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Lena
Student
North Little Rock, Arkansas
4
Questions
Asked
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Is this a good way to organize potential colleges?
Title basically says it all. I know it's an early age for me to be doing this, but it's important to me that I get this done. So far, I have organized the spreadsheet below into six sections (at the time of posting). Is this a good way to do it?
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZYbUpxcrVWBEs8ja_1aJa9f5mL6LqCKWuq0-j7N0OLk/edit?usp=sharing
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1 answer
Tony Riccobono
Technical Program Manager
17
Answers
Huntington Beach, California
Updated
Tony’s Answer
Hello Lena,
I think it's great that you are thinking about college now! An approach like this can be useful, as long as it actually helps you to make good decisions. If your decision process tends to be one where you like to consider many details, make comparisons, and come to a logical conclusion, a spreadsheet like this can be very helpful.
Keep in mind that a spreadsheet like this is only as good as the data or facts that you include, and some categories may not lend themselves to a quantitative approach. In addition, you need to decide how you will make comparisons that involve multiple categories - do you plan to just sort each category to see the top N schools for that category, or come up with some sort of score for each school that considers all of the categories, or some other approach? If you plan to create a "score," how will the score consider categories that have different scales (how will you "normalize" the data for each category), and do you want the ability to "weight" different categories more than others? You can make a sheet like this as simple or as complex as you choose - complex is not necessarily better.
Let me offer some additional advice:
1. Be sure to select categories that are important to your decision, and be willing to change your categories as you find out more about different schools - or more about what is important to you. I noticed that the categories you chose didn't include majors being offered or housing situations, those are categories worth considering. Do you have a preference for a small school vs a large school? A city vs a rural campus? A school with a top-ranked sports team? What about costs and financial aid availability? What about the availability of extracurricular activities like music or sports? Some of these you may not be able to answer right now, but give them some thought.
2. Don't go overboard with too many categories. You don't want to have so much data that you end up focusing on minor things at the expense of the big picture. If you find yourself obsessing over smaller details, be willing to step back and consider reducing the data that you are considering. In addition, recognize that some differences in values are more meaningful than others, and be careful to avoid inadvertently favoring or penalizing a school due to small differences, for example is there a meaningful difference between an acceptance rate of 15% vs 20%?
3. DON'T use this data as the sole decision process! Talk to people who are already attending or have recently attended the schools you are considering to hear their opinions and experiences, and if possible visit the campuses yourself. Certain aspects of a university experience really need to be considered subjectively - you need to see the campus, the classrooms, the dorm rooms, and get a "feel" for the experience. One way to use a spreadsheet like this is to decide which schools to NOT choose - use it to weed out schools to reduce the size of the list you are considering and allow you to focus on a smaller set of schools, to decide which ones to visit.
4. "Trust your gut!" If a school seems to end up low on your list based on a score or ranking but something is telling you that it is a school worth considering, don't rule out that school.
Ultimately, the value of a spreadsheet like this may not be in the results it produces - it's how the *process* of gathering the data and considering different categories gets you thinking about what you want to get out of your college experience and what is really important to you. It's also useful to help you determine what compromises you are willing to make as you choose which schools to apply to - or to attend.
I think it's great that you are thinking about college now! An approach like this can be useful, as long as it actually helps you to make good decisions. If your decision process tends to be one where you like to consider many details, make comparisons, and come to a logical conclusion, a spreadsheet like this can be very helpful.
Keep in mind that a spreadsheet like this is only as good as the data or facts that you include, and some categories may not lend themselves to a quantitative approach. In addition, you need to decide how you will make comparisons that involve multiple categories - do you plan to just sort each category to see the top N schools for that category, or come up with some sort of score for each school that considers all of the categories, or some other approach? If you plan to create a "score," how will the score consider categories that have different scales (how will you "normalize" the data for each category), and do you want the ability to "weight" different categories more than others? You can make a sheet like this as simple or as complex as you choose - complex is not necessarily better.
Let me offer some additional advice:
1. Be sure to select categories that are important to your decision, and be willing to change your categories as you find out more about different schools - or more about what is important to you. I noticed that the categories you chose didn't include majors being offered or housing situations, those are categories worth considering. Do you have a preference for a small school vs a large school? A city vs a rural campus? A school with a top-ranked sports team? What about costs and financial aid availability? What about the availability of extracurricular activities like music or sports? Some of these you may not be able to answer right now, but give them some thought.
2. Don't go overboard with too many categories. You don't want to have so much data that you end up focusing on minor things at the expense of the big picture. If you find yourself obsessing over smaller details, be willing to step back and consider reducing the data that you are considering. In addition, recognize that some differences in values are more meaningful than others, and be careful to avoid inadvertently favoring or penalizing a school due to small differences, for example is there a meaningful difference between an acceptance rate of 15% vs 20%?
3. DON'T use this data as the sole decision process! Talk to people who are already attending or have recently attended the schools you are considering to hear their opinions and experiences, and if possible visit the campuses yourself. Certain aspects of a university experience really need to be considered subjectively - you need to see the campus, the classrooms, the dorm rooms, and get a "feel" for the experience. One way to use a spreadsheet like this is to decide which schools to NOT choose - use it to weed out schools to reduce the size of the list you are considering and allow you to focus on a smaller set of schools, to decide which ones to visit.
4. "Trust your gut!" If a school seems to end up low on your list based on a score or ranking but something is telling you that it is a school worth considering, don't rule out that school.
Ultimately, the value of a spreadsheet like this may not be in the results it produces - it's how the *process* of gathering the data and considering different categories gets you thinking about what you want to get out of your college experience and what is really important to you. It's also useful to help you determine what compromises you are willing to make as you choose which schools to apply to - or to attend.