Northwestern dropped out of the top 10 national universities in the 2004 edition of U.S. News and World Reports’ America’s Best Colleges guide, reversing NU’s three-year climb, and fell from No. 1 to No. 17 for best academic experience for undergraduates in The Princeton Review’s annual college ranking.
But the decline isn’t a major concern for potential applicants or the admissions department, said Carol Lunkenheimer, NU’s dean of undergraduate admissions.
“This doesn’t have any particular meaning at all,” she said, adding that freshmen survey results show NU students care most about a university’s academic reputation and not its ranking.
NU was ranked No. 10 in U.S. News’ 2003 edition and fell to No. 11 this year. NU shares the No. 11 spot with Columbia University.
Richard Folkers, director of media relations for U.S. News, said a school’s rank may be affected by small methodological changes in scoring each year, which the magazine does “to make our ranking fairer and more accurate.”
But NU’s demoted status doesn’t come without explanation. For the first time, Harvard University and Princeton University share the best overall ranking, bumping other schools down a spot. And NU’s overall score this year was 86 — the same as its 2003 score, Folkers said.
Having two No. 1 schools moved all of the top schools down in rank, Lunkenheimer said. In 2001 Northwestern rose one spot to No. 13 and jumped again in 2002 to No. 12.
U.S. News bases its annual ranking on 15 weighted factors. The most heavily weighted is an assessment of each school’s academic excellence by university presidents, provosts and deans of admission. Other factors include freshman retention rates, selectivity based on class rank and SAT scores, graduation rates and alumni giving.
U.S. News rankings do not focus on evaluating students’ happiness at a college, instead focusing on strictly academic factors to present an unbiased view, Folkers said.
The Princeton Review, however, does take into account students’ views. It ranks schools based on a 70-question student survey of about 300 students from each school. The rankings are compiled in an annual book called “The Best 351 Colleges.”
Although NU slid to No. 17 on the list of schools offering the best academic experience for undergraduates, it grabbed the No. 2 spot for great college newspaper and No. 6 for great college theater. It is also ranked No.17 as the toughest college to get into.
Despite NU’s lower rank in U.S. News and The Princeton Review this year, Folkers and Lunkenheimer agreed that rankings aren’t everything.
“U.S. News believes the ranking should be a tool for students and families trying to make an important — and expensive — life decision,” Folkers said. “We hope they will read across the lines and focus on finding the school that’s the best fit for them.”
Some NU freshmen said a school’s specific strengths can be just as important as the overall ranking.
“I also looked to see how NU ranked with my major,” said Luke Liang, a McCormick freshman.
But to Weinberg freshman Jason Wagner, Northwestern’s rankings don’t matter at all.
“Even if it was ranked 45, it wouldn’t matter,” Wagner said. “The people here are better than Harvard.”
