A couple of weeks ago when the sophomores and juniors at Bosque School took the PSAT, the freshmen left campus to engage in an all-day service learning project at a pueblo in north central New Mexico. With three out of the four grades in the upper school gone, the members of the Class of 2012 had the school house to themselves to work on their college applications, fine-tune their essays, and meet with their teachers and the college counselors. This annual event called Senior Application Day allows seniors to make significant progress on the various parts of their college applications.
On a morning when the atmosphere could have been extremely tense and competitive, our students helped each other and gave supportive advice and feedback. While there are few processes in secondary school that are as individualized as applying to college, the students at Bosque were aiding one another in a way that was beautiful to witness. The school felt like someone’s living room as students wrapped themselves in their blankets, sprawled on the floor, and typed away on their laptops while helping each other achieve whatever task they were taking on at the moment.
As I watched and admired them, I hoped that they would take to heart a recent essay by Dr. Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, former president of George Washington University. (Time for full disclosure - I am a proud alumnus of George Washington University from a year that is longer ago than I care to recall.) In this piece, which is linked below, Trachtenberg takes on the annual US News & World Report college rankings that purports to show which schools are best. While some colleges like Reed College in Oregon have refused to participate in the rankings since 1995, and even more colleges have decided to opt out of this rat race since 2007, there are still many prospective students, and consequently parents, who grab the annual issue of US News & World Report as soon as it comes out. In the process, they either make new choices or revise what they previously thought were good decisions based on what they read.
A Wikipedia article on the rankings points out that, “Some higher education experts, like Kevin Carey of Education Sector, have argued that U.S. News & World Report's college rankings system is merely a list of criteria that mirrors the superficial characteristics of elite colleges and universities. According to Carey, "The U.S. News’ ranking system is deeply flawed. Instead of focusing on the fundamental issues of how well colleges and universities educate their students and how well they prepare them to be successful after college, the magazine's rankings are almost entirely a function of three factors: fame, wealth, and exclusivity."
So how do we prevent our students and parents from buying into the hype and focus less on the “best” college and more on the college or university that is the best for them? People may know in their gut that there are hundreds of colleges and universities and they may intuitively understand that there is no one perfect school, but they still may find it difficult to avoid rear-window sticker envy. We need to say again and again that a school that is right for one student may be wrong for another, and this is not a reflection on either the student or the college.
As our students aid and encourage one another through the college application process, they realize with full assurance that there is no one “best” student in their class. If we can help them and their parents comprehend with the same level of surety that there is no one “best” college or university, we will help them to be even more successful and happy in their choices. Ultimately, we want all of our graduates to attend a college where they can do well in all areas and be happy. When they find themselves at such a college, they will know that they have found the “best” school.
Link to Trachtenberg article.
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/09/how-dangerous-are-college-rankings-and-the-rat-race-for-prestige/245850/?google_editors_picks=true
