THE SPIN DOCTRINE

Dartmouth officials may not obsess like day-traders over the College's ranking, but they aren't so blase that they totally ignore the survey. Director of public affairs Laurel Stavis has met with the U.S.News & World Report editorial team three times (once with former President James Freedman, once with President James Wright and again with dean of admissions Karl Furstenberg) about the survey. "The editorial staff at U.SNews has been responsive to comments and suggestions over the years," says Stavis, "and as a result has made great strides in improving its methodology."

Of course Dartmouth isn't the only school that lobbies the editors of U.S.News. "Each year representatives of colleges write, call and visit to offer their views on how to measure quality in education and how to improve our ranking system. We listen hard to what they say," write U.S. News staffers Amy Graham and Robert Morse in "How U.S.News Ranks Colleges" on the magazines Web site.