College Ranking: Tips for Finding the Best SchoolsPosted by Nick Niesen on October 27th, 2010 The official university ranking list that is published every year lists the top colleges in the country, however these lists don't go over many important issues to a student. Luckily there are several college ranking guides that are published by actual college students. The most accurate form of ranking colleges places a high importance on student happiness. College students grade their university based on a number of different factors, not just academic qualifications. This type of college ranking process reflects the opinions of current students and recent graduates and is not influenced by the institutions. If you search the internet you will find sites where students have given a college ranking based on criteria such as: * Parking These different aspects of college life all have varying levels of importance for a prospective student and the college ranking for one area may not be of interest but having them broken down into the individual categories allows a student to investigate the college ranking that is of interest to them and not just an overall ranking. For example, a student without a car will not be interested in the college ranking for available parking facilities but would be keen to find out about the transportation available in the college area. An art student may not be concerned that their first-choice college does not have high speed internet access in the dorm rooms but a computer major would class this as essential. Apart from visiting some of the college ranking websites and reading surveys conducted amongst students it is also useful to attend the colleges that you are considering before making a decision. This will enable you to confirm, or refute the claims made by the college ranking yourself and also offer you the chance to see if the college actually feels right for you before you accept a place. Like it? Share it!More by this author |