[neilv]

I've heard many allegations about established universities gaming their ranking by, e.g., soliciting applications widely -- not so much to have a larger and more diverse pool from which to choose -- but to maintain/lower their acceptance rate metric.

Two things I like about the Northeastern story are that the official demonstrated even more ambitious gaming, and it was publicized.

No criticism of Northeastern; they have many great people, doing great work. And I've heard many faculty objected to the rankings-climbing emphasis as it was happening.