Higher ed hype

When I am buying a car, I consult the ratings in Consumer Reports. I don't know much about cars, so I especially value their repair records. 

My car-obsessed friends scoff at the ratings I rely on. They don't believe the rating system reflects what they are looking for in a car, but I am a rank amateur, so I use whatever information is available to me.

When it comes to colleges, the situation is reversed. I think the rankings in U.S. News & World Report are distinctly unhelpful. It seems more like American Idol than a serious attempt to evaluate colleges.

Many years ago I found myself seated at lunch next to a man from U.S. News who was involved in ranking colleges. I asked him naively if he really thought he was rating colleges or was he simply selling magazines- He was deeply offended by my question and went off on a tear about how people are forever criticizing their ratings, but no one had any better system to offer.

How are people supposed to be able to evaluate colleges without independent ratings-

I can sympathize; I feel the same way when I buy a car or refrigerator, but colleges seem different to me. Dozens of highly regarded liberal arts colleges have now decided to refuse to supply U.S. News with the information needed to rank them. I wonder what took them so long.

The tail had come to wag the dog. Colleges were making important decisions based purely on how it would affect their rankings whether it made good educational sense or not, yet I know the American public may regard their non-cooperation as arrogance.  How are parents and students supposed to know which college to choose-

The first question to ask about any college is what is it good at, and whom is it good for- Almost all colleges are good for someone and good at something, but which ones match up with what you need- Mere prestige and magazine ratings till not tell you that.

What is the feel of the place- Eat in the dining area. Hang out. Ask students, who thrives at this school- Who tends to be unhappy and ends up transferring-

Will you as a student do best in a college where you are at the low end academically and may have to struggle to keep up- Do you need to be pushed, or would you do better at the top of the heap with all the special attention that would come your way- Do you want to be in the middle of the pack-

Would you do better with small classes, or would you be just fine in big classes- Don't depend on student-faculty ratio, a big deal with magazine ratings.

Ask actual students how many people are in their largest and smallest classes. Most schools, once you get into your major, have smaller classes; it is in the first couple of years that you end up in big classes at large universities.

If you are going to have to borrow money, ask what the average indebtedness of graduating seniors is. The national average is almost $20,000. Keep your debts as low as you can. You don't want all your decisions for the next two decades (house, baby, job) to be decided by how much money you owe.

Debt is serious, and current laws will not let you off the hook, even if you declare bankruptcy. Short of dying or fleeing the country never to return, you are stuck with this debt. You may need to add to it for graduate school. Be careful. 

Ask professors why they like teaching here. (They will never admit they don't, even if it is true.) Do they enjoy this place- Grumpy professors do not make the best teachers.
Are they judged mostly on teaching, on research, or on a combination- Professors at research universities are not getting paid to talk to you or hold your hand; they are getting paid to publish. How does that sit with you-

Just for fun, when you talk to professors and students, name another college or two that you might be considering and ask them what they think. It is tricky to evaluate their answers, but they may actually come up with valuable insights.

If U.S. News & World Report is really interested in providing a public service, why doesn't it do what Consumer Reports does and refuse to allow colleges to use their ratings in ads- Colleges are providing invaluable free advertising to the magazine.

I enjoy reading the rankings, but I take it no more seriously than I do best-dressed lists. It is not a good way to pick your college, and it has a pernicious influence on the way colleges make important decisions. 

Patricia Hunt is a Mary Baldwin College
chaplain and Staunton resident.