.jpg)
Recent studies show that students are more interested in the quality of life than the prestige of the university. Obama’s administration is compiling information on universities with graduate rates, solid job placement records and generous student aid, all the information that parents would be most interested in. The Princeton Review has polled students and found that quality of life is as important as the academics.
When a college makes the top 20 list for “happy students,” applications go up by 2.9 percent, as does the academic competitiveness of the incoming class.
When the college makes the top 20 list for “most beautiful campus,” applications go up by 2.3 percent, as does the academic competitiveness of the incoming class.
Making the list of “least happy students” results in an application decline of 5 percent.
Making the list for “least beautiful campus,” (formerly called the “unsightly, tiny campus” category) results in a 5.2 percent decrease.
Just as there is minimal impact from the party school designation, the study found no impact from being designated a “stone cold sober” or “jock” college. The paper suggests that there is enough self-selection in the student bodies of institutions that lead these lists, that the designations do not matter. It is after all hardly a revelation to find Brigham Young University on top of the sober list.
Reback, said, “that these results don’t mean that colleges should ignore academics. He said that the study finds that the baseline level of applications is influenced by the overall academic reputation.” What the study finds is that, whether a college’s academic reputation is strong or not, it can go up or down based on these non-academic factors.
I graduated from California State University Long Beach. I am one of the lucky ones a beautiful campus, a beautiful city, a good quality of life and a great academic reputation. Whatever the case a great academic reputation should be the most important thing on your list.
No comments:
Post a Comment