User:Dpbsmith/Boosterometer

Scoring is to be done using common sense, according to the spirit of the rules. Ignore occurrences of words and phrases if they are clearly not in the context of boosterism.

Prestige

• 2 points per appearance, except:

• The first appearance does not count if it is within a quotation from a cited source does not count.

U. S. New and World Report rankings

• 1 point for the first such ranking
• 2 points for every additional ranking

Other rankings

Any other ranking, within a context that is clearly intended to compare the school to others in a positive way:

• 2 points each

Rankings that are not "in the money"

In addition to the above, any ranking that is not "in the money" (i.e. not first, second, or third), and not intended to point out a deficiency in the school, scores

• 1 extra point

Frst, second or third place in something can arguably be a distinguishing characteristic of the school and of some interest to readers. Lower ranks (e.g. "Brown University ranks 15th in U. S. New and World Report's overall ranking") are likely being cited merely to show that the school is "among" the best, but not in any way that meaningfully separates them from other schools with high ranks on the same characteristic.

Weasel words and peacock words

The following phrases and any clearly similar phrases, if they occur in a context of praise for the institution, and if they are not part of a quotation from a cited source.

• "Generally regarded as"
• "Widely regarded as"
• "One of the"
• "Among the"
• "Finest," "Best," "Outstanding," "Preeminent," "Top," "Top-notch," "Leader," "Leading," "Winning," "Academic excellence"

• 1 point each

Highly qualified superlatives

We will extend the word "superlative" to include very high ranks as well as the highest rank. A superlative is a sentence such as

• "Harvard has the world's largest university library system"
• "As of 1994 Yale had the second-biggest university endowment in the country"
• "The University of Toronto's Robart Library is the second-biggest library in North America that is in a single building."
• "Carleton is the best liberal-arts school in the Midwest"
• "The University of Minnesota, Morris is the best liberal-arts school in the upper Midwest"

Superlatives are not boosterism when they are simple facts that are important distinguishing characteristics of the institution.

A highly qualified superlative in which the field has been restricted for the purpose of allowing the institution to be among the leaders in the field.

In the above examples, the Robart, Carleton, and University of Minnesota, Morris examples are highly qualified superlatives.

• 2 points for each highly qualified superlative.