Final college project

BY: CARA CONGELLIPERIOD 5

College Project

Experimental Outline

To narrow down the college that best suits my preferences by analyzing the qualities that I find to be the most important.

Theory: My ideal college is one that is not out of state, but is still no closer than 2 hours from home. I would like the campus to be in an environment that provides a variety of outdoor activities such as hiking, kayaking, biking, snowboarding, and ultimate frisbee. I want to live on campus in dorms that are pleasant and convenient. The population should be small to medium in size, with a 30:1 or less student to faculty ratio. The college should have fields of study in Exercise and environmental sciences, and wildlife research. The cost of attending the school should be no more than $25000, with the support of need and non need based financial aid.

Hypothesis: I think Western Washington University would be the perfect fit for me because it is an instate school that is about 2 hours away. It is in a very eco-friendly area with a variety of forested trails and a lake. It is also not too far away from Mount Baker where I could go snowboarding. It is a medium-sized school and the student to faculty ratio is 21:1. I also would have a lot of room to explore what I would like to major in since they have over 160 academic programs including variety in environmental sciences. The cost per year would be around $20,000 which is in my price range. Western also provides on campus residency equipped with laundry facilities, computer labs, study areas, community kitchens, TV lounges, game rooms, bicycle storage, 24-hour security, and staffed service desks.

Purpose

Theory

Hypothesis

College List

Linfield College

Western Washington University

Quest University

Eastern Washington University

Cleveland State University

Oregon State University

University of Puget Sound

Washington State University

Green River Community College

Bellevue College

Ideal

OK

Not Ideal

Experimental Explanation

Procedure: After selecting 10 colleges to analyze, I created a 22 question survey that focused on qualities such as environment, academics, and pricing. This will help me break down each college in a way that reflects the aspects that I find to be important. Each question will be accompanied with a weighted point system to rank the colleges in order according to my questions.

Weighted Answers: My point system gave each of my questions a total of 30 or 60 points. Environment and location was the heaviest category of question while cost and academics were less weighted. I generated the point system this way because I want the area of the college to be comfortable and inspiring. If I am living in an enjoyable environment I will be more likely to find a field of study that best suits my interests.

Predictions

WWU, LC, QU, CSU

EWU, OSU, UPS

GRCC, BC, WSU

900-1140 points

700-800 points

0-700 points

Research Findings

School WWU LC CSU QU EWU OSU UPS WSU GRCC BC

Score 60 45 30 15 60 45 60 60 60 60

Total 60 45 30 15 60 45 60 60 60 60


Score 45 60 30 60 45 30 60 30 45 45

Total 105 105 60 75 105 75 120 90 105 105

1. Where is the college located?

a. Washington (60)

b. Oregon (45)c. Ohio (30)d. Canada (15)

1. What is the size of the population?

a. 35,000 or larger (15)

b. 25000 (30)

c. 15000 (45)d. 5000 or less (60)

Research Findings


Score 30 20 20 30 10 20 10 30 10 0

Total 135 125 80 105 115 95 130 120 115 105


Score 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60

Total 195 185 140 165 175 155 190 180 175 165

1. Does the school have majors in environmental science, exercise science, or wildlife research?

a. 1 of them (10)

b. 2 (20)

c. 3 (30)

14. are there places within 50 miles to go hiking, biking, rock climbing, snowboarding, swimming or boating?

a. Yes (60)b. No (0)

Research Findings

5. What is the student to teacher ratio?

a. More than 36-1 (15)

b. Between 26-1 and 35-1 (30)

c. Between 15-1 and 25-1 (45)d. Less than 15-1 (60)


Score 45 60 60 60 45 45 60 45 15 15

Total 240 245 200 225 220 200 250 225 190 180


Score 45 45 60 0 0 0 0 0 20 0

Total 285 290 260 225 220 200 250 225 210 180

6. Is there a dance program or a studio to take dance classes? (ballet, modern, tap, or jazz)

a. All 4 (60)b. 3 (45)c. 2 (30)d. 1 (15)e. 0 (0)

Research Findings

7. Are there job opportunities on campus or around campus?

a. Yes (60)

b. No (0)


Score 60 0 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60

Total 345 290 320 285 280 260 310 285 270 240


Score 60 45 15 30 45 45 0 30 0 0

Total 405 335 335 315 325 305 310 315 270 240

8. How far away from home is the college?

a. Under an Hour (0)

b. 1 to 3 hours (60)

c. 3 to 5 hours (45)d. 5 to 7 hours (30)e. 7> hours (15)

Research Findings

9. How far are you from a town or city?

a. < 15 minutes (60)

b. 16-25 minutes (45)

c. 25-35 minutes (30)d. 40< minutes (15)


Score 60 60 60 45 45 60 60 60 60 60

Total 465 395 395 360 370 365 370 375 330 300


Score 45 45 15 60 30 45 45 30 45 45

Total 510 440 410 420 400 410 415 405 375 345

1. What type of environment is it in?

a. Urban (15)

b. Rural (30)

c. Suburban (45)d. Village (60)

Research Findings

11. Is there an ultimate Frisbee team?

a. Yes (30)

b. No (0)


Score 30 0 30 30 30 0 30 30 0 0

Total 540 440 440 450 430 410 445 435 375 345


Score 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60

Total 600 500 500 510 490 470 505 495 435 405

12. Does the college have a religious affiliation?a. Yes (0)

b. No (60)

Research Findings

13. What is the female: male ratio? a. 50:50 (60)

b. 40:60 (45)

c. 60:40 (30)d. 100:0 (0)e. 20:80 (15)


Score 45 45 60 60 60 60 30 60 60 30

Total 645 545 560 570 550 530 535 555 495 435


Score 45 45 15 15 60 60 15 30 45 15

Total 690 590 575 585 610 590 550 585 540 450

14. How big is the campus? a. Under 150 acres (15)

b. Between 150 and 300 acres (45)

c. Between 300 and 600 acres (60)d. Over 600 acres (30)

Research Findings

15. Does the college have audition choirs?

a. Yes (60)

b. No (0)


Score 60 60 60 0 60 60 60 60 60 60

Total 750 650 635 585 670 650 610 645 600 510


Score 20 10 20 0 20 20 0 30 30 30

Total 770 660 655 585 690 670 610 675 630 540

16. What is the cost of tuition as of Fall 2012? a. Less than $15,000 (30)

b. $15,000-$30,000 (20)

c. $30,000-35000 (10)d. Greater than $35,000 (0)

Research Findings

17. What is the school’s rank according to US News? a. Top 50 (30)

b. Top 100 (20)

c. Top 150 (10)d. Not on the list (0)


Score 20 10 0 0 20 10 20 10 0 0

Total 790 670 655 585 710 680 630 685 630 540


Score 45 45 45 0 45 45 45 60 45 45

Total 835 715 700 585 755 725 675 745 675 585

18. What is the quality of safety according to Studentsreview.com?a. A (60)

b. B (45)

c. C (30)d. D (15)

19. Is there a good area to go running/walking (nature trails, non-busy roads)?a. Yes (60)

b. No (0)


Score 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60

Total 895 775 760 645 815 785 735 805 735 645


Score 60 60 60 0 60 60 0 60 0 0

Total 955 835 820 645 875 845 735 865 735 645

20. Is there a rec center?

a. Yes (60)

b. No (0)

21.Does the school provide need and/or non need based financial aid?

a. Need Based (20)

b. Non Need Based (10)

c. Both (30)d. Neither (0)


Score 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30

Total 985 865 850 675 905 875 765 895 765 675


Score 20 30 0 0 0 30 30 15 0 0

Total 1005 895 850 675 905 905 795 910 765 675

22. What is the most common GPA at the school?

a. 3.8 - 4.0 (30)b. 3.5-3.8 (20)c. 3.2-3.5 (10)d. Less than 3.2 (0)

Graph of Final Scores

College600

650

700

750

800

850

900

950

1000

1050

WWULCCSUQUEWUOSUUPSWSUGRCCBC

Great >900

So-So 750-900

Not Great <750

Statistical Analysis

Mode: 905 & 675Median: 905Mean: 838Range: 330Standard Deviation: 108.4 Statistical Significance: Due to the average score being lower

than I had expected I can now see how the majority of the colleges I chose to analyze seem to sit in the “OK” range, while only one college skyrocketed above the others into the “ideal” range. I can also tell that my weighted questions were effective since I can easily distinguish the better colleges from the rest.

Results

As I had predicted in my hypothesis, Western turned out the be the leading school amongst the rest. However, it was interesting to see the majority of the colleges clump together in the middle range instead of being more diverse. This could mean that my questions needed to be more specific in order to have scores that were more unique to each school. I also noticed a few schools that scored against my original predictions. Quest University, for example, was predicted to do well in this experiment, yet it ended up having the lowest score. WSU was also expected to do poorly but it ended up being only a few points away from being in the top scoring range.

Effectiveness of the Experiment

I appreciated the purpose of this experiment because it allowed me to ask questions that were customized towards what I found to be important in a college. Learning how to weight certain answers helped me figure out what I absolutely do and do not want to have in the college that I choose to attend.

One problem I had was finding information for certain colleges to ensure that I was accurately answering each question. For example, Quest University is a Canadian college and was not included on websites such as Collegeboard.com and princetonreview.com.

To a certain extent, the results are accurate. Western is the leading school in this experiment and it seems to be the right fit for me in all of the aspects I focused on. However I think my questions should have been more specific in order to have gotten a more refined set of scores. Each school is unique in its own way, and if I had taken more time to specify the what exactly I was looking for in each question, I probably would have gotten more diverse results. For example, I was very interested in the way Quest University went about building the intellect of their students. Since it was such a one-of-a-kind school, I probably should have geared more questions towards it’s special qualities so that it could earn more points.

Overall Findings

For the most part, the results reflect my preferences in regards to location. One aspect that many of the lower scoring schools have in common is their nearness to home. I think it is very important to embrace a sense of independence at college, which is why the most of the colleges that scored the highest were at least a 2 hour drive from home. I can also see through my findings that schools such as Cleveland State University and Quest University would be too much of a hassle to attend since they require a significant amount of money towards either tuition, or travel. I did end up proving my hypothesis because Western is located in a comfortable environment with an abundant source of outdoor activities that I enjoy. Western is the perfect fit for me because it will give me room to explore and discover my interests in an area where I feel the most inspired.

Improvements

Before beginning to research my questions, I think I should have taken the time to check whether the questions would have made an impact on the final outcome. For example, in my question about financial aid, every single college qualified for full credit because they all provided need and non need based aid. If I had known this before hand, I would have asked more specific questions.

I also would have created more academic related questions because this would have helped to emphasize my fondness of more prestigious schools such as universities over community colleges.

Final Thoughts

As much as I appreciated the idea of this experiment, I would have found it a lot more influential if I had done it as a junior. This not only would have been a great introduction to the realities of college, but it also would have prepared me for an early start on college applications. Now that I am a senior, I have also already created certain biases towards colleges, which may have skewed my results in some ways. If we had done this experiment earlier in the year I probably would have applied to a few more colleges that stood out to me in my results.

I enjoyed the curiosity this project gave me while researching my questions. It was actually exciting to spend time discovering the aspects of college that sparked my interest the most.

Best Fit

Works Cited

(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.studentsreview.com/compare.php3?adduid=1459&sel_state=WA

college board. (2011, december 12). The college board: College search. Retrieved from http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/index.jsp

The princeton review. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.princetonreview.com/

http://www.studentsreview.com/compare.php3?adduid=1459&sel_state=WA



http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/index.jsp



http://www.princetonreview.com/

http://www.princetonreview.com/

Education

Final college project