It's that time that every college student, pre-college student and parent anticipates -- and some administrators dread.

College rankings are in, but university officials say they don't pay much attention to the numbers.

"We look at them one day a year, when all the reporters call," Penn State spokesman Bill Mahon said.

The U.S. News and World Report has released its annual Best Colleges list, and Washington Monthly magazine has released its first college rankings list. Though the two publications compare many of the same schools, the two lists are drastically different.

In the U.S. News rankings, Penn State placed 48th under the Top National Universities category, two positions higher than it was in last year's rankings. But in the Washington Monthly magazine, Penn State is ranked as sixth in the nation.

Despite the dismissal of the rankings by administrators, parents and students take the rankings more seriously. Some students said they feel that although the rankings are different, each holds some truth.

Others said they believe The U.S. News and World Report ranking was slightly unfair.

"That shocked me a bit [the 48th ranking]," Amanda Weber (freshman-music education) said. "Some people belong in certain institutions."

Although multiple magazines release these rankings yearly, many say that the final lists really do not accurately reflect the Penn State community for each student.

"You can't measure the college experience," statistics professor Donald Richards said.

Richards said he believes the rankings are shallow but can provide some insight into numerical issues that universities face, such as financial situations.

The criteria that the U.S. News and World Report uses, according to the magazine's Web site, include graduation and retention rate, selectivity, the amount of alumni donation and faculty to student ratio.

Ivy League schools, such as Yale, Harvard, and Princeton, top U.S. News and World Report's list, which has Penn State ranked 48th out of 120.

The U.S. News and World Report could not be reached for comment about their ranking list due to the Labor Day weekend.

The Washington Monthly released rankings for the first time this year, with some very different results and criteria than the U.S. News and World Report rankings list.

The Monthly determines the rankings from three criteria: research, social mobility, and community service. Each criterion receives an individual ranking, and the three rankings are then combined for an overall score.

Daniel Franklin, the consulting editor of the Washington Monthly, said Penn State ranked 9th in social mobility because the number of low-income students and those with Pell grants showed Penn State's dedication to providing opportunities for low-income students.

The magazine's community service criterion also relied on the amount of students enrolled in the ROTC programs, leaving Penn State with a ranking of 45th. There are about 560 students enrolled in Navy, Army, and Air Force ROTC at Penn State.

The final category of research includes the amount of research conducted and the amount of money for research allocated by the university. Penn State ranked ninth.

Franklin said that although Penn State does not conduct the "sexy theoretical physics" research, it does have a strong research background.

Recent Penn State graduate Scott Smith said he does not follow the rankings closely, but he does pick them up if he sees them in a bookstore. He added that the Penn State name does carry some strength.

"When people see Penn State on your resume, they raise their eyebrows," Smith said. "Penn State has prestige."