The ACT and SAT/SAT I, SAT Reasoning Test plays a significant role in themodern era of college and university admissions. Highly-ranked universities are inappropriate for many students. We merely want every child who might find it appropriate to have all choices open. The US News Survey carries a problematic methodology. Since it's the most-recognized ranking, students seeking competitive schools should consult it.
The ACT or SAT are not any longer a socio-economically biased test. It can test things related to American customs, but that's the culture recognizable to virtually every American secondary school student. The ACT and SAT could possibly be unfair for the recent immigrant; colleges usually assess immigrant applicants by additional standards.
Highly ranked universities merit your consideration SIMPLY BECAUSE JOB RECRUITERS and GRAD SCHOOLS value that high ranking. Irrespective of the training students receive at the top-ranked colleges, the imprimatur of Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, U Chicago, Duke, Stanford, and CalTech carries significantly into the market for the first job, for graduate school, and perhaps even with regard to promotions afterwards. Ask recruiters who unabashedly state they have discrepant thresholds with regard to interviewing candidates determined by their school. Ask Nicholas Lehmann, who said in a PBS Frontline interview - "a superior school positions you in the way of more opportunity".