Cornell ranks among national liberal arts schools on new list
by From a Media Release :: UPDATED: 27 October 2011 | 4:32 pm

Cornell College is ranked 32nd among national liberal arts colleges in a list released today that uses a methodology derived from a physicist’s system of ranking international chess players.

The inaugural Parchment Top-Choice College Rankings by Parchment.com, an education data company, are the first broad-based college rankings based not on criteria allegedly defining which colleges are “best,” but on actual students’ preferences for what school is ultimately the “best fit” for them.

Liberal arts colleges like Cornell hold 12 of the top 30 slots among all schools, showing that they compete well against larger national universities.

Along with Cornell, Iowa’s Grinnell College ranked 25th on the list, and Luther College in Decorah was 78th on the list of national liberal arts colleges.

The methodology for the list is derived from physicist Arpad Elo, who created the system of ranking international chess players. Parchment.com adapted his method with data from students admitted to more than one institution to rank colleges from “most likely to be chosen” to “least likely to be chosen” by students given the option to attend. The rankings are based on students’ preferences and opinions — using a sampling of more than 120,000 college acceptances — and are therefore designed to reflect what is important to high school students applying for college.

Source: http://thegazette.com

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