For many students in China, U.S. News and World Report’s college ranking system is more than just an informational guide; it is an obsession. Getting into a school at the top of the list overshadows considerations of personal fit or academic interests. It’s not about where a student might thrive or where their passions align; it’s about the number, the rank, and prestige.
Gary Wang, a Chinese student who is in the process of applying to American universities, said that his classmates discuss the U.S. News rankings on a daily basis. “Most of them think that rankings say it all; that only highly ranked schools are the best,” says Wang.
With the increasing trend of students in China studying abroad, acceptance into a top-ranked U.S. university is often viewed as a golden ticket to a successful career.
Andrew Kuo, who runs a counseling agency for American and Chinese students, often works with students who fixate on the U.S. News rankings. When the rankings tout a certain school or degree, Kuo often observes a spike in applications. For instance game design—once dismissed as “unorthodox and unpromising” by Chinese parents, according to Kuo—has surged in popularity among international students after top-ranked schools like UC Berkeley praised it as a creative and future-oriented field.
Kuo believes students overvalue U.S. News rankings, which critics claim rely on flawed data, foster manipulation, and prioritize prestige over more meaningful metrics like diversity and institutional mission.
“I don’t personally really trust those rankings,” says Kuo. “I guide my students based on their major and career path.” Kuo encourages his clients to speak with current students or alums of a prospective college, rather than rely on a third-party ranking.
But some college counselors in China are less scrupulous than Kuo. Capitalizing on students’ fixation with rankings, college counseling agencies in China have been known to entice clients with promises such as “guaranteed admission to top 10 or top 30 colleges.”
In creating its rankings list, U.S. News factors in student retention, post-graduation debt and earnings, and first-generation graduation rates. The publication also evaluates faculty resources, class sizes, and peer assessments by top administrators. Subject-specific rankings are based on academic research performance rather than individual departments or majors.
Timothy Brunold, dean of admissions for the University of Southern California (USC), says that the U.S. News rankings and their criteria are not a high priority for the university. “At USC, we want to forge our own path,” he says. “We don’t want our policies and practices to be dictated by a ranking system. It’s antithetical to the way that you manage an institution.”
U.S. News released its latest university rankings on September 24, with Princeton at number one, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) at number two, and Harvard at number three.
Wang, the college applicant, says the rankings impose immense pressure on him and his classmates, as they strive to meet their own ambitions and their families’ expectations.
“Applying to a school that is too highly ranked will cause me to feel anxious that I won’t be accepted,” says Wang, “while applying to a school that is too low-ranked may cause me to be ridiculed by my classmates.”
So, Wang is applying only to schools ranked between twenty and thirty on the U.S. News list. While he may not be as fixated on the rankings as his friends are, he still feels bound by them.
(Photo: Blair Hall at Princeton University, ranked number one by U.S. News in 2024)
