When given a choice . . . Which schools students choose

[Anonymous]

Interesting interactive feature in NY Tmes. .

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/04/upshot/why-colleges-with-a-distinct-focus-have-a-hidden-advantage.html?_r=0&abt=0002&abg=0

[Anonymous]

"77% of students picked University of Maryland, College Park over Penn State University."

Looks like it's finally been settled.

[Anonymous]

great link!

[Anonymous]

Fun! 86% choose UVA over William and Mary. That's great news for DS, who prefers the
Latter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"77% of students picked University of Maryland, College Park over Penn State University."

Looks like it's finally been settled.

Shhh... you'll wake the UMCP troll.

[Anonymous]

I thought this would be an interesting study until I realized the samples of students polled are actually tiny; 11? 6? Real scientific.

[Anonymous]

The geographic skewing of the students sampled will also introduce significant regional biases. The population is heavily weighted towards the Midwest, with a slight overrepresentation from California. In contrast, NE and the Mid-Atlantic are underrepresented. A sampling of some of the results bears this out. University of Michigan, University of Chicago, UCLA, and Cal Berkeley all do better than one would expect. I would suspect that a combination of financial considerations (namely, In State Tuition) and proximity to home are often driving factors in choice. Grain of Salt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought this would be an interesting study until I realized the samples of students polled are actually tiny; 11? 6? Real scientific.

I wish there were more observations, too, but not all the samples are tiny. The interactions between Big 10 schools are pretty clear, e.g.

[Anonymous]

Students choose based on a range of factors, not just academics. The Niche rankings capture this better than USNEWS or Shanghai