“Trying to rank institutions of higher education is a little like trying to rank religions or philosophies. The entire enterprise is flawed, not only in detail but also in conception.” Colin S. Diver.
- “Is There Life After Rankings?” by Colin Diver (President of Reed College). This excellent essay from the November 2005 issue of The Atlantic explains why Reed College refuses (rightly, in my review) to play the rankings game.
- “What College Rankings Really Tell Us” by Malcolm Gladwell (via The New Yorker). This February 2011 article explains how any system of rankings depends entirely on what weights we assign to what variables.
- “An Investigation of the Facts Behind Columbia’s U.S. News Ranking” by Michael Thaddeus (Professor of Mathematics). This recent exposé (March 2022) explains how Columbia University was able to manipulate the U.S. News rankings game.
prior probability 