We all know we’re not supposed to care about program rankings. We’re supposed to find a program that fits us, that is geographically desirable, that has great facilities, etc. But nevertheless, rankings systems exists. The latest updated rankings from US News was released last night and I’m curious what people think about them.
I think doing the rankings by peer review is interesting. Too often the more well-known undergraduate rankings get distorted by meaningless factors such as alumni donation weights and reported SAT scores. While peer review is useful in showing how schools view each other, I’d also like to see a survey based on what regular people think of schools.
If a person is trying to find a PT, would where the PT went to school be a factor in choosing a PT? I’m guessing it would play some part (in addition to area of expertise, word of mouth recommendations, price, etc). Which schools would the average patient like their PT to come from?
On a similar note, which schools would clinical internship sites most like to draw students from? That would say a lot as well.
I also have to wonder how much these rankings are affected by having a relatively low response rate (40%). And can schools try to sabotage their rivals by selecting random schools with low scores as their high picks?
What do you think?