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Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
Comment
Colin Diver

Commentary: The tyranny of college rankings — and why we need to leave them behind

US News UCLA USC

For all those disappointed college applicants whose hopes were pinned on getting into a school highly ranked by U.S. News & World Report or some similar publication, take heart.

This is your chance to be liberated from the tyranny of college rankings.

“Tyranny” is not too strong a word. The people who publish college rankings wrap their products in a seductive veneer of professional expertise and statistical rigor. They express their evaluations in eye-catching numbers, presented in descending order (from 1 to 391, in the case of the U.S. News “national universities” list).

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