Ohio University is ranked 18th for students who almost never study, but the 46th for top academic programs in the country.
So how exactly does that work?
Well, the survey that gave us the studying ranking also said we were 20th in the nation for major frat and sorority scene. Miami University, the haven for all things greek, was not even on that list. And as for 46th for academics, that was only out of 162 public schools. You add in all the private schools, and we fall to 98th, which really isn't all that impressive, considering all the schools out there that let in anyone who can breathe and pay tuition.
If you have been paying attention to all of the rankings flying around OU the past few weeks, you may have whiplash from the contradictory messages. While OU officials have been casting doubt on the validity of some rankings, they've e-mailed every student playing up others.
In an e-mail sent to students last Friday, President Roderick McDavis announced that U.S. News and World Report named OU in its top 50 public universities. McDavis wrote, While it may not be the most widely accepted method to determine the quality of a university
we can indeed take some measure of satisfaction that OU has been ranked so highly...
Just days earlier, OU spokesman Hub Burton said The Princeton Review's survey could really use a much less anecdotal and a much more scientific measure.
While the systems used for the rankings in the two reports are markedly different, it's not surprising that the rankings OU officials like are made to seem more right than those that the university may not want to publicize.
On an OU Web site (www.ohio.edu/rankings/all.cfm), you can read the different rankings OU has accumulated over the past few years: third in the MAC for the graduation rate of athletes, 44th in the country for the audiology program, 99th for best values in public colleges. It even includes the 20th place ranking The Princeton Review gave OU in the category of happiest students.
Yet, a few of The Princeton Review's other rankings were conspicuously left off the list: fifth for party schools, seventh for lots of beer 18th for students who (almost) never study and 20th for major frat and sorority scene.
As that Web site shows, it's easy to pick and choose rankings that fit one's purposes. Students can brag to their non-OU friends that, dude, we really know how to party here in Athens, and the administration can play up the academic rankings on their recruitment literature.
In the end, the rankings really don't mean anything. A student isn't going to choose the 45th academically-ranked school over OU just because of that one place. And a student that loves to party isn't going to choose OU over the sixth-ranked school if they love that school.
But for those looking for the top-rated program at OU, it seems as though that award goes to the fifth best in the nation ceramics program. Who knew?
-Nelson is a junior journalism major and City Editor for The Summer Post. E-mail her at lindsey.nelson@ohiou.edu
17
Archives
Lindsey Nelson
