WE CONDUCTED A SURVEY of My College Guide readers (whose median GPA is 3.8) to find out what factors were most important when narrowing college application choices. The results?
• 65% said strength in intended major
• 54% said financial aid availability
• 54% said cost of attendance
• 38% said a visit to campus
So where did rankings by national magazines fall in the results? Only 16% of our readers rated rankings in national magazines as “most important.”
A 2011 UCLA survey of over 200,000 incoming freshmen at 279 colleges produced very similar results. Here’s what students in that survey found to be “very important” in influencing their decision to attend a college:
• 63.7% said the college’s academic reputation
• 54.6% said the graduates’ rate of job success
• 44.0% said the college’s offer of financial assistance
• 42.5% said a visit to campus
As for what the national magazines deem “prestigious” the results of the UCLA survey also indicated that those rankings don’t seem to play a very big role for most college-bound students. Only 18% of those surveyed thought college rankings in national magazines was “very important.”
So what does this tell us? Whether a school is considered prestigious by national rankings is far less important to top students than choosing a school that fits their academic interests meets their financial capability makes an impression on them in person and presents a bright future in terms of job prospects down the road.
If you’re curious about the other reasons students choose a college you can read more about the UCLA survey results here: http://www.examiner.com/article/economics-continues-to-influence-college-choice.
