Sophie Bauer
Ryerson Hall as seen from the quad.
It has been almost three months since the U.S. News & World Report published its annual ranking of American colleges. Due to changes in the evaluation criteria, the University of Chicago dropped six spots in the ranking, moving from No. 6 to No. 12. Both in person and online, UChicago’s fall out of the top 10 generated a wide range of reactions.
For some recently admitted students, UChicago’s continued presence in the upper tiers of college rankings played a large role in which college they decided to attend. “I chose UChicago over Johns Hopkins because it was ranked higher,” first-year Matthew Castillo said.
“I based my college decision solely on rankings. If UChicago’s ranking drops more next year, I will drop out,” first-year Yero Diamanka joked.
Yet for many other recent admits, college rankings held little sway over their decision-making process. “[UChicago’s ranking] actually had very little to do with my choice… My college process was much more emotionally and fit-driven,” first-year Gabrielle Morin said. First-year Julius Dorsey said that rankings weren’t a consideration for him either. “[This was] actually the first time I’ve thought about [the rankings].”
For many students, rankings were just one of among many factors they considered when choosing schools. “30 percent of the reason why I applied was because it looked like Hogwarts,” Castillo joked.
“From the rankings I saw that UChicago was a great school, but it was not at all the main reason why I chose to come here.” first-year Evan Tecimer said.
Students frequently cited location, the Core Curriculum, and specific academic offerings as reasons for why they chose UChicago. “I have an interest in criminal justice, so the combination of critical race and ethnic studies and Law, Letters, and Society really appealed to me,” first-year Naja Aralynn said.
Some students were keen to point out the various nuances that a singular ranking fails to represent. For example, the U.S. News ranking is a lump sum of all of a college’s academic resources that does not account for differences between divisions and programs. “I looked more into the rankings and resources of my major, chemistry. Those numbers mattered a lot more to me,” Castillo said.
Some students also noted the substantial discrepancies between different ranking systems, indicating their skepticism toward the credibility of these rankings. “As an international student, I looked a lot at the QS World [University] Rankings, where UChicago sat at a very impressive No. 11. On the other hand, the Wall Street Journal ranked us 34th [in the United States]. The large degree of difference sort of invalidates the seriousness of these rankings for me,” first-year Gabriel Hui said.
However, college rankings may be a larger consideration for parents and family members. “For my parents, the main reason they let me come here rather than the state university, which I received a full scholarship to, was because it was the highest ranked school out of all the schools that I got into,” Castillo said. Aralynn echoed this sentiment. “[UChicago’s ranking] is a source of pride for my parents and [me],” Aralynn said.
However, that sentiment does not apply to all parents. “My parents did not care about UChicago’s rankings much. What they cared about most [was] me getting a good education and being happy,” Dorsey said.
The release of the U.S. News rankings also spawned a multitude of reactions on Sidechat, an anonymous social media platform that maintains school-specific forums only accessible to those with University-affiliated email addresses. Memes and commentary flooded the site in the wake of the release, showcasing a wide spectrum of opinions. Some lamented the decline and scrutinized the changes made to the evaluation metrics, while others trivialized the fuss: “me waking up to Sidechat exploding over a number.” One Sidechat user quipped that “if we cared about the environment as much as the Wall Street Journal rankings…we would have the cleanest planet ever.”
Several students emphasized that the change in rankings did not alter their perception of UChicago. “Rankings are not something that define[s] what I think of UChicago. UChicago is nevertheless a very good institution,” Dorsey said. “[No one] should let prestige consume [them] to that point.”
“The top 10 to 20 schools are all generally the same in terms of quality. At a certain point, what you gain from your education depends on what you make out of your time here,” second-year Joy Kong said.