Diving into College Research

When it comes to learning about colleges, there is no better way than visiting the campus, seeing the facilities, meeting students, etc. Visiting lots of campuses (especially if they’re far from home) can be prohibitively expensive and time consuming, so it’s important to get the most out of your college research. As you’re researching, make sure to take clear notes on the things that stand out to you most (these will come in handy when you have to write those “why us” essays!) The things I suggest paying the most attention to are: 

• Location: What is there to do nearby? How would you get around? etc 

• Commute: How easy will it be to get home and back? 

• Room & Board: What are the housing and dining options like?

• Academics: What majors are available? What is the academic culture like (competitive vs. supportive, etc)?

• Campus Culture: What do students care about? What is driving the social life? etc

One of my biggest pieces of advice for students is to use a range of different resources (ones that give objective information, as well as those that offer subjective student/alumni viewpoints.) Here are a few examples of each of those:

Objective:

• First and foremost, take advantage of the vast amount of information housed on each school’s individual website! They tend to be predictable and easy to navigate - offering links, typically across the top, taking you right to important aspects like “Academics” (which outlines all of their academic offerings, faculty bios, course descriptions, etc) and “Student Life” (which has info about housing, dining, student organizations, etc). Take advantage of all there is to learn about the school, bearing in mind that the website is meant to draw you in and show you the school in the best light! But also, don’t write a school off completely if their website is lousy or difficult to navigate (some of them are!)

• The Princeton Review offers a wealth of data on their website about each school. You do need to create a login to take advantage of all the site has to offer, but it’s free! You can also purchase their guide in book form.

• Speaking of books, The Fiske Guide is probably one of the best resources you can find, as it offers lots of hard data, as well as giving a reader a better sense of the “vibe” of each school. A new edition is released each year with updated stats and campus descriptions!

• A couple bonus resources if you’re looking for more data packaged in different ways:

  • College Data

  • College Navigator

  • College Scorecard

  • IPEDS College Map  

Subjective:

• My favorite subjective resource to recommend to students is Niche; I refer to it as the Yelp of college admissions. It has some hard data, as well as polls and typically thousands of reviews from current and former students. I urge students to take these reviews with a grain of salt, but to look for recurring themes/patterns that might be red (or green!) flags. 

• Unigo is another great site offering student perspectives with answers/ratings to direct questions as well as student reviews. 

Ultimately, while these are my preferred resources to recommend to students, I urge them to use any resources that they feel comfortable with: YouTube, Reddit, Instagram (and other social media), they all have something to offer!