Did you want to get the inside scoop about how students like that college you are interested in? You can get all kinds of very specific information about all kinds of things on the web page of most colleges and universities. The secret place is called different things by different colleges so it may take some digging to find; Many call it “Institutional Research”.
One way to find the goodies is to go on the college’s web site and search for “Common Data Set”. Take a look at the url of the Common data set and identify where it resides. Usually you can find a long list of other “reports” where ever the Common Data Set (CDS) resides on that colleges web site. Larger universities tend to have more than smaller ones. But you can often read things like Accreditation Reports, “White Pages” about important issues regarding the institution, reports with graduation data, demographic data (beyond what you’d find in the CDS), Fact books, Surveys, and on. Some schools provide links to the IPEDS Data Center.
Typical offerings in Institutional Research include:
Data and Reports
Statistical summary
College Portrait
Fact Book
Common Data Set
Strategic Indicators
Student Characteristics and Trends
Faculty Characteristics and Trends
Research Data and Statistics
Financial Information
Some schools have reports about average grades by major and such. Don’t miss an opportunity to be very informed about the school you may spend 4 years at!