College Rankings Reports Don’t Factor in Students’ Decisions
Harvard, Amherst and Pomona ranked high on the 2024 list of best colleges.
(Harvard University | Getty Images)
Chicago — College students no longer care about the annual top colleges ranking lists.
US News’ 2024 college rankings were released earlier this month with many prestigious and private universities ranking lower while several public universities shot up the list as a result of how the publication changed the way it calculates rank. But as students got a glimpse of the changes, they took to TikTok to showcase their apathy for the ranking, according to an Insider report.
"Idc about college rankings, go where u want," posted TikToker @crstlmth.
One popular reaction video was by a student from American University, which dropped 33 places.
"Everyone is freaking out over the us news college rankings meanwhile i am laughing," user @misguidedghvsts wrote in on-screen text in the video. "I didn't know about the ranking when we were in the top 100 and i am having the time of my life here."
She ended the text bubble asking why people are "choosing colleges based on rankings."
Many of the commenters agreed.
"It doesn't really matter where you go, it's what you do when you're there," one person wrote. "If you put in the effort at a state school, you can go just as far as an ivy."
Noah Johnson (he/him/his) is a Chicago-based journalist. Follow him on Twitter: @noahwritestoo.
Edited by NaTyshca Pickett