Does the U.S. News ranking have anything to do with how credible a school is?

Question

For example, do jobs recruiters look at this kind of info....or do medical and dental schools look at this?

Answer 1

US News only ranks up to a certain point. While the rankings are flawed, they still represent a pretty accurate view of the general quality of the schools.

However, some schools have better individual departments than the general rep of the school as a whole. US News may not have a ranking for that dept, but that industry will know.

Job recruiters and grad schools look at the rankings. They don't use it as a hard line filter, but they do prefer people from "better" schools and the US News rankings generally reflect that. Part of that is because the top students do look at the rankings, so they want to apply and attend the ones at the top. Naturally, top schools then get top students which helps them maintain their top rankings. Many of these kids would likely be successful no matter what school they attended. Recruiters and admissions people know that it's just safer to take a kid from a top school if they need some sort of tie breaker.

Answer 2

The reputation of a school means little unless it's one of the very top ones. A degree from Harvard, Yale, or MIT will carry some weight; there will be little practical difference between any of the other state universities or private colleges.

One thing that job recruiters and grad schools might consider, instead of the overall reputation of the university, is the reputation of the department where you did your major. A BA in communication from West Virginia, for example, would carry a bit of weight for grad. school--their communication department has some top scholars.

To learn about the reputation of your potential department, try looking for rankings in academic journals in your area. Look for the universities where the journal editors work. Also consider phone calls to departments at other universities so that you can ask them for their candid opinion of the department you're looking at. Maybe find the national office of your discipline's professional association and ask them for guidance.

One other thing--universities that are known primarily for online degrees (U. of Phoenix, Western Governor's, etc.) are downgraded (perhaps unfairly) by potential employers, so if you're interested in reputation, steer clear of them.

Answer 3

Everyone knows that the rankings are flawed. However, there is a high correlation between the quality of the school and the rankings -- and graduate programs and some employers do care about the quality of your education.

Answer 4

they don't, except indirectly - though by indirectly i mean that they do know the rankings because the rankings usually accord with the school's general reputation.

this list is the most well known and most used list.