Rank importance aspects of choosing a college.

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Ok. So I'm having a very tough time deciding between 3 colleges. As the particular colleges are not the exact subject of this thread, they will remain unnamed for now. </p>

<p>I'm trying to take a look at these colleges from many different approaches, and this is one of them. But to help me get this angle, I am going to devise a ranking system and then look at the colleges. Again, I will not choose based solely upon this, but it's another way to look at it. </p>

<p>While I have my own preferences, I would like to hear others, from experience or just from what you feel is more important. While a sports team is a part of this decision, it is only part and many people don't take into account athletic teams, so it will remain out of the system. Also, they are all of similar size so that isn't included. Feel free to add anything important or minutely important that you think belongs. Some of these may seem small details (such as food.)</p>

<p>So to the subject. Rank these aspects in order from most important to least important as you see fit. (By the way, the order I list them does not reflect my ranking)</p>

<p>Student Body (Liberal, conservative, quirky, religious, non-religious, gay friendly....etc)
Availability of Area of Study
Overall Academic Quality
Distance from Home
Setting (urban, rural, midwest, south, campus beauty etc...)
Food!
Events and Activities (musical guests, speakers....etc)
Study Abroad Programs
Financial Aid
Housing
International Population
Diversity (More-so diverse backgrounds, such as home state. Not so much race or ethnicity necessarily)
Recent Freshman Retention Rates and Graduation Rates
(insert other area of importance here)</p>

<p>After looking it over, this will be really tough to make my own ranking, but just rank on instinct.</p>

2

<p>Ok. Instead of being “that guy” who bumps a thread, how about I reveal one of the schools that I’m choosing among if someone replies.</p>

<p>So yeah, basically this is a bump.</p>

3

<p>Heh. According to CC’s own poll the most important factor students consider when choosing a college is academic strength in one’s major.</p>

4

<p>Then most CCers are deluding themselves–it’s the preftige.</p>

5

<p>Ok. So I’m deciding between Earlham, Macalester, and Oberlin. </p>

<p>Earlham is the closest to home, Oberlin about twice the distance, and Macalester about 11 hours away. </p>

<p>I could see myself at all 3, and all 3 have better aspects than the others. That is why I’m trying to figure out what I truly value. I’m thinking Academics and Areas of study, also how comfortable I feel with the student body, and distance from home is also a huge factor. </p>

<p>Earlham is the closest to home and the college which I feel like I would fit in with the student body the most. However, I feel I could fit in at Oberlin and Macalester too, they just feel a little bit more intimidating. </p>

<p>Oberlin and Macalester have equal academic opportunities and reputation, and while I know Earlham has good academics, it doesn’t offer Chinese, which is one of the top areas I’m thinking of studying. If I go to Earlham I’ll have to settle for music, english, or possibly Japanese.</p>

<p>And then distance. I’m not sure how far away I want to go. I"ll be running wherever I’m at so the closer I am to home, the more track/cross country meets my family and friends will be able to see. I don’t plan on coming home on the weekends very often, but if I go to Macalester I won’t be able to come home during Fall break, spring break, and any other small breaks. It will pretty much be Winter Break with maybe 1 or 2 spring/fall breaks for the 4 years I’m there. At Oberlin and Earlham I’ll be able to come home if something goes wrong or just for a small break. </p>

<p>For those top 3 criteria I would rank them:</p>

<p>Academics 1.Oberlin 2. Macalester 3. Earlham
Student Body 1.Earlham 2. Macalester 3. Oberlin
Distance from home. (in terms of good) 1.Earlham 2.Oberlin. 3.Macalester</p>

<p>I’ve pretty much decided I would go to Earlham if they had more areas of study, but that’s kind of a big deal. </p>

<p>Macalester doesn’t top any of the 3 criteria, but when I factor all the criteria (beyond the 3 I just mentioned) it never comes in last except for distance from home, which as with academics and Earlham, is kind of a big deal. </p>

<p>And Oberlin’s student body, while I like or else I wouldn’t be considering it, is the least comfortable for me. That’s NOT to say its extremely uncomfortable, just compared to the others it’s lesser of an appeal. Nothing really specific, just the feel you can’t explain when you visit. </p>

<p>So as you can see, they are all great schools for me, I think, but they all are good and bad in very important aspects. THIS WILL BE THE HARDEST DECISION OF MY LIFE!</p>

6

<p>For me…</p>

<p>Important:
Student Body / Diversity
Availability of Area of Study / Overall Academic Quality</p>

<p>Somewhat Important:
Financial Aid (probably more important to my parents, but they’ve offered me full financial support for whatever tuition ends up costing, which is phenomenal)
Setting / Housing
Recent Freshman Retention Rates and Graduation Rates</p>

<p>Unimportant:
Study Abroad Programs (I’m not sure studying abroad is for me, to be honest – plus, every school I applied to offers some kind of quality program if I should change my mind)
International Population
Distance from Home
Food (not that quality of food isn’t important, just that it’s not a deal-breaker)
Events and Activities (ditto)</p>

<p>Just my .02!</p>

7

<p>I could agree with that for the most part. </p>

<p>The one thing that bugs me is the freshman retention rate. Like at Earlham, they had a pretty weak retention rate last year. Is this a bad sign, or is it because they accept a decent amount of applicants and the weak ones are weeded out. I would like to think I choose a college based on how I see it as I visit, but retention rate and other statistics make me wonder if there is something I can’t see because I’m not living and studying there everyday. </p>

<p>One big difference in your ranking and mine is distance from home, but that’s really about it. I’d probably put international population in the middle category, too. Some things like study abroad and financial aid are very important, but from the colleges I’m choosing from, they are so similar that it really doesn’t affect the decision.</p>