re: Playboy list of party school's

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Am I the only one that thinks bragging about party rankings is stupid and maybe things like employment, average salary, etc are much cooler? Or did everyone else just miss that boat and partying is all that's left?

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It's a pretty dumb thing to brag about but tRant. The times we've been ranked #1 our Admin freaked out and did their best to change it and for good reason. Our goal is to become a top 25 public university. We're not there yet but a few depts are and the party rep weighs down the effort we've put into upping our game as an overall institution.

That said, I can say as an insider to academia that uni rankings are largely bunk (the best know how to work it so the raters are pleased and believe me there are many ways to manipulate admissions for a higher score) BUT those ranking matter a great deal to the public at large and that effects a lot of things, including job opportunities.

I've taught students from big public unis, private unis, and Ivy unis and can honestly say there's no difference in terms of raw smarts (Ivy and private uni students tend to have had more access to more classes in HS but the ratio of dumb assess, tweeners and really smart students is pretty even). Where the difference lies is in the connections you can make at an Ivy and some (though not all) private schools with good reps. Those connections matter a lot more than folks realize and they're the main reason I'd advise any HS student who had a choice to go to an Ivy even if the major offered wasn't as good as others. Combine those connections with the reputation and kids are set.