<p>Of course, what is best for any given student may not necessarily be what gives the highest rankings. Beyond baseline criteria like having affordable cost and a decent degree program in the student’s major, consider other fit issues:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Student X is highly advanced, will be taking upper division courses as a freshman due to having taken post-AP transferable college courses in high school, may want to take esoteric specialty and graduate level courses and do graduate level research as an undergraduate in his/her major, does not mind large auditorium lectures, and is well capable of independently navigating a large bureaucracy.</p></li>
<li><p>Student Y is not highly advanced, will be taking regular freshman level courses as a freshman, will be taking mainly “core” courses in his/her major, learns best in small classroom environments with personal attention, and may need more hand-holding in the adjustment to college.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>It would be no great stretch of imagination to say that Student X will make the most of a big research university and minimize the disadvantages of such, while Student Y will make the most of a small LAC and minimize the disadvantages of such. But a small LAC is much less likely to be suitable for Student X, and a big research university is much less likely to be suitable for Student Y.</p>