Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) ranked among the top 50 colleges and universities in the nation in the inaugural "2012 Parchment Top-Choice College Rankings." These ratings were calculated by Parchment.com, a provider of academic credential data, and were based solely on the decisions of tens of thousands of students who were admitted to multiple colleges and chose to attend one.
"I'm pleased that WPI's strong academics and project-based learning resonate with high school students who are looking for the right university," said WPI Dean of Admissions Edward J. Connor. "WPI is a good investment that produces well-paid and well-prepared graduates. We are happy to be named to this list."
The Parchment.com rankings method considers all universities together on a level playing field, revealing which colleges and universities are most preferred overall by admitted students. The 2012 college rankings are based on a sampling of more than 120,000 college acceptances from 2009 to 2011, covering a broad range of demographics in all 50 states. More than 80 percent of the applications came from this year's entering freshman class. Each time a student is admitted to multiple institutions, the college that the student chooses to attend is modeled as a "winner." After observing enough decisions, Parchment.com estimates the probability that a student will attend any particular college out of the pool of colleges to which they are admitted.
Top-rated colleges include institutions that may have created a particularly engaging learning environment, colleges that may be especially generous with financial aid, or highly mission-driven institutions, such as polytechnic universities and service academies, according to Parchment.com.
About Parchment
Parchment Inc., the nation's leading provider of academic credential data solutions to schools, universities, and the individuals they educate, created Parchment.com to put the predictive power of data and the collective intelligence of the Web to work for students as they make one of the most far-reaching decisions of their lives. Using statistical modeling and crowdsourcing techniques, Parchment.com gives students an opportunity to compare their chances of being accepted into different colleges and universities based on their academic profiles. And once they’re ready to apply, the site lets them bypass the usual paper-based transcript-request process to request academic records online.
