While most school officials say that the ratings aren't important, the public--including prospective students and alumni--continues to pay attention to them.

Charlene Leibau, director of admissions at Caltech, says her office has already received three calls from students who had "selected other schools over Caltech but wanted to have their admission reactivated."

"In one case, I asked the student whether this had anything to do with a recently released ranking," she says. "The answer was, 'Yes.'"

Leibau says that while her office will not mention the rankings in the material it sends to prospective students, she still expects the publicity from the survey to translate into an increase in applications from last year.

"Schools that go to the Rose Bowl also receive an increase in applications," she says.

Theresa Davis, director of the Caltech Alumni Fund, says that her office has actively brought the ranking to the attention of alumni when it solicits contributions.

"Our alumni have responded in a very positive way," Davis says. "We make sure to tell them that it's their gifts that helped to make this ranking possible."