Comparison of Top 11 College Search Engines: College Acceptance Rates

accepted studentsWill I get in? If you just listen to the media starting at the beginning of April, you would think that the answer to this question for most college applicants is no. All you hear about is the ever decreasing admittance rates at some of the most highly competitive colleges and universities in the country. What possible chance does your kid have in getting in?

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Comparison of Top 11 College Search Engines: Colleges in Large Cities

(This is part 6 of Comparison of Top 11 College Search Engines)

City lights at nightThe fifth college criteria for our fictional student is that it must be located in or near a major city. There are plenty of good reasons for this requirement including transportation access, cultural and recreational attractions, part-time employment opportunities, and availability of internships.

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Comparison of Top 11 College Search Engines: Does College Size Matter?

(This is part 5 of Comparison of Top 11 College Search Engines)Big-Fish-Small-Fish

The fourth element for our fictional high school student’s college search is school size. Without ever having attended college, many high school students have some very definitive ideas about what size school they want to attend. “Big” is associated with endless academic options, social opportunities, and alumni networking. “Small” is about personalized attention, small classes, dinners with professors, and tight-knit social groups.

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50-50 Highlights: 3-2 Engineering Programs

Engineering studentToo often students limit their choices because of preconceived notions about what is “best” or “required.” If you want to do pre-med, you must be a major research university; if you’re interested in film, nothing less than a film school will do. And if you want to be an engineer, you must attend an engineering school.

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Comparison of Top 11 College Search Engines: How Far Away Should You Go To College?

(This is part 4 of Comparison of Top 11 College Search Engines)Long hilly road

Most college students attend a school within a four-hour drive of their home. Fifty percent are actually within 100 miles of their home. Location is usually one of the primary factors in the college search. It is the first option for five of the eleven college search websites and a near the top in three more. Seven of the websites offer the option to search by distance from a zip code.

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Comparison of Top 11 College Search Engines: Should You Attend an Out-of-State Public University

(This is part 3 of Comparison of Top 11 College Search Engines)

Maze in the shape of a dollar signIn my original review of college search websites I had a list of seven requirements for a fictional high school student in her college search. The second factor I listed was that she didn’t care whether the school was public or private. Since she doesn’t care, you would think I would be skipping on to the next requirement.

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Comparison of Top 11 College Search Engines: Will Attending a Community College Save You Money?

Woman putting money in piggy bank(This is part 2 of Comparison of Top 11 College Search Engines)

In the original review of comparing college search?  websites, I used a set of college preferences for a fictional high school student. At the time, I based them on the factors that seemed most frequently mentioned in the college search process-I know, not very scientific.

I don’t intend to become any more scientific this time around. I do want to discuss how the different search criteria can affect how much you pay for college.

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50-50 Highlights: Top Research Universities and Colleges Ranked by Research Expenditures

student in research labAfter the Ivy League schools and their competition as ranked by US News, the next level of desirable institutions of higher education tends to be top research universities, usually state flagship institutions. While there are many different reasons why high school students want to go to research universities, for a certain group of students, the reason is the access to and influence of research.

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