<p>Ability to get accepted and to pay
Availability of majors and depth of college catalog
Availability and quality of teaching staff
Where their graduates go (alumni support)
Size and quality of Library and other facilities
Living accomodations (dorms and off campus)
What the other students are like.
Location and lifestyle concerns (weather, music, arts)
name recognition</p>
<p>What are your criteria?</p>
<p>famous alumni.</p>
<p>Strong program in your area of interest, access to professors, small classes.</p>
<p>strength in my area of interest
research opportunities / senior thesis
strength in varied areas - I want to study with kids who're into really different things
location - interesting surroundings, weather, ability to attract interesting people/music/whatever
other students</p>
<p>My criteria are: (in order of importance)
-the availability of intended major
-the name recognition overall (ex. even if I were to study engineering, I would still pick Harvard over Berkeley, if only I were accepted to both.)
-name recognition in my intended field
-the quality of the student body at a school
-intellectual abilities of the faculty
-geographical location
-campus aesthetics</p>
<ul>
<li>Overall acedemic strength</li>
<li>Strength in my intended major</li>
<li>paths of the average undergraduate at the college</li>
<li>good facilities (especially the library)</li>
<li>Decent need-based aid</li>
<li>location (larger cities preferred)</li>
</ul>
<p>
[quote]
Ability to get accepted and to pay
[/quote]
If those two criteria were not kept mutually exclusive; the institution would eventually become to be seen as nothing more than a diploma mill for the wealthy. Oh, WAIT!?!?</p>
<p>Overall academic strength
faculty-student interaction
library resources
research and internship opportunities
student happiness</p>
<p>My criteria for finding a school was:
-Location (I wanted to get out of the Northeast)
-Sports Division (I needed to find a DI school)
-Opportunities for internship/graduate schools (I wanted to be somewhere near DC/North Carolina for poli. sci./cognitive science opportunities)
-Availability of major (I originally intended to go into cognitive studies, but since my school doesn't offer it, I'll probably go classics or anthropology)
-The right vibe</p>
<p>Ended up choosing Davidson, Wake Forest, Georgetown, and Tulane. Now to see if I get accepted to any of them.</p>
<p>"If those two criteria were not kept mutually exclusive; the institution would eventually become to be seen as nothing more than a diploma mill for the wealthy. Oh, WAIT!?!?"</p>
<p>but not all schools cost $40,000+</p>
<p>Dismissing the schools that one can't afford nor get in is a big discriminator. It is essential if the ranking is to create a list of places to apply.</p>
<p>Personally... (and not in any order yet, I'm only in 11)
-Location (city = great activities, rural/burbs = more of a close campus feel... also I'm not partial to Ontario)
-Size (500 people in your classes? I think not!)
-Extracurriculars avaliable (must have: Model UN!)
-Opportunities avaliable (for example: U of Ottawa to work as a Page in Parliament as a complement to a bilingual poli-sci degree)
-Chance of scholarship (I have no doubts about getting in, since I'm applying for arts, which typically constitutes an 80-84 cutoff... and I have a 95... but scholarships are important to me personally).
-Vibe (of course)
-Prestige (the <em>it</em> factor... I'm definetly going to graduate school... and they look highly upon the well-known schools and thus your chances of getting in go up).
-Programs offered (do they have a separate social sciences faculty? why not? do they have political science? or international development/globalization? the model UN practicum at bishop's which looks amazingly fun?)
-facilities (library, student services, exchange programs, campus)
-residence (possibility of a substance-free floor? healthy food floor?)
-oh, and I know this is personal, but I want to be with, if not close to, my boyfriend of 3 years (very important that we coordinate)</p>
<p><em>so many decisions</em></p>
<p>Would it be interesting to see the graduate class ranking compared to their SAT scores?</p>
<p>1.Student Faculty Ratios
2.Student Quality
3.Faculty Quality
4.Grad/Professional school placement</p>