US News and World Report: Applying to college is a journey that involves finding the right school, submitting applications, and then, if you’re lucky, choosing among the acceptance letters and financial aid awards to find that place you’ll call home for the next few years.
18 comments:
I do not know how to respond to this. CMU is a great school, I know that, but I'm not sure that is is a great idea to constantly rank schools. I know that it is neccesary, students want to go to a school with a good reputation. We want to feel secure in the choices we've made regarding our education. But the lists and the praise and the constant competition is not good for students in high school and the problem continues in college and after college. It is stressful.
It is stressful to get into college, it is stressful to stay in college and to live up to the standards and expectations that s big college name practically requires. Even after the eduction plane lands, we still go back to our college life when we enter the working world and for any amount of time after that. I met a guy in Spain, about to enter into his first year at a university. After asking him which school he was going to, he briefly stated that he didn't know and that his parents just picked a random place. I returned home for my senior year in high school where my college career was micromanaged by every single possible person in my life. There we people jumping on statistics, there were other students that grew downright obnoxious. It was the worst experience I have ever had. So, when I see something like this, there is definitely a bad taste in my mouth, because I shouldn't be that stressed at the age of 18 and I definitely should not have been stressed at the age of 13 when the ridiculousness started. I am not the only one who was and I'm lucky to have handled it because there were a lot of others that couldn't.
I disagree with the first commenter about this article. While the search for college can be stressful, you need to be secure enough with your decisions to be able to pick the college that is going to be right for you. If you pick a college just because it's the "best" you could end up somewhere that doesn't have what you're looking for. It's a lengthy and difficult process, but in the end you need to be happy where you end up. As someone who has gone through the process twice, once for undergrad and once for graduate school, I understand how stressful the college search can be. I listened to the advice that everyone was giving out, took what I liked, and left what I didn't. If you let someone else make a decision about your life, you never know if you're going to be happy.
While the search for the perfect college can be stressful, if a student can't handle it, then maybe that student isn't ready to go to college. There's nothing wrong with taking time off before college or going to a community school for a few semesters in order to figure things out and attack the college situation with the right frame of mind in order to remain calm and collected. When you're that stressed out about a decision, you're more likely to make a snap decision or a decision to appease other people rather than to make the right decision for you for the right reasons.
YAHOO!! We are 3rd! I did see some flaws with this survey and also just ranking schools like this in general. Firstly, the survey was done by the Carnegie Foundation. While CMU and the Carnegie Foundation may just share the same name they are probably founded on the same principles of what is good in teaching and educating. I also agree with the other comments, it is sometimes productive to rank colleges like this. I also think that it really doesn't give you a very good idea of what the school is like for most students. Because for instant take CMU, a student in Tepper is going to have a very different experience then CIT. The school is so major specific that there is only a handful of things that are true on a school wide level. Also schools like UC Berkley or UCLA are completely about how motivated you are to reach out and find friends because if you are bad at that you will just get lost in the shuffle. It is hard to say what is the best school because some people determine that "best" means most people that get degrees after they graduate and others determine it by how much you learn and others still would determine it by the school culture and climate. I have friends that went to school for all of these different reasons and while you can describe the school culture and achievements of it's students it is hard to say if that makes it better than others.
I remember my sophomore year of high school, my mother bought me one of those giant college books that list a whole bunch of colleges and rank them. It was most likely made by the people who made this ranking list. I flipped through it a few times. It was so overwhelming to see these thousands of colleges and universities. And, of course, I never saw a nice sorting method based on technical theatre degrees. I remember looking at the past versions of this exact list as well. But, really, none of these helped me make my college application decisions. I did a lot of my own research, often google searching the exact major and the word college or university, hoping that I would find as many programs as I could. I talked to people who were a few years older than I, and my friends' older siblings. These lists are nice to see some names. To have that one college on your list that you aspire to attend. For me.... I happened to see Carnegie Mellon on those lists.
There is an entire industry based around higher education (undergrad and grad school). This industry includes not only the colleges them self's, also the college board (who run the act, sat, ap test, ect.), college councilors, classes that teach high school teachers how to teach to ap and ib tests, and of course those companies that publish list of school like this one. This industry unfortunately does not always have the students education as the highest priority. Like almost all industry, these groups are working to gain reputation and money.
Let's take a school like Harvard that is known for it's exclusivity and "good" reputation. If Harvard wanted to provide a top notch education to as many young people as they could, they would do it. Harvard has plenty of money to give out to students who can't pay the full price, and they have a long list of students willing to pay the full price for the chance to go to Harvard. More students would not negativity effect education. More class rooms can be built and more teachers hindered. So if Harvard (and most other schools like it) don't want to provide young people with good educations what do that want? These schools what the reputation of being exclusive and better then other schools around them. These schools want all the money they can get so that they can hire the most renowned people to teach and thus make the school look better.
This example shows us a truth that is found though out the industry surrounding higher education, that everyone wants to look better then everyone else. This list was made as part of that system. If we as individuals put any sort of meaning behind this sort of list then we can only expect this system of pushing kids to look impressive to make schools look better to continue.
When I first starting applying to colleges, I was obsessed with lists like these. I had a real addiction to websites like College Confidential and researching the prestige of the colleges in which I was applying to. In the end, I didn't make my decision based on what other people told me. College is a serious (and seriously expensive) choice. It is the first big decision that a young person has to make on their own. While lists like these can help (and certainly make someone feel proud if their school makes the list,) they are misguiding. A student should make their college decision based on what feels right for them. And if no school feels "right," then maybe they aren't ready for college, or they should just pick the school that has a broad range of strong programs in what interests them. It doesn't matter if someone goes to Harvard or to a community college. As long as a student puts in hard work and pushes themselves to grow, they will get out of college what they put into it. While the reputation of your college can help in the long run, it doesn't matter at all if you aren't willing to stay dedicated to learning and growing as a person.
I must say...I am not surprised by the fact that Carnegie Mellon University is among the Top 25 Universities in the country. I have never been somewhere that is populated with SO many intelligent and talented people. Not only is this school full of the most intelligent people...it is filled with some of the most talented students in the country as well. Take a look at where CMU Drama Alum have gone.
I never looked at lists like these before college. I knew I wanted to go to a school with an amazing design program, but I never knew I would be going to a school that has one of the most amazing programs and is one of the top 25 schools in the country. I am so honored to be here and I am amazed by the statistics we were given during CMU's Opening Address. 1,400 students who were the top of their class (No. 1) were denied at CMU. Woah.
It's always nice to read that you are going to one of the top schools in the nation. As I, like many others, searched for their perfect school, I aspired to come here but knew it was a long shot. I was thrilled when I was accepted but knew it would be challenging. When I was in NY a few months ago, I was able to speak with several crew members and actors on several shows. They all said that they take care of Carnegie Mellon people which definitely makes you feel good about going here. I will never forget how fortunate I am to attend CMU. I have never worked so hard in my life, but I wouldn't change a thing!!
I agree with what others have said about how these lists shouldn't affect someone's college decision (even if it is nice to know CMU is up there!). The problem with these lists is that they take into account so many different factors that it's impossible to know what they're really based on, unless you feel like analyzing lots of small text in huge charts. So the fact that Georgetown is #21 and CMU is #23 (the two colleges I went to) means nothing, really. It all depends on what you want to study and what you want to focus on. CMU is absolutely better than Georgetown and most other schools on this list in Drama, but Georgetown is better than Yale in IR... it's all relative and so really, these rankings kind of mean nothing. What's the most important is to find a school based on what you want: size, city, major, or whatever else is important to you. The schools on this list are so drastically different that it's kind of laughable to even try to compare them in a way that makes sense.
When I was 4 we moved to Pittsburgh so my father could work at CMU. And from then on he told that I was going to grow up and go to CMU, although he always thought it would be for Computer Science. CMU has an amazing program for almost every major it offers and I am proud to be attending such a school. When I applied to colleges I never really considered any alternative I applied to a couple others as safeties but I never had any intention of going to a different school, especially after I found out that on top of the CS program my father is so fond of, the Drama Conservatory is one the best you can attend. I love this school and could not imagine myself anywhere else.
I am a very competitive person, so I like to see that CMU is on this list, but I also feel that the ranking system is a little jaded. A student is not gauranteed automatic success by attending a school in the top 25. Are more doors opened to them because of the college they choose? Maybe. but I wouldn't put a ton of stock into that. It takes more than a resume credit to find success.
I am unsure why anyone would feel stress because of these school rankings. Maybe as a High school student, but now that you are in college...relax you made it, now go study!
I think college rankings are one of the most ridiculous things in the world of education, next to the College Board and standardized testing. It is obvious that some universities are better than others in terms of prestige, quality of programs, and overall educational value. I don't disagree with that. What I do disagree with is ranking within the top tier of universities. We all know that Harvard, Yale, MIT, CMU, Brown, etc. are all amazing institutions of higher education. The fact that a simple list can define which one is "better" than the other is quite simply absurd in my mind. Even more absurd is the fact that these rankings of the top schools change from year to year. Also, these rankings are extremely general, and really say nothing about the quality of the individual programs within the schools. These rankings really should be the last thing a student applying to college looks at when deciding where he or she will attend.
CMU is a great school and I am so happy that I go here. Even though CMU is wonderful it will never get higher on the list because it does not have a medical program or a law school. Ranking school I feel is very subjective and often changes depending on who is doing the ranking. I agree that applying for college is a stressful time. It is hard to try and figure out where you will fit in and where will help you the most in the future. I feel that these sorts of rankings can only make seniors decision more stressful. I feel that there will be many students who choose their college by where it is placed on the list and not how best it will fit them
Although the long process of choosing a college is long over, it's still re-assuring to know that Carnegie Mellon University is highly ranked among the nation's universities. I don't agree with the statement that staying in college is stressful specifically because our college is highly ranked. On the contrary, this serves as a fantastic reminder (when I get overwhelmed with work) that we are all blessed to be able to have the education we gain here at CMU.
This article makes me feel great that I am going to one of the best schools in the nation. I am glad that the time that I spent at CMU will have a lot of weight behind it with its strong reputation. It would be very interesting to see next to the list the average cost of school and then compare which one is the best value vs. reputation. I hope to see CMU at the top of the list. I know that a lot of students can’t afford to go to school at CMU even thought they would grow like no other. But the money is not there so they go to a state school instead and try to make it big that way. I have heard that when you go to CMU you are buying in the Mafia and they will help you like no other to keep you in work.
For a quarter of a million dollars, CMU better be on that damn list.
It's awesome that we're still on the 2013 list! During the college application process I must admit that I did look at lists like these, but they didn't help me much at all during my process. I wanted to apply to the school that was right for me. Yes CMU turned out to be for me, but I also looked at a number of other colleges that were on this list, and some that were off of it. Lists are meaningless, they're simply statistics. It doesn't matter if you get into the best university in the country if you'd be miserable there--or if their theatre program there wasn't the best. You should go where is right for you, in the program that is right for you. For all of us commenters, it was CMU. And yes at the end of the day it is pretty uplifting to know that you were chosen to go to one of the best universities around.
I love the fact i am able to go to one 25 top national universities although i do agree that it is extremely difficult able make this distinction, i mean its pretty much all subjective unless they're going off specific statistics, but in that case the title of the survey would be or should be completely different BUT ITS STILL AWESOME
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