There’s an old joke that goes back at least to the 1920s. One night a police officer sees a drunk man on his hands and knees in the light of a street lamp. “What are you doing?” the officer asks. “I lost my keys, and I’m looking for them,” replies the drunk man. The cop asks “Is this where you lost them?” “No,” the man replies, “but the light is much better here.” It’s a silly joke, but “looking for your keys under the street light” is also shorthand for doing something that’s simple instead of effective. It’s also a good metaphor for the biases we carry around with us.
It’s also, I want to say, a good metaphor for college rankings. The updated US News rankings came out yesterday, and they are—as they are every year, for better and worse—on the minds and in the comments of lots of people today.
Do most students really believe that the rankings will tell them which college is right for them?
Do most parents really believe the only path for professional success for their children is through a top-ranked school?
Do most universities really want to spend advertising dollars touting their ranking, even though they understand how incomplete and dubious that rank is?
No, but the light is just so much better there.
Instead of just laughing at the drunk man (remember: in my analogy you are the drunk man), let’s consider his situation for a moment. We might actually find some empathy and understanding.
One, he has a real problem. He has lost something valuable. He’s not just looking for any old thing, but his keys. It’s hard to get inside his home without them. If you are a student looking for a college that is a good academic, social, and financial fit for you, you are also looking for something valuable. Even if you think it’s silly for the man to be looking under the street lamp for his keys, it’s not necessarily reasonable to tell him to just go home without them. Maybe there’s someone else who can let him in that one time, but just giving up on your keys is not a viable solution if it can be avoided. Same for a good-fit college. You’re looking for something valuable, and that’s why you’re checking the rankings. You may not know yet where else to look, but giving up is not a good idea.
Two, he has external difficulties. It’s late and dark. He hasn’t got access to sunlight to make the search easier. In many ways, looking for the right college is also looking in the dark. There are thousands of two- and four-year colleges and universities in the United States. Most people only apply once, if at all, so you don’t get to learn from your earlier attempts. Even if you have parents or older family members who did go to college, the experience is much different now than it was a few decades ago. It’s overwhelming, and anyone willing to provide a shortcut, like rankings, is going to seem like a friend, no matter how useless in the long run that shortcut may be.
Three, he has internal difficulties. In the joke, the man is drunk. He hasn’t got all his internal resources to help him make a good and effective search. You’ve also got internal difficulties. In any year, having the time, resources, and mental energy to do a thorough college search—especially if you’re doing it without help—is a lot to ask. Few people have all they need for the best college search and application. The past two years have been a lot worse. If you’re overwhelmed and have too many other stresses to deal with, then hanging around where things look a bit easier isn’t surprising. It actually makes sense.
I feel for the drunk man, and I’m not going to judge him for looking under the street lamp. In fact, consider the inverse. Imagine a man loses his keys and spends days searching for them. He finally finds them…under the street lamp. He didn’t look there first because it seemed too easy. I also feel for college-seeking high school students, and I’m not going to judge them for checking the rankings. I look at them too, all the time. Don’t avoid them just because they seem too simplistic. But I will try my best to stick to the analogy I’m working with and give some further advice.
Start with the street light, but don’t stop there. I think rankings—whether US News, Niche, Forbes, or others—is a fine place to start looking for colleges. They seem to be a simple and easy place to get started on a daunting task. So have a look at those rankings. But don’t let yourself believe that they are objective, true, or best for you. They’re only an easing-in point. Then you move on to better research.
The keys aren’t under the street light, but other clues may be. If you go to a ranking site, don’t just look at the list and the rankings. Click on individual schools, and you’ll see a lot more information. The easy-to-find information is the great part of the rankings, not the order. If you’re going to start clicking on schools, don’t start with the top 10. Skip down to #100 and begin there. It’s not like you’ll never hear about Princeton again if you don’t click on that link right now.
If you know that the street light isn’t actually helpful but you’re just looking there for ease and comfort, admit that to yourself so you’ll know when to move on. Somewhere in his head, drunk as he may be, the man knows his keys aren’t there under the light. But it’s late, and he’s drunk, and it’s just reassuring to stay under the lamp post. Colleges know that the rankings have nothing to do with their true value—as do parents and students. But it’s overwhelming for students and it’s difficult for universities to distinguish themselves, and rankings are an easy and reassuring place to spend some time. If that’s what you’re doing, that’s fine. It makes total sense. But admit that to yourself and understand that you can’t keep thinking of the top-ranked schools as the “best” schools for you. One of those schools may end up being the best school for you. But if it does, I assure you, it has nothing to do with US News’s numbers and methods.
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