<p>hey, i'm wondering what you guys think of these online college search tools. they ask you questions and they locate a colleges they think fits you.
Princeton review has the Counselor-O-Matic, there's one called PICS (that asks some interesting questions), Kaplan, Gocollege.com...I've found a ton of them. I dont really have access to good college counseling, and i'm wondering if you think these sorts of online surveys are a good way to go or a risky way to go? like has anyone had any experiences with them? just let me know if you have any opinions on this asap, and thanks</p>
<p>To be honest, I wouldn't trust these programs too much. They do a good job of narrowing down the thousands of colleges to match your interests, preferences (size, locations, etc.), and your grades in school. However, even then, it gives you a ton of colleges; so many that you would never have time to research all of them to find the right match. For me, I found out the colleges I'm currently interested in by reading about them on collegecofidential, rankings in your intended major, and basically getting a "feeling" about these colleges. Once you have your list narrowed down, go to their websites, or even better, visit them if you can. The only true way to find a college that is a good match for you is to do the research yourself to fall in love with a certain college, and not have some program recommend a college for you to like.</p>
<p>bumpppppppppppp</p>
<p>I think they are all stupid.</p>
<p>I've never heard of these before.</p>
<p>thanks! bumpppp</p>
<p>bumpppppppppp</p>
<p>First off, I agree that you SHOULDN'T rely on them too much. They're not human counselors after all. </p>
<p>The positive aspect about them is that if you are as clueless as I was when I was college searching, it might provide you with some options to look at. I never had the mentality to go to certain schools, and I didn't visit any kind of college when I started the process. I was absolutely clueless since my parents never attended college so they couldn't offer me advice. Like you, I stumbled upon the matching websites, which helped me a bit. After inputting my information, I was shown a list of colleges I had never heard of or would have not thought of. Considering that I had no list when I started, the online websites helped me by giving me ideas on how I should better approach my situation. In other words, after looking at the results, I was able to get a better understanding of what I was looking for. I used them as a simple foundation rather than relying on them the entire way. So remember, just because you might get a match with a school (according to the online websites), it doesn't mean you'll fit in with the school. The websites only take into account your statistical information, and not your other attributes like your personality and character.</p>
<p>what is PICS?</p>