For USA TODAY: What should you consider when deciding what college to attend?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi everyone! I'm a collegiate correspondent for USA TODAY College and I'm currently working on a story about the White House's new rating system that will evaluate colleges on areas such as access, affordability, and outcomes. The rating system would look at factors such as the number of Pell grants provided to students, the average tuition of a college, loan debts, graduation rates, graduate earnings, etc. The aim is to cut down college costs and help students and families decide on a college that offers the best value. </p>

<p>I'm looking for opinions from prospective college students, entering college freshmen, current college students, and parents! What do you look for when deciding what college to attend? Would this sort of rating system have been helpful to you while making a college choice? Please send me a message if you have any thoughts on this. </p>

<p>For more information on the rating system, you can check out these articles:
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/26/us/colleges-rattled-as-obama-presses-rating-system.html?referrer=&_r=0"&gt;http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/26/us/colleges-rattled-as-obama-presses-rating-system.html?referrer=&_r=0&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/08/22/fact-sheet-president-s-plan-make-college-more-affordable-better-bargain-"&gt;http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/08/22/fact-sheet-president-s-plan-make-college-more-affordable-better-bargain-&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

2

<p>These factors are important, but for me (i’m starting in the fall), I looked first at size of the school, then the academics, finally affordability. I got 2 full tuition scholarships, so it made my decision very hard.</p>

3

<p>I am a parent. The cost is definitely an important consideration, but the value determination is not so easily defined by the metrics one uses because those metrics are not value-neutral. The user of those metrics is subjecting (him)self to the priorities that the person making the metric uses. At some point, the “fit” with the community one intends to join has to weigh in and, in many cases, is more important than the supposed “best value”. It is certainly important for the student and the parent to have some very clear agreements on what the family can and can not afford, but the ultimate decision of which among several colleges to attend may come down to the match of “personality” between the institution and the student.</p>

4

<p>We have a thread discussing the NYT article in the Parents Forum:</p>

<p><a href=“Colleges Rattled as Obama Seeks Rating System - Parents Forum - College Confidential Forums”>Colleges Rattled as Obama Seeks Rating System - Parents Forum - College Confidential Forums;

<p>Most of the information is already available, except for “outcomes”. This is information the college’s either don’t have access to, or are not willing to share. Employment rates, average salaries, graduate earnings and graduate survey results.</p>

5

<p>I don’t see how the rating system is going to help much at all.</p>

6

<p>The most helpful thing would be a system that requires the parents to get real about how they plan to pay for their kid’s education, and force them to accept just exactly how they will come up with every red cent necessary for that, before permitting the kid to look at his/her educational options. </p>

7

<p>I would not have used such a list at all. I didn’t value all of those metrics necessarily. Such averages are not really useful to individual students situations across the board. For instance, I had a high performing student eligible for aid at top schools and in a state with excellent affordable colleges.Why would I have picked schools on this model? This seems to be all about money, but not your individual cost. What does average tuition mean? And only go to schools with the most tech majors because those grads are making the most money, even though you are going to be a teacher? How does that make sense?</p>

8

<p>I’m not going to want loans of any kind, so that rating system does not mean much for me. Also, I’m most likely not going to qualify for a Pell grant or subsidized loan.</p>

<p>For me, the most important factor is size. Then, I look at the campus. I want an actual campus. After that, I make sure that they have my major of interest. The last thing I look at is student reviews of the college. Those criteria determine whether or not I even consider a school.</p>

9

<p>Side-constraint: no loans</p>

<p>Then I look at academic quality- specifically within the realm of my interests. If they had a solid CE program geared toward industry with a lot of research thrown in, then that’s what I want. Good professors (accomplished yet attentive) would be a major plus. A strong student body (based on selectivity and personal experience) would be another thing to look for. Ultimately, how’s the school designed? What does it stand for? Is it similar to what I had in mind?</p>

<p>More minor consideration: campus environment (competitive vs. collaborative), social life, etc.</p>

10

<p>I don’t see how this would be useful to students.</p>

<p>The ranking would not be individualized. Three items that can vary widely from person to person are financial status, state of residence, and area of major interest.</p>

<p>All of these factors may affect a student’s decision. Because of a scholarship or financial aid, one school might be very affordable for one person yet very unaffordable for another.</p>

11

<p>I am entering college next year. I don’t think a rating system like this would be very helpful. There are tons of rankings out there as is, and they all consider so many different factors that they really only function as a tool to ballpark what schools are in the same range, whether that be in quality, value, or employment. Another rankings system will just add to the pile.</p>

<p>The most important factors for a prospective student to look at:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Fit - What does a student want in a school? Is this school is a school where the student would be at least moderately happy?</p></li>
<li><p>Academic Level - Is this school at the desired academic level?</p></li>
<li><p>Financial Feasibility - Is this school affordable? Will a scholarship be needed? How is the school’s financial aid? If the school is affordable, continue.</p></li>
<li><p>Acceptance Rate in comparison to student’s ability. Basically, does the student have a reasonable shot at acceptance. This should be balanced with the rest of the school’s the applicant is applying to in the reach/match/safety format common to CC and College Admissions.</p></li>
<li><p>Average Salaries - Research the college and get a ballpark for these numbers.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>If you wanted to reduce this to formulas, here are some I would suggest.</p>

<ul>
<li>If 4 is consistently disqualifying schools, lower 2.</li>
<li>There would be some value correlation between 3 and 5 obviously, which is what many ranking sites try to calculate.</li>
<li>A single, theoretical, general ranking: Rate each one on a scale of 1-10 and do the math - (Fit + Academic Level + Average Salaries) * (Financial Feasibility)</li>
</ul>

<p>I know this may seem like the wrong place for this, but my point is that a single universal ranking service can’t really do much at all for a prospective college student. This effort is wasted.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>If this is the aim, the White House could do two three that I think would make a significant difference:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Standardize salary reporting and collect this in an orderly fashion, made available through an accessible method.</p></li>
<li><p>Compile rankings and other data to help high school students and their parents easily assess the aspects of a school needed. A database of schools, locations, sizes, and some ranking compilations all in one place, government certified. Not a system that orders colleges, but merely makes the data available. This is done in many places, but I think a federally sponsored program, promoted by the educational system, would help target the audience beyond those who are already served by CC and these services.</p></li>
<li><p>Educate about minimal debt education as CC does. This is not to say teach it as the only way, but rather to exist so that people are fully educated in their decisions.</p></li>
</ol>

12

<p>The federal rating system is not useful. It is based on too many irrelevant or unimportant factors. You won’t know how much a private university will cost until you get your financial aid offer in April. So, apply first and then go to the best school you can afford after taking out loans. Do not fear loans but be reasonable about loans. Parents can take out loans, too.</p>

<p>Here’s what’s important, in order:

  1. Do they offer the major in which you are interested?
  2. What are the overall average SAT/ACT scores?
  3. What is the 6-year graduation rate?
  4. What is the reputation of your particular major at that school, if you can determine it?
  5. Is the distance to the school ok with you?
  6. Is the size of the school ok with you?
  7. Is the urban/suburban/rural location ok with you?
  8. Are your fellow students likely to share your values?</p>
13

<p>My bad, I completely left out major/program specific details in my post. I would include collegehelp’s #1 and #4 as a bullet and add it into my considerations above.</p>

14

<p>a few things I look for
student retention (very important the higher the better) a real campus, not buildings scattered around a city .
perfect settings muhlenberg college, hendrix college or lafayette college.
also
the school should be close to a hospital, it does not need to be a super duper research hospital, but a hospital…hopefully never needed but close by if it is.
within a 30 minute drive to an airport</p>

15

<p>Having so many options made the process so intimidating at first that I had to make some choices just to shrink the pool I was looking at before I could make refined judgements of anything. I only looked at colleges that were (1) not in the south, (2) larger than my high school (~1,000 students), (3) had the major I wanted (neuroscience), (4) offered merit aid, and (5) gave credit for IB courses. Anything that didn’t meet those criteria was out the window. Sure, I may have eliminated some good schools, but no matter what metrics you use, including those proposed by the white house, there are some colleges that would be good for students that they’ll miss.</p>

<p>Once I made the initial round of cuts, one of the biggest factors ended up being cost. I ended up applying only to schools where I would get a very large merit scholarship, in part because I knew that I would not be eligible for much need-based aid. The potential issue I see with this ranking system is that there won’t be any way to take things like scholarships into account. I do think it will be nice, though, to have something to (in all likelihood) point out that you can still be very successful even if you don’t go to Harvard or a “top school” that would leave you $100,000 in debt. But what will probably end up happening is that it will be one more ranking for people to argue about, and I’m not sure how much impact it will have on people’s decision making.</p>

16

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</p>

<p>This “academic level” thing, when associated with particular colleges, is so overblown IMO. Many schools have highly selective honors colleges which offer increased competitiveness for high achieving students.</p>

<p>Even non-honors programs still have to maintain standards for accreditation, thereby ensuring all students receive the necessary rigor and level of education.</p>

<p>IMHO, too many students are trying to squeeze into particular schools in hopes to match their “academic level”, when in reality there is really no reason to do so, and in fact they are only helping to make our higher education system even more lopsided then it already is.</p>

<p>As for my on-topic response…

  1. Quality of intended program
  2. Personal fit
  3. Affordability (weighing debt and predicted return on investment after graduation)</p>