It Makes a Difference to the Sheep

Do they fiddle with admissions, wait-lists, and the like all in the hopes of inching up in the all-important USN&WR College Rankings? Those who tell these anecdotes would seem to conclude that they are. A snippet:

At just one or two schools, I would chalk it up to chance, but at this point it is clearly a pattern. The only explanation is that Georgetown, Penn, Michigan, and Chicago are trying to artificially inflate their U.S. News rankings by rejecting top candidates who are likely to turn them down for a more prestigious school. I feel as though my application fees have been stolen.

A handful of anecdotes do not a trend make. But on the other hand, I wouldn't be surprised if this and other attempts to manipulate the system are common practice. Of course the flip side is that potential applicants do their fair share of gaming the system as well. Let the games continue!