The primary users of the current college ranking systems do not seem to be high-school students and families, but college presidents, board members, and development officers. As structured, the commercial ranking systems imply a precision that is not corroborated by research on what matters in college, nor can college quality be accurately summed to a single number. We propose a model that informs college choice for incoming students focusing on what the research tells us really matters and allows for nuances of effectiveness by using a multi-rank system. (Contains 2 footnotes.)