is engine that powered the change in
admissions from a "gatekeeper" mode before the mid-seventies to the
"marketing and recruitment" mode that dominates today.
Before then, the notion of ranking or marketing colleges would have
seemed as wacky - and repugnant - as, say, ranking or marketing
churches.
What the rankings did:
They placed every college in the nation in an exact relationship,
mathematically expressed, to every other - comparable, computerizable,
and opening the way for business-style thinking to reshape colleges'
thinking about admissions.
They reshaped families' thinking - to worry more about colleges' order
in the rankings (a new thing) and less about students' own real needs
and desires in an education - to think of "college" as a commodity
instead of an experience.
The consequences for applicants:
While families still believe that acceptance to a college is a reward
for good work and for demonstrating promise, in fact acceptance conforms
to the needs of that college as driven by their marketing plan.
Among the needs of colleges are promising students, so to an extent
these goals are in sync - enough so that the myth persists that college
admissions is driven by merit. But in fact, merit is less of a driving
force than in the old "gatekeeper" days.
Two current examples - both strategies to increase yield on admission
offers:
At many colleges high in the rankings (and wannabes), Early Decision and
"demonstrated interest" are now important factors in deciding who get
the nod.
ED applicants are often admitted at a higher rate than "regular"
applicants - even though some may not be as "good" as as some in the
regular decision pool.
Many "good" students are rejected in favor of others because they did
not "demonstrate interest" beyond submitting a careful application -
unaware that the college is tracking contacts and betting that those who
show the most "demonstrated interest" are the most likely to accept an
offer.
Dodge
Dodge Johnson
College Planning |
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rick++
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2004 10:35 pm
Post subject: Re: College Rankings Changing University Policy - you bet! |
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I agree.
An interesting observation is the moaning that occurs in the top-ten
institutions. (I attended three of them so read their literature now and then.)
They split hairs if their rankings change one notch. Or they say "we above
this and dont care". But they really do. You'd think the top couple dozen
would have no worries and all the applicants they could handle. |
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Sally
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2004 4:36 am
Post subject: Re: College Rankings Changing University Policy - you bet! |
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Dodge Johnson <dodge.johnson@comcast.net> wrote in message news:<dodge.johnson-750D38.06555128012004@comcast.ash.giganews.com>...
| Quote: | I would like to know if anyone knows of any articles about how US News
College Rankings have changed the way Colleges and Universities shape
their policies. Does anyone have an opinion on the subject?
Absolutely.
The US News College Rankings is engine that powered the change in
admissions from a "gatekeeper" mode before the mid-seventies to the
"marketing and recruitment" mode that dominates today.
Dodge
Dodge Johnson
College Planning
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I read that the marketing started when there was a dip in the
population of college-aged kids.
Sal |
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David Ames
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2004 8:23 pm
Post subject: Re: College Rankings Changing University Policy - you bet! |
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sunsol@prodigy.net (Sally) wrote in message news:<2398fe97.0401281336.1ceaf903@posting.google.com>...
| Quote: | Dodge Johnson <dodge.johnson@comcast.net> wrote in message news:<dodge.johnson-750D38.06555128012004@comcast.ash.giganews.com>...
I would like to know if anyone knows of any articles about how US News
College Rankings have changed the way Colleges and Universities shape
their policies. Does anyone have an opinion on the subject?
Absolutely.
The US News College Rankings is engine that powered the change in
admissions from a "gatekeeper" mode before the mid-seventies to the
"marketing and recruitment" mode that dominates today.
Dodge
Dodge Johnson
College Planning
I read that the marketing started when there was a dip in the
population of college-aged kids.
Sal
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Perhaps the marketing started in the era of the Vietnam War, when a
student status could get you deferred, and colleges learned they had
the power to "certify" that a student was trained in some vocational
field.
David Ames |
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Dodge Johnson
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2004 7:24 pm
Post subject: Re: College Rankings Changing University Policy - you bet! |
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No, actually I think the push came from a smart admissions guy named
Dick Moll who saw marketing as a way to advance the college he was
working at - I can't remember where it was, but it was before he went to
Bowdoin. He later wrote "Playing the Selective College Admissions Game."
It's always interested me than when the rankings first came out,
admissions people all agreed how worthless they were - yet, because the
rankings were obviously steering people toward their colleges, they felt
they had no choice but to crow about them in their literature. And they
would talk embarrassedly about this disconnect at professional meetings.
As marketing took hold, a lot of admissions people decided they would
rather take early retirement than deal with the new trends. The idea of
treating colleges as commodities, like washing machines in Consumer
Reports was more than they could stomach.
Dodge
Dodge Johnson
College Planning
In article <f79f061c.0401290523.2c70b9c1@posting.google.com>,
worldrecord@juno.com (David Ames) wrote:
| Quote: | sunsol@prodigy.net (Sally) wrote in message
news:<2398fe97.0401281336.1ceaf903@posting.google.com>...
Dodge Johnson <dodge.johnson@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:<dodge.johnson-750D38.06555128012004@comcast.ash.giganews.com>...
I would like to know if anyone knows of any articles about how US News
College Rankings have changed the way Colleges and Universities shape
their policies. Does anyone have an opinion on the subject?
Absolutely.
The US News College Rankings is engine that powered the change in
admissions from a "gatekeeper" mode before the mid-seventies to the
"marketing and recruitment" mode that dominates today.
Dodge
Dodge Johnson
College Planning
I read that the marketing started when there was a dip in the
population of college-aged kids.
Sal
Perhaps the marketing started in the era of the Vietnam War, when a
student status could get you deferred, and colleges learned they had
the power to "certify" that a student was trained in some vocational
field.
David Ames |
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Shaun Webb
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2004 2:48 am
Post subject: Re: College Rankings Changing University Policy |
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On Sun, 25 Jan 2004 12:45:40 -0800, Charlie wrote:
| Quote: | I would like to know if anyone knows of any articles about how US News
College Rankings have changed the way Colleges and Universities shape
their policies. Does anyone have an opinion on the subject?
|
For the most extreme case I have ever read, see today's Vancouver Sun on
UBC's pandering to the Macleans rankings.
http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=80998409-487d-4f4e-b38b-c81870fd12f8
Shaun |
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Hank Murphy
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2004 5:40 am
Post subject: Re: College Rankings Changing University Policy - you bet! |
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Dodge Johnson wrote in message ...
<snip>
| Quote: | As marketing took hold, a lot of admissions people decided they would
rather take early retirement than deal with the new trends. The idea of
treating colleges as commodities, like washing machines in Consumer
Reports was more than they could stomach.
|
Please.
Consumer Reports treats the washing machines with a little more dignity,
don't you think?
Hank Murphy
speaking only for myself |
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Hank Murphy
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2004 5:41 am
Post subject: Re: College Rankings Changing University Policy - you bet! |
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rick++ wrote in message ...
| Quote: | I agree.
An interesting observation is the moaning that occurs in the top-ten
institutions. (I attended three of them so read their literature now and
then.)
They split hairs if their rankings change one notch. Or they say "we above
this and dont care". But they really do. You'd think the top couple dozen
would have no worries and all the applicants they could handle.
|
I think Cal Tech doesn't care that much as long as they are in the top ten.
OTOH, they *really*, *really* care about their ranking vs. MIT!
Hank Murphy
speaking only for myself |
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