<p>Our developers have been listening to the feedback that all of you have been providing on our SuperMatch college search tool, and have just released an updated version here: College</a> Search - College Confidential</p>
<p>The latest version includes a variety of enhancements and fixes, notably:
- Athletics by Division - now you can pick a sport and division to narrow your choices.
- Improved the ability to combine majors, degree type, and 2yr vs 4yr.
- Added special services and disability services.</p>
<p>Missing or Bad School Data. If you aren't finding the school(s) you expect, one possible reason is that the school's data is absent or out of date. So, if a school you know has a Division III wrestling team but doesn't come up in appropriate searches, they may not have reported that data. If you find bogus or missing data, please don't report it to CC. The school itself needs to change that data. (Please feel free to call egregious errors to the attention of your admissions contact.) A school administrator can add or fix data by bringing up the school in SuperMatch, clicking on the "School Facts" link, and then the "Is this your page?" link at the top of the school facts page.</p>
<p>A new version of SuperMatch is already in the pipeline, but by all means keep providing your great feedback on how we are doing! (Please click the "feedback" link on the SuperMatch page to reach the right place.)</p>
<p>I have to say that this is a huge step down from the original version. The first version from a month or so ago was right on target. This one is all over the place, with certain schools coming up on top consistently (Stevens Institute of Technology) even though it is a horrible match. Did they pay for this? It seems like the original algorithm for a match has somehow gone very wrong.</p>
<p>Also, GPA is almost useless, as a number of schools are listed as 4.0 average GPA (a default, perhaps when data are missing?) when they clearly have lower average GPAs.</p>
<p>You had a pretty good thing going, but it is giving bad results with the “update.”</p>
<p>Marlboro College is my topmost match? I remember it being a very eccentric college- one which I wouldn’t attend… but still sounded interesting…
None of these matches were on my list though!</p>
<p>I tried out a variety of searches and got many of the colleges that I fully expected to get…but – and this is why this version is better (in my book) – I also got some surprises. They were not all excellent surprises. A few were sort of shocking and made me scratch my head. And, sure, maybe seeing those more absurd results diminishes the confidence one has in this utility. But there were also quite a few surprise hits that made me look at them more closely and I think, after a quick check, they were reasonable matches (for my contrived search criteria) that I hadn’t known about or hadn’t considered to be matches when, perhaps, I should have.</p>
<p>I appreciate that it’s fun to see the computer deliver results that match up neatly with the results that we have all arrived at after much research and deliberation. But I don’t think this utility is meant for those of us who are far down the path of selecting colleges. For people who aren’t so far advanced in their search, the value of this is to pop off a manageable list of schools that a future college applicant should explore in more depth.</p>
<p>Yes, there will be some “duds,” but that’s valuable, too, because this should NOT be the final word on which colleges to apply to. It’s merely a starting point or just another resource. If it forces applicants to look a little more closely at the suggested schools, then that’s a good thing – regardless of whether a person agrees that the school is a good match after they look a little closer.</p>
<p>I agree that the utility seems a little more off-the-mark than earlier versions when I input my son’s preferences and compare the results to his preferred colleges. But I don’t think this should be judged for its accuracy as a validating tool for subjectively-made decisions of high school students. For students first entering the college search, thinking “Oh my God…there are thousands of colleges! Where do I begin?” I like this much more than before. And I like it more especially because of the “oddball” choices that pop up – since they may get a few more people looking beyond and venturing a little further afield…and, in doing so, they may discover a little more about what’s right for them and what they really seek in a post-secondary education.</p>
<p>Think of a guidance counselor who gets the same data as the computer for a student just beginning to look at colleges. Do you want the guidance counselor to hand you a list of only the most obvious choices? Or would you prefer to have the guidance counselor point out a bunch of obvious choices and then ask, “Now take a look at some of these, too, and see what you think…” Tossing in some unusual/unexpected results makes this utility more compatible with the iterative/inquisitive process that it ought to be at the front-end of a college search.</p>
<p>I’d still like to see more options and choices, but in terms of the algorithm: good work!</p>
<p>I couldn’t find the 'Feedback" link on the supermatch main page. I had plugged in info for ‘prefer no religious affiliation’ (strongly – child’s choice, not mine) and one of the colleges that came up, Wheaton College, has the following for a school motto: “For Christ and His Kingdom.”</p>
<p>I liked it, but I still really wish transfer students could use it. My high school gpa was a 2.7. My college gpa when I was doing transfer applications was a 3.8. That detail makes a huge difference.</p>
<p>It also ran very, very slowly on my computer, almost unusable, but maybe my internet is just having a bad day.</p>
<p>It still has only a question whether you want a liberal campus. It needs to be amended to whether you want liberal, apolitical, or conservative campus. Also, some other activities should be added along with athletics. Activities such as debate, theater groups, campus radio, or bands are among the kinds of things I think should be included.</p>
<p>This is funny—as soon as I clicked “I don’t want any party schools”, Yeshiva University shot up to #3. Otherwise, it doesn’t work too badly.
(I’d like to see an “I <em>don’t</em> want a notoriously liberal-leaning school” option, though. If those even exist.)</p>
<p>Wow, Wash U is my first choice and it showed up in the supermatch. Others that I looked at and showed up really high were Rice, Northwestern, Cornell, U Chicago, U Penn, Boston College, and Colgate.</p>
<p>I still don’t see the Right Leaning or Conservative Leaning option some of us asked for. Even a “not” box on the liberal tab would work. </p>
<p>Swarthmore comes up first if I put my middle son’s data in, but it gets a red light on the Choosing the Right College list. Red light schools are out of contention for us. Too much indoctrination. It’d be nice if they could drop down on the list instead of having to cross check with another site. Brandeis is second. At least they get yellow. We will cautiously check yellows out. Brandeis has been on our list to check out if he opts for their location.</p>
<p>His number one school right now, University of Rochester, hasn’t made the first three clicks of “show more.” Others on his list aren’t there either - Vanderbilt and Rice come to mind. He’s not home right now or I’d ask to see his list. He’s just a junior this coming year, so he’s just beginning his search. We’ll be visiting oodles this spring.</p>