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Don't be drawn into the hype. It's purposely misleading.
2025 Admission Season in Review, Part 9.
Choosing colleges based on their prestige value, or rankings, is at the forefront of many people's minds. It's a mistake. Let's see why.
Prestige - the root definition of prestige is praestigiae, which means "conjuring tricks" or "creating an illusion."
From praestigiae, "praesto" or "presto" is derived, meaning "suddenly as if by magic."
Colleges purposefully create prestige as a marketing strategy to allure people into falsely believing that there is some level of magic involved in the process.
Many parents believe that a prestigious college diploma ensures their child's lifetime success. For that, they are willing to pay a premium price.
It's a natural part of the college business model. And they are masters in conducting their business.
Creating an illusion of grandeur, charging a premium for it, and then having people line up to buy it is like a magic act, but college success is not a magic trick.
A common complaint among parents of children attending so-called elite colleges is, "Why aren't they doing more to help them?"
The answer is simple: those colleges don't have to. They will fill next year's class with full-tuition-paying students due to the perceived value of its certificate.
Regardless of the college's prestige, students must develop their substance, credibility, personal growth, experience, intelligence, knowledge, and value to achieve their desired outcomes. Students don't have to attend prestigious colleges and pay a premium price to achieve their desired outcomes.
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Rankings aim to assess academic quality. I'll review the criteria. You can judge if it accurately assesses academic quality.
Here are the 2025 weighted factors. Afterward, I will be sure to share the missing components.
22% - The six-year graduation and freshman dropout rates; who budgets for six years? Not me!
20% - A Peer Review of university administrators; what relevance is a peer review to the academic quality of a university?
20% - Faculty compensation, their degrees, and the school's student-faculty ratio; might that favor higher-cost schools?
15% - SAT/ACT scores and the proportion of freshman students in the top 10% and 25% of their high school class; this demonstrates the importance of SAT and ACT scores.
10% - Financial standing of the colleges; if they don't allocate a portion of their endowment funds to improve education and reduce tuition costs, it doesn't apply... and they don't.
13% - Other lesser factors make up the balance.
The following factors are disregarded in the rankings.
- GPA of incoming freshmen
- Four-year graduation rate
- Job placement rate of graduates
- Average pay of first-year jobs
- Research opportunities
- Study abroad opportunities
- Internship opportunities
- Student assistance programs
What's missing is considerably more relevant to assessing the value and quality of a college than what's included.
I'm unsure what the rankings are evaluating. Yet, many families allow rankings to drive their decisions. Colleges are aware of this and can effectively manipulate their ranking.
I know which are the better schools, and which ones could be the best fit for your child. Their experience is considered, not rankings.
One of my roles is to turn the imaginary belief of college into a real sense of intention, driven by purpose and meaning; to understand the reality of its-
- Educational Opportunity
- Anticipated Experience
- Desired Outcome
- True Value
- Right Fit
I work to help families replace their belief in hype with a clear perspective on reality and reasonable expectations. If you'd like to learn more, let's chat.
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