May 18th, 2009 — The Best Colleges
One of the great things about higher education is the culture that forms around it. The atmosphere is unmistakable. Art and recreation opportunities abound. Not to mention coffee houses and pubs with free music.
Many people who have gone to such a college often decide to move near one later in life. They can be magical experiences.
We just came across this great post listing the 5 best college towns from Studenomics called Top College Towns To Consider This Fall. Make sure to visit them for more details, but here’s the list:
1. Amherst, Mass.
2. Berkeley, California
3. Montreal, Quebec
4. Washington, D.C
5. Boston
Although we really believe that Princeton, NJ should be on this list.
March 22nd, 2009 — College Reviews
Most students like to do their due diligence before selecting a college or university as their school. But it’s often hard to find the best sites to look for good college reviews. Depending on what you are looking for, we’ve put together a list of the best college review sites that we could find online.
StudentReview – This is the leading site for student reviews. Not all of the reviews are great but there are enough reviews for most schools so that you can get a good feel of what students think. Keep in mind that when a student reviews a college, the student is most likely motivated to do so and this can skew their perspective. But, if enough students think badly or positively about a school it can be enough information to form an opinion.
US News & World Reports – These are professional rankings which include lots of statistical information. The reviews aren’t always representative of what you care about, but they will help you pick from only the best.
MyNextCollege Reviews – We love the forums here and the insight they provide into colleges in various states. Definitely worth checking out.
College Reviews by Teens – Looking for reviews from your peers? College reviews by teens is a fantastic place to get real reviews from real people just like you.
March 18th, 2009 — Financial Aid
The Seattle Times published a useful article outlining 10 steps to get the best financial aid package when going to college. The tips were both helpful and practical and we suggest that you read through the article if you are currently deciding which school to go to and trying to work out the financial aid situation:
Continue reading →
March 2nd, 2009 — Best Online Colleges, College Rankings
College Crunch has released it’s annual list of the best online colleges. If you are considering an online education, you should definitely check this list out. It’s the best list we’ve seen online.
Here are there top 3 online colleges of 2009:
1. Devry University
2. University of Phoenix
3. Capella University
To see the rest of the rankings, click here.
March 2nd, 2009 — College Rankings
In this post we asked Are College Rankings Reliable? and while people disagree on the answer to that question, there is no disputing that college students find such rankings reliable. Sure, the difference between and 1-10 might be indiscernible in actuality and thus the choice might be better left to some campus visits. Nonetheless, the schools in 1-10 are going to be great schools.
Anyway, we say this only because we like rankings. We think rankings cause colleges to strive for excellence. And while rankings aren’t perfect, they are useful. They serve a purpose.
February 21st, 2009 — College Rankings
UCSD’s Guardian newspaper makes the argument the most of the college rankings systems aren’t thorough enough and they often skimp on being scientific about their metrics.
As it can seem unnecessarily expensive and exhaustive to visit college campuses or do in-depth research outside of pamphlets and Web sites, rankings systems such as U.S. News and World Report’s annual “America’s Best Colleges” carry dangerous weight. But any prospective college kid — not to mention the general public — should take care to evaluate a publication’s methodology before letting those rankings affect their own opinion.
Notice that last sentence. How many students are really going to evaluate a publications methodology? Instead of doing that, we propose that there should be a watchdog group that independently evaluates the ranking systems for quality. That way students will know which publications to trust.
From: Top-College Rankings Oversimplify Research
February 11th, 2009 — College Selection, The Best Colleges
This article from MarketWatch discusses strong evidence for why location matters when choosing a college. The best location for college is going to have low cost of living but offer lots of opportunity.
“I’ve talked to hundreds of seniors in college who have told me that they didn’t realize how important college location was until they got to school. But it should be one of the top considerations for students and parents,” said Todd Hoffman, a college researcher and consultant.
The best place to go to college ultimately comes down to personal preferences. Do you need city life to feel happy? Do you need to be near family? What are your post-graduate plans? All of these things should weigh heavily when choosing a college.
Moral of the story: don’t choose a college based on reputation alone. Some of the best colleges are in bad locations which make it harder to get a job after college not to mention contribute to depression (lack of contentment, no access to favorite activities, too cold, too hot, not near family, etc.) during school. the best place for college comes down to your career goals. But you can’t go wrong in choosing a location that offers low cost of living, abundant job opportunities, and high earning potential.
February 10th, 2009 — Best Online Colleges, Online Degree Programs
College Crunch has a nice overview of colleges with the best online psychology degrees available today. In the article they highlight three of the best online psychology programs for getting a degree in psychology. Included on the list are:
- Walden University
- Liberty University
- Capella University
February 10th, 2009 — College Software
Looking for the best free software and tools for college students? You don’t have to look any further. We’ve compiled a list of the best resources online to find free alternatives to the expensive software you often have to purchase.
February 10th, 2009 — Financial Aid, Most Affordable
US News & World Report has a thought provoking piece on why Black Colleges might be the best bargains in higher education during this economy, especially as many have open enrollment for people of all races:
But all of this may create an unprecedented opportunity for the HBCUs that have proved they can turn disadvantaged kids into stars at a comparatively low cost. Morehouse, for example, is attracting all kinds of applicants interested in a small private college education with a sticker price about $15,000 lower than those of elite majority-white schools in the Northeast. Last year’s valedictorian was white, for example. And for his medical school classes, Paul says, “I just want the brightest people. I don’t care if they are grey, yellow …”
Read more at US News & World Report