Our First-Ever High School Counselors Survey
Reader Comments
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Bob Morse responds
We are all ready studying? Do you mean already studying? Or are all of you ready to study? Disappointing use of the English language.
what questions are being asked
Is there a link to the survey or a way to see what questions counselors are being asked? Thanks!
Why Were Only Universities Included?
I am one of the school counselors who received your survey. I noticed that you only asked for our comments on UNIVERSITIES. Liberal arts colleges were not included at all. I found it rather strange that you ignored a large slice of higher education in your counselor rankings.
Bob Morse responds: another 800 H.S. counselors nationwide received a separate survey from U.S. News that asked them to rate the liberal arts colleges. Thanks for the question.
Thoughts on the rankings
I think the rankings do provide some key information on admissions generally, particularly the change in ranking for the University of Texas - which had to adjust it's admissions policy due to a state mandate.
I also found some interesting data on college admissions and early decision applications at this blog I found: http://miroadvantage.com/blog/
There's some commentary there on the college rankings.
counselors judging colleges
The 1600 counselors you're using leave out a vast majority of private catholic high schools that graduate 95% and send 90% to college. They represent the real middle america. After educating 6 children thru all types of graduate/law schools, I conclude that each childs visit and feel about a school is the most important factor. Private school guidance counselors dealing with fewer graduates than the 500 or 600 from most large public schools, do a much better job
Bob Morse responds: You are right that we aren't surveying counselors from privates. Private school counselors do have smaller numbers to deal with and have considerable knowledge and experience. This is our first year doing this. The 1600 counselors from top public High schools will be supplemented next year with both counselors from private schools and private counselors.
counselor survey
I have counseled students in the college search process for about 25 years. I find the recent emphasis on quantitative evaluations to be detrimental to the process. It gives students and parents a false idea- that there is an objective "best" school and if they can only find it and get into it ,all will be well. The wealth of resources and schools available to students can never be contained in a list and they may find many schools in which to thrive and grow. In many ways the exploration process is more important than the final product.
Bob Morse responds: U.S. News has always said that the rankings should only be used as one tool in the college search process. If students or parents use the rankings as the sole basis/factor to choose a school over another, that would be the 100% wrong use of the rankings.
Consumer Feedback
I would be interested in finding out how various consumers: h.s. counselor, independent consultants, and particuclarly students and parents, use the Rankings, and to what extent they influence the application process. In other words, how relevant are the Rankings, and what is their practical impact on the public?
Bob Morse responds: This is a very big question. One that can not be answered in the comments section of this blog. However, there has been alot of research done on the Best Colleges rankings. One place to look is on this site about the UCLA Freshman survey showing the usnews rankings have much much less impact than many in higher education constantly say: http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri/cirpoverview.php. There are many other posts on this blog that discuss this question, too.
College Admissions
I would be more interested in learning what the college admissions officers think about the high schools. Do students from particular high schools stand a better chance with certain colleges? Do the high school guidance counselors have any advice for working with the colleges to get students from their high schoool admitted?
Bob Morse responds: Thanks for your comments. Those are important questions that need to br answered. Many counselors are able to answer these questions from their experience in the field.
how to utilize this information
Is it fair to say there is no significant purpose or goal to this exercise other than selling magazines?
Bob Morse responds: It's completely unfair to say that. Our goal, which has been proven by the public's very positive response to what we have published for over 20 years, is to provide information to prospective parents and students on the relative merits of schools which is not available to them from other sources.
