University with the best website

College Search & Selection
1

<p>The public face of a university is just as digital as brick-and-mortar. That being said, I think UCLA has the best website of the hundreds of university websites that I have seen. Kudos goes to</p>

<p>-Clear statistics and other relevant facts about UCLA that are easy to find. No school in the world gives a more detailed and comprehensive overview of admission statistics. UCLA doesn't mince words. </p>

<p>-Soft colors and intuitive layout. UCLA does not make you go on an easter egg hunt to find important information.</p>

<p>-Clear placement of what is important and what is not. There are no critical links in a sea of tangential information.</p>

<p>-Reasonable promotion of the school and realistic assessments of what students should expect. </p>

<p>-Easy backtracking to the main page and lack of pop-up windows. Allows easier navigation of website.</p>

<p>I hope more college websites will follow the lead of UCLA, including that of Berkeley, whose main page does not even make use of the entire screen area of most web browsers. Let's not even mention the number of "Link has moved" pages on the Berkeley website.</p>

2

<p>[University</a> of Michigan](<a href=“http://umich.edu/]University”>http://umich.edu/)</p>

3

<p>UCLA’s freshmen class profile page does provide a sea of detail about test scores and GPA. Nothing about class rank, though. Very little is provided about class demographics (other than the in-state/OOS breakdown).
[Profile</a> of Admitted Freshmen, Fall 2012 - UCLA Undergraduate Admissions](<a href=“http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/Prospect/Adm_fr/Frosh_Prof12.htm]Profile”>http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/Prospect/Adm_fr/Frosh_Prof12.htm)</p>

<p>Chicago has a graphical display of class profile information.
Compared to UCLA, much less information is given about test scores, none at all about GPA or rank. Information is provided about students’ HS activities, racial/ethnic diversity, and geographic origins. A whole page is devoted to essay questions.
<a href=“https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/apply/classprofile.shtml[/url]”>https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/apply/classprofile.shtml&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/apply/essays/[/url]”>https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/apply/essays/&lt;/a&gt;
(In May 2013, Chicago’s site won 2 Webby awards, the School/University Webby Award as well as the Webby People’s Voice Award. [School/University</a> | 2013 | The Webby Awards Gallery + Archive](<a href=“NEW Webby Gallery + Index”>NEW Webby Gallery + Index))</p>

<p>Some other private school profiles devote as much or more space to class demographics as they do to GPA and test numbers.
[Class</a> Profile - Harvard](<a href=“https://college.harvard.edu/admissions/admissions-statistics]Class”>Admissions Statistics | Harvard)
[Class</a> of 2017 Profile - Davidson College](<a href=“http://www.davidson.edu/admission-and-financial-aid/class-of-2017-profile]Class”>http://www.davidson.edu/admission-and-financial-aid/class-of-2017-profile)
[Incoming</a> Class Profile - Kenyon College](<a href=“http://www.kenyon.edu/admissions-aid/admissions-statistics/]Incoming”>Kenyon in Numbers | Kenyon College)</p>

4

<p>Though it pains me to say it, UCLA does have a nice website.</p>

<p>I think Cal’s website has only gone through 3 revamps since the WWW started. Cal had a feedback link posted earlier last year and they made some minor updates. Hopefully, another full revamp will be coming soon. </p>

<p>I will say these sections on Cal’s website are particularly helpful and should be required posting on all university websites:
[National</a> rankings - UC Berkeley](<a href=“http://www.berkeley.edu/about/nrc-rank.shtml]National”>http://www.berkeley.edu/about/nrc-rank.shtml)
[Awards</a> held by faculty - UC Berkeley](<a href=“About - University of California, Berkeley”>About - University of California, Berkeley)</p>

<p>:)</p>

5

<p>^ That first page is the clearest presentation I’ve seen of the NRC doctoral program ranking data.</p>

6

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<p>UCs do not use class rank as reported by high schools in admissions, although they do their own percentile ranking by comparing applicants’ UC admissions GPAs to the historic UC admissions GPAs of the applicants’ high schools for the purpose of determining Eligibility in Local Context.</p>

7

<p>Some other web site things to consider:</p>

<ul>
<li>Common data set availability.</li>
<li>Clear statement of admission requirements and recommendations, including answers to such frequently asked questions such as “does ‘4 years of foreign language’ mean 4 years of courses or completion of the level 4 course?”.</li>
<li>Ease of finding the net price calculator.</li>
<li>List of available merit scholarships, how large they are, and how many are awarded.</li>
<li>Ease of finding course information, curricula, and degree requirements for each major/department.</li>
<li>Ease of finding schedule of classes, including class sizes.</li>
</ul>

8

<p>For a university that has made a greater contribution to computer science than any other, Berkeley really needs to step up its game. I think a simpler website might do. A single toolbar, followed by three sections (News, Alum/Giving, Resources for current staff and students) would be far more effective. </p>

<p>Right now, there are three toolbars, a bunch of links that lead to the same results, an antiquated class registration system, and loads of hard to find and widely spread out information. </p>

<p>I wonder who is responsible for the website. Dirks should make a complete revamp of the website a real priority. Berkeley should make use of the fact that it has among its alum the founder of Intel and chairman of Google.</p>

9

<p>But the most amusing website has to be [Monsters</a> University](<a href=“Monsters University | Disney Movies”>Monsters University | Disney Movies)</p>

10

<p>[The</a> 30 Best Designed U.S. College Websites](<a href=“http://www.webdesigndegreecenter.org/best-designed-college-websites/]The”>The 30 Best Designed U.S. College Websites - Web Design Degree Center)</p>