College Stuff

[skip]

Well, here is my college stuff thread including a NEED TO DO LIST and a accepted/rejected status. My goal here is to have everything done by the end of this month, hopefully.

College choice 1: University of Michigan -- HAVEN'T STARTED 
College choice 2: Michigan State University -- WORKING ON ESSAY
College choice 3: Eastern/Central Michigan University -- APPLIED; need to have counselor fill out counselor form and send transcript.
College choice 4: Wayne State University -- APPLIED; need to have counselor fill out counselor form and send transcript.

ACT score sent to all colleges.

I'm going to eventually post my achievements, awards and employment history and essay stuff here for proof reading.

[d&q]

May I ask why you're keen about applying only in-state?

[Newby]

May I ask why you're keen about applying only in-state?

I'm guessing same reason lots of kids just applied to State, even when they could have gotten into a UC or better: they don't care enough to leave home and/or it's cheaper.

[Camel]

The furthest college I applied to was 200 miles away. I wanted to be far enough away that I wouldn't have to see my parents regularly, but that I could still come home for thanksgiving

It also didn't hurt that this area is booming in my industry.

[Chavo]

The furthest college I applied to was 200300 miles away. I wanted to be far enough away that I wouldn't have to see my parents regularly, but that I could still come home for thanksgiving

[skip]

May I ask why you're keen about applying only in-state?

It's cheaper to stay in state. I can't afford out of state, even on loans. I don't want to have >$100000 to pay off after school. Plus, University of Michigan--Ann Arbor is a great school. It ranks #25 for the best colleges in America.

[Chavo]

Name a school.  I'll find a statistic that puts them in the top 25 of something nationally.

[skip]

I'm talking overall.

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/t1natudoc_brief.php

[Newby]

I'm talking overall.

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/t1natudoc_brief.php

Do a check for major. For instance, UC Santa Barbara is probably a top 10 for physics nationally, beating out some Ivy League schools. It's only #44 on that list, though.

[Ender]

You should place more importance on whether the schools you're applying to have the programs you want, and if so how good these programs are. Make sure that every college you end up applying to satisfies you in this respect.

[Ender]

I'm talking overall.

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/t1natudoc_brief.php

Do a check for major. For instance, UC Santa Barbara is probably a top 10 for physics nationally, beating out some Ivy League schools. It's only #44 on that list, though.

asshole, you beat me to it

[Chavo]

I'm talking overall.

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/t1natudoc_brief.php

It really doesn't matter.  The statistic you linked to only shows that Ann Arbor is ranked the 25th best University by USNews.com using an arbitrary ranking system governed by an arbitrarily chosen set of criteria.  There are far too many variables with no 'best' way of combining them into a composite score for any such list to be authoritative.  Have you ever been to a University that hasn't claimed they were the best (and had some kind of numbers to prove it)?  I haven't.  That doesn't mean the article you linked to is meaningless.  Chances are USNews chose at least some good variables to base their ratings on and for Ann Arbor to do well in these rankings it is probably a good school.  'Top 25' however, doesn't mean more than 'Top 500' to me.

[skip]

I'm talking overall.

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/t1natudoc_brief.php

It really doesn't matter.  The statistic you linked to only shows that Ann Arbor is ranked the 25th best University by USNews.com using an arbitrary ranking system governed by an arbitrarily chosen set of criteria.  There are far too many variables with no 'best' way of combining them into a composite score for any such list to be authoritative.  Have you ever been to a University that hasn't claimed they were the best (and had some kind of numbers to prove it)?  I haven't.  That doesn't mean the article you linked to is meaningless.  Chances are USNews chose at least some good variables to base their ratings on and for Ann Arbor to do well in these rankings it is probably a good school.  'Top 25' however, doesn't mean more than 'Top 500' to me.

Yeah, I see what you mean. It looks as though USNews has based their rankings on Peer assessment [of the school], freshman retention rate, graduation rate, teacher-student ratio, acceptance rate and other not so important things. I find those pretty solid variables to determine the ranking of a certain college.

I'm talking overall.

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/t1natudoc_brief.php

Do a check for major. For instance, UC Santa Barbara is probably a top 10 for physics nationally, beating out some Ivy League schools. It's only #44 on that list, though.

You should place more importance on whether the schools you're applying to have the programs you want, and if so how good these programs are. Make sure that every college you end up applying to satisfies you in this respect.

I honestly don't know what I plan on majoring in though..... 

[Chavo]

I honestly don't know what I plan on majoring in though..... 

Then a large, diverse University with a number or programs is probably the right fit

[Camel]

You should place more importance on whether the schools you're applying to have the programs you want, and if so how good these programs are. Make sure that every college you end up applying to satisfies you in this respect.

Definitely true; the school I went to is #62 on that list, but there's only one school above it (MIT) that had the types of programs I wanted. To be honest, I probably would've gone to MIT if it was more than 10 miles from my parents house; I really needed to get away from there!