How to Choose “Best-Fit” Colleges

College-bound students are often overwhelmed at the task of identifying the “best-fit” school at which to continue their academic journey.  With more than 4,000 colleges in the country, students should turn to available resources to guide their all-important decision.

One tool, that has stood the test of time, is the annual Best Colleges guide by U.S. News & World Report. In its newly released 40^th edition, the guide ranks the “Best National Universities,” from #1 to #300+, with details on such qualities as graduation and retention rate, student/faculty ratio, and financial resources. Even more helpful to students who know what they want to study in college are the specific rankings within the guide on “Best Business Programs,” “Best Engineering Programs,” “Best Computer Science Programs,” and more. U.S. News and World Report also offers an online search tool, College Compass.

 

Students can also turn to College Board, the company that offers the PSAT and SAT exams, to utilize its “Big Future” online search tool.  Students indicate the specific criteria they are seeking in a college, such as preferred size, location, specific major, particular sport or extracurricular activity, and housing options. The database then presents a list of all colleges that meet their requirements.

College Sticker Price May Now Exceed $90,000

The number of students who sought admission to NYU for this year’s freshman class totaled 118,000, according to University statistics.  Of this applicant pool, 22,000 applied “early decision,” with a commitment to attend if accepted. The overall acceptance rate was 8%.  

What some people may find baffling is that the “sticker price” of NYU’s Stern School of Business for the current academic year is $94,914. (Prices vary slightly among NYU’s different colleges.) This covers tuition, food and housing, and estimated costs for books and supplies, transportation, and personal expenses.  For commuter students, the price is listed at $76,662.

 

NYU is not alone. Other colleges with sticker prices exceeding $90,000 this year include the University of South California at $95,000, The University of Pennsylvania and Brown University (Rhode Island) at $92,000, Dartmouth College (New Hampshire) at $91,000 and Boston University at $90,000, according to the Associated Press. Meanwhile, the competition is fierce to gain acceptance to each of these schools, with an overall acceptance rate between 5% and 11%.