The reputation rankings vs USNWR rankings

[tanhauser19]

One of the most popular topics on SDN is which schools are the "best." Applicants want to go to the best school, and that is why US News and World Report's (USNWR) rankings are so hotly discussed.

The problem is that USNWR tabulates its rankings based on criteria it chooses and weights, and these selections and weights are rather subjective. The USNWR uses:

40% - peer assessment (surveys are given to residency directors and peers, essentially)
30% - research (by NIH grant total and NIH per faculty)
20% - student selectivity
10% - faculty resources as measured by faculty-to-student ratio

The problem is that applicants are using USNWR rankings to assess which school is best for them to attend, even though the criteria do not necessarily match the quality of education a student receives at a given school. Nor does USNWR really tell you which school is best to ensure your success in matching to the residency of your choice.

Because I personally am deciding between a few schools, I thought about what matters to me, besides the intangibles like "student vibe," location, and cost. A big deciding factor for me is the extent to which the school is favored by residency directors and the deans and directors of admissions across the nation (i.e., "peers"). Of course, I also care about faculty resources and research, but to me these opportunities are pretty much available to students who seek it out.

I decided to average the residency and peer assessment ratings for the top-50 schools, with scores on a 1 to 5 scale, 5 being the most highly regarded. Then I ranked the average score to get a "pure prestige" ranking. Note that the rankings do not always match USNWR. Note I did not list the residency and peer rankings individually because they are exclusive-access data from USNWR, for which I have a subscription:

By subtracting the USNWR rankings from the prestige rankings, you can see which schools have the largest discrepancies between ranking systems. You could interpret that as most overrated and underrated. Note you could even argue my interpretation is actually reversed: That residency directors do not realize that the school does not deserve their reputation because, in reality, their research and faculty resources are less than they think.

Among top-25:

Among top-50:

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[dbeast]

 

[Espadaleader]

Prestige is garbage. SDN premeds need to stop with prestige. In medicine, every school in the top 30-40 has the same prestige. The top 20s have more research/more opportunities i.e. MBA, MPH etc. Stop prestige whoring.

 

[bakedbeans18]

You are aware that by objectifying subjective data, the outcome is still subjective, right?

According to your analysis, my medical school has a poor prestige rank among the top 50. In reality, I have found it to be well received by clinical faculty and physicians at other institutions/parts of the country when I tell them "I attend School (X)."

http://movie-sounds.org/parody-movi...-from-the-dictator-2012/aladeen-this-is-silly

 

[13132]

OP...I think what you did is interesting. As long as it isn't meant to be taken seriously its a fun exercise and I'm glad you posted it.

 

[tanhauser19]

Flame on, guys. What I am showing is that the USNWR rankings are just as arbitrarily defined as any other ranking, including the reputation one, and that different ranking schema produce different results. You should find the criteria that matter to you, and not stick to the USNWR dogmatically.

Nowhere in my post did I say "pick the highest school on the list you got into" or that "prestige should matter #1 for everyone." I encourage anyone to use a similar method to me to identify criteria that matter to you and rank according to that, and you can compare your rankings to the USNWR for curiosity's sake.

 

[darkjedi]

This reminds me of the type of stuff anastomosed/chronicidal used to do on his/her blog. I think people are focusing too much about the fact that this uses USNWR rankings to begin with, but miss the fact it's actually a critical analysis of it. I thought that this was actually a useful and interesting analysis, so good job OP.

 

[plumazul]

Good work OP.

SDN has inculcated in forumers an instantaneous negative reaction to anything related to USNWR rankings. Its like everybody wants to seem to noble and above such pointless comparisons. Lets be real...everyone likes rankings even if we don't think they should inform one's decisions. They are fun and you can admit they are fun and say they don't matter.

Rankings have their place, especially when you're number 1! GoSpursGo!!

 

[GoPelicans]

What is with BU's huge difference in USNews vs prestige rank?

edit: U Maryland too, but slightly more understandable since it's a public school.

 

[dyspareunia]

Usnews rankings matter because they affect how PDs view students.

 

[supermintyfresh]

I'm also going to echo what others said above. This was a well-thought out and made post that analyzes one aspect of USNWR rankings that obviously took some effort. Don't bash on it just because it contains the word "prestige" -- we're all above that

 

[Patros]

I think your table is pretty useful. Whether or not it has any truth, it is still a pretty important way to analyze the USNWR rankings, which is the most common way to compare schools. I always wondered how the reputation "pulls" the hard-data metrics, such as research funding and student selectivity. You know what would also be useful? A table or graph comparing the composite "hard data" (research funding + student quality + teacher-student ratio) vs. reputation.