There are a lot of different resources available for students to get a better idea about different colleges and how life might be on campus. Nothing can replace your impression of the campus and how you can (or cannot) imagine fitting in at a particular school, but there other tools such as school websites, visits with admissions representatives, and books or other resources all have information that can help round out your view of a school. Many people put a great deal of stock into college rankings and today Princeton Review released their updated "The Best 368 Colleges" book which features summaries of different schools and lists "Top 20's" for 62 different categories. There is some very interesting information that you can find by reading these lists. For example, if you love sports then it should be a big warning to you if you find that your top choice of college is on the "Nobody plays intramural sports" and "Intercollegiate Sports Unpopular or Nonexistent" lists. I do want to caution you - do not read too much into just this resource - use it as one source. For example, when you read things like top party schools (which OU is on the list for at #5) you will find that some students might be responding in a way that they want people to perceive a school and also it is important to keep this in perspective because students can find and make college into whatever experiene they want. Obviously since they are highlighting 368 colleges all schools are not included. Enjoy checking to see where your colleges of choice fall on the various lists.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
College Rankings
There are a lot of different resources available for students to get a better idea about different colleges and how life might be on campus. Nothing can replace your impression of the campus and how you can (or cannot) imagine fitting in at a particular school, but there other tools such as school websites, visits with admissions representatives, and books or other resources all have information that can help round out your view of a school. Many people put a great deal of stock into college rankings and today Princeton Review released their updated "The Best 368 Colleges" book which features summaries of different schools and lists "Top 20's" for 62 different categories. There is some very interesting information that you can find by reading these lists. For example, if you love sports then it should be a big warning to you if you find that your top choice of college is on the "Nobody plays intramural sports" and "Intercollegiate Sports Unpopular or Nonexistent" lists. I do want to caution you - do not read too much into just this resource - use it as one source. For example, when you read things like top party schools (which OU is on the list for at #5) you will find that some students might be responding in a way that they want people to perceive a school and also it is important to keep this in perspective because students can find and make college into whatever experiene they want. Obviously since they are highlighting 368 colleges all schools are not included. Enjoy checking to see where your colleges of choice fall on the various lists.
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