The Best School

I can’t really say what the best school is. One where you learn I guess. It all depends on a point of view. Do you go by the popular stats? By what you want to learn? By what schools your parent(s) went to?
This excerpt actually makes it difficult to determine what a good school is. The author claims that the stats are fake, and that there’s some conspiracy behind it all, and that the schools with the most money end up being the top schools. Truthfully, the way they describe the algorithm used to determine the best schools, makes it sound like the whole system is askew. So that makes stats void, so people shouldn’t choose that way.
So the next criterion is what you want to learn. Do you want to learn math? Then MIT or other schools that focus mainly on math are what you want. Or is art your chosen subject? Then you can come to San Francisco, with all these art schools to go along with our large movie industry. There are so many different options to consider when choosing a school.
And our last criterion is what school(s) your parent(s) went to. They turned out alright; maybe you want to go to the same school they went to. If this is the case, talk to your mom or dad and ask what the up and downs are, what made them like or dislike the school? Do they have special programs for kids of their alumni? What subjects do they offer? That last one is important. They might have attended and liked the school, but that doesn’t mean you will. Perhaps they don’t offer degrees in what you want to learn… at that point, I’d suggest going back to the drawing board.
Even though I said earlier that the system is skewed, the stats on the best schools aren’t necessarily useless. You can use them as a loose guide, considering other factors as well. Research is your best friend when it comes to picking a college. You can ask around, see if your friends or family know anyone who attended the schools you’re looking at. Then talk to them about the school. Of course, personal experience tops all resources you can imagine. You can always transfer out of a school after you decide it’s not right for you. That’s the beauty of transferrable credits.
Local universities are also great for the first year or so of college. You don’t necessarily need to go off to a different town for school right away. Most kids aren’t actually ready to leave home at 18.
Overall, picking a school is all about research into stats and recommendations, and eventually it all comes down to what schools accept you. Even then, you don’t have to go to the biggest school on the list. Take my dad for example, he was accepted into UCLA and Stanford, but instead he chose to attend UC Santa Cruz for their film and computer science programs. I’ve said this a few times, but it all boils down to what you think you’re capable of, how far you want to move, what you want to study, and what you think is the best environment for you.
You can’t always trust what the media says, because no source is completely reliable, there’s almost always a misconception or error, because being human means being imperfect. The data isn’t always reliable. So unless you know all the facts, don’t go off into a situation where you are unsure what to do with.