<p>Tell us what they are and we’ll get specific.</p>
<p>How close is each school to an airport and major metropolitan area? The more remote schools may receive fewer company recruiting visits. My kids found they had much better luck landing interviews through the college career office than through their own efforts (eg. online apps), so this was important. Similarly, if one school is located in an area of the country where she might like to settle after graduation, that may be the better decision due to the improved chances of finding a job at a company close to the college.</p>
<p>Great suggestions! I like the requirements idea too. You could look at the 4 year plan of each university–what classes are required, if any of the AP classes she took is credited, would she need to take summer classes, would the college require her to take 18 to 21 unit loads per quarter or per semester?</p>
<p>In regards to the airport, how much are the tickets? Are there direct flights? Is it often? Are there free shuttles to the airports during breaks?</p>
<p>Which one is better for life after college? Check out their career center annual survey for grad school and job placement.</p>
<p>If your D is pre-med, what is the attrition rate for students entering with her stats and background? If she needs to leave the pre-med track or feels the need to develop another goal in case she does not get into medical school, or is not yet 100% sure she wants to end up in medical school, which school provides the best opportunities, given her other interests?</p>
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<p>Below a certain level of prestige, this might matter. But at top colleges, it doesn’t seem to be an issue. Ask all the parents on this board who have had kids at Cornell.</p>
<p>Dartmouth saw a visit decline when the economy took a downturn. It became too expensive for companies to travel that far for one small school. As a contrast, in Boston and the surrounding area recruiters could hit a lot of good schools with just one trip. Cornell is still in the same state as the Big Apple and a very short plane ride away. Also, it’s a university with some unique majors not found at the other top schools.</p>
<p>Ease of getting classes
Party scene (yes I know the old CC refrain that any school can be a party school, but the reality is, there’s a very real cultural difference between UCSB and UCD even if both are middle tier UCs located in college towns)</p>
<p>4-yr graduation rate
freshman retention rate</p>
<p>These are harder to measure, but the strength of the alumni network and how well graduates have done in job placement. It’s not the most reliable source, but Payscale provides data on average starting salary and mid-career salary for graduates of many colleges.</p>
<p>Large size also tends to be more attractive to recruiters.</p>
<p>Payscale is not especially reliable because the usual information does not take into account the mix of majors at each school. So engineering-heavy schools tend to be heavily represented near the top of the rankings (along with the prestige schools that get recruited by investment banking and consulting companies).</p>
<p>Ratio of girls to guys. Also some schools are heavily Greek which could be a selling point or a deterrent.</p>