College Selection Experiment Results

College
Selection
Experiment
Tim Denby

Purpose
The purpose to this experiment
is to determine the best
possible college for me based
on what I need and want out
of a college.

Theory
The best possible college would have either a collegiate
soccer team or a intramural basketball and soccer program. It
should have a quality psychology program, and be within 12
hours driving distance of my home. Ideally, it should be a mid-size
school (around 15,000 students). It should have enough
transportation (walking, bike, buses) so I do not have to use a car.
Because I will probably live in a dorm freshman year, I would like a
school with apartments close to campus so I can live there after
freshman year. I would also like to have the school be in
somewhat of a small, college town, but also have things to do
outside the university. I would like the school to have varsity sports
that are competitive and are part of the culture at the university.
I would like the tuition to be under 12,000 a year, as well as have
meal plans available for at least freshman year. I would like the
class sizes to be somewhat small (40 students) for freshman year,
to allow interaction between the professor and among the
students also. There also has to be study abroad opportunities.

Hypothesis
 I think the best possible school for me is Western
Washington University. It has intramural sports of all
kinds, and I may be able to try out for the
collegiate soccer team. They have many different
styles of dorms, and they also have apartments
close to campus. They have a quality psychology
department, their student population is just under
15,000 students, and the university and the city of
Bellingham have plenty of recreational things to
do.

College List

Dream Realistic Back Up
Universities Universities Universities
• Oregon State • Western Washington • GRCC
University University • University of Oregon
• University of Portland • Washington State • Concordia University
• Whitworth University University • Predicted Score:
• Seattle University • Boise State University 550 Points or lower
• Predicted Score: 650 • Montana State
Points or higher University
• Predicted Score:
600 to 550 Points

Experimental Explanation
 In order to verify which college is best for me, I have
designed a 20 question survey, that will be answered for
each college, based on my theory of what sort of
college would best suit me.
 Each Question has a possibility of 50 points. But, for
some questions, no answer is quality enough for there to
be a 50-point answer, so each answer’s point value is
what I think its importance is out of 50 points. The points
are based on the relevance of the questions and how
important it is to me that this be included in the school.
Answer possibilities are on an interval of 5. Some
colleges have answers of zero because there no correct
answer for that question.

Sample Question
 What is the tuition for students, before
scholarships, government aid, and without
any other expenses added? (x = tuition)
 a. Under $5,000 (50 points)
 b. $5,000<x<$14,000 (40 points)
 c. $14,000<x<$25,000 (20 points)
 d. Over $25,000 (10 points)
 Each answer choice has a highest possible
point amount of 50 points, but depending on
the significance of the question, the top answer
could be less than 50 points.

1. What intramural sports do they
have?
a. soccer 40
b. basketball 30
c. flag football 20
d. all of the above 50

OSU Whit UP SU WSU WWU BSU MSU CU UO GRC
C
Question
Points 50 30 50 50 50 50 30 50 30 50 0

Runnin 50 30 50 50 50 50 30 50 30 50 0
g Total

2. What is the schools population? (x =
population of school)
a. x<4,000 20
b. 4,000<x<9,000 20
c. 9,000<x<14,000 40
d. 14,000<x<19,000 50
e. 19,000<x 30
C
30 20 40 50 30 50 30 30 20 30 20
Question
Points

Running 80 50 90 100 80 100 60 80 50 80 20
Total

3. Is the college in a college town atmosphere or a big city atmosphere?
a. College town where everything revolves around and
supports the school 30
b. College town where almost everything revolves around and
supports the school, but there are still activities not involving
the school 40
c. Big city that does not have the city’s life revolve around the
school and there are many activities around the city, many
that do not involve the school 20
d. Big city, but still has many activities around that do include
the school 30

C
Question
Points
30 20 30 30 30 40 30 40 20 30 20

Running 110 70 120 130 110 140 90 120 70 110 40
Total

4. How big is the campus?
a. High school size 15
b. 15 minutes walking from one side of
campus to the other 25
c. 40 minutes walking from one side of
campus to the other 35
d. More than 40 minutes walking from
one side of the campus to the other 20

C
Question
Points
35 25 25 25 35 25 35 35 25 35 15

Runnin 145 95 145 155 145 165 125 155 95 145 55
g Total

5. What housing options are
available for freshman?
a. Two-person dorms 20
b. Live at home 5
c. Fraternities 15
d. Apartments- On or off campus 30
e. all of the above 50

C
Question
Points
20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 30 20 5

Running 165 115 165 175 165 185 145 175 125 165 60
Total

6. What housing options are
available after freshman year?
Apartments- On or off campus 40
Live at home 5
c. Resident Assistant 25
d. Fraternities 15

C
Question
Points
40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 5

Running 205 155 205 215 205 225 185 215 165 205 65
Total

7. Where is the college
located?
a. Western Washington 40
b. Eastern Washington 40
c. Oregon 30
d. Montana 30
e. Idaho 15

C
Question
Points
30 40 30 40 40 40 15 30 30 30 40

Running 235 195 235 255 245 265 200 245 195 235 105
Total

8. How far is it away from
home?
a. Under an hour, driving 20
b. Under two hours, driving 25
c. Under five hours, driving 30
d. Ten hours, driving 15

C
Question
Points
30 30 25 20 30 25 15 15 25 30 20

Running 265 225 260 275 275 290 215 260 220 265 125
Total

9. What kind of psychology program do the school have?
b. It is rigorous and very detailed of the undergraduate
process and one of the college’s best and successful
programs 50
c. It is an excellent major to obtain at the college, but not
what the college is best known for 40
It is one of the many quality majors that can make the
student very successful, but the college is not best known for
anything in particular 30
d. It is not one of the better majors to obtain at the college,
but can still be successful 20
C
Question
Points
30 30 30 40 40 30 30 30 40 40 20

Running 295 255 290 305 305 320 245 290 260 295 145
Total

10. What varsity athletics are
played at the college?
a. All major sports 50
b. All major sports, but football 30
c. All major sports, but soccer 30
d. Only a few sports 20

C
Question 50 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 50 30
Points

Running 345 285 32 335 335 350 275 320 290 345 175
Total 0

11. What jobs are available?
a. Resident Assistant 25
b. Teacher’s Assistant 30
c. A job with a store on campus 50
d. A job with a store off campus 40

C
Question
Points
50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 40

Running 395 345 370 385 385 400 325 370 340 395 215
Total

12. Are there opportunities
to study abroad?
a. Yes, only in South America 30
b. Yes, only in Europe 40
c. Yes, in all continents 50
d. No 0

OSU Whit UP SU WSU WWU BSU MSU CU UO GRCC

Question 40 40 40 40 50 40 40 40 40 40 0
Points

Running 435 385 410 425 435 440 365 410 380 435 215
Total

13. How accessible are faculty members for assistance outside
of class?

a. Very accessible, there are hours when students can go in and
see them personally or make appointments 50
b. Somewhat accessible, sometimes there are hours when
students can see them personally or make appointments, but
otherwise students must use their assistants 35
c. Only accessible through their assistants and all contact must
be made through them 10
d. No, there can be no communication with the faculty member 0

C
Question 35 50 50 50 35 50 35 50 50 35 50
Points

Running 470 435 460 475 470 490 400 460 430 470 265
Total

14. What options for internships are available?
a. The university helps students get internships for their
area of study outside of the school 40
b. There are internships available associated with the
school 40
c. The university helps students get internships
associated and not associated with the school 50
d. The university does not help students get internships,
it is up to the student to get an internship 10

C
Question 50 40 40 40 50 40 40 40 40 50 10
Points

Running 520 475 500 515 520 530 440 500 480 520 275
Total

15. What kind of organizations,
clubs, activities are available for
students
a. Community service
organization/clubs 20
b. Recreational
organizations/clubs 30
c. Organizations/clubs related
to certain areas of study 25
d. All of the above 50

C
Question 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 30
Points

Running 570 525 550 565 570 580 490 550 530 570 305
Total

16. How geographically diverse is the
student body?
a. Primarily from one state 30
b. Even population through all the states 40
c. Primarily from northwestern United
States (WA, OR, ID, MT) 30
d. Even population from all the states,
and internationally 40

C
Question 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 40 30 40 30
Points

Running 600 555 580 595 600 610 520 590 560 610 335
Total

17. What are the class
sizes for introductory
courses?
a. Under 15 people 50
b. 15<x<40 35
c. 40<x<100 20
d. Over 100 people 10

C
Question 20 35 20 20 20 20 20 20 35 20 20
Points

Running 620 590 600 615 620 630 540 610 595 630 355
Total

18. What are the class sizes for
more advances courses in a
students’ major?
a. Under 10 people 50
b. 10<X<30 40
c. 30<X<60 25
d. Over 60 people 10

C
Question 40 50 50 40 50 50 50 40 50 40 40
Points

Running 660 640 650 655 670 680 590 660 545 670 395
Total

19. What kinds of meal plans are available for students?
a. Many meal plans to choose from, to fit what the
students thinks they will eat in quarter, semester, etc. 50
b. Some meal plans available, but can be expensive or
food is not that good 35
c. A meal plan is available, but food is not that
appetizing 20
d. No meal plans available, it is up to the student to get
food 10

C
Question 50 35 50 35 50 35 50 50 35 50 10
Points

Running 710 675 700 685 720 715 640 710 580 720 405
Total

20. What is the tuition for students,
before scholarships, government
aid, and without any other
expenses added? (x = tuition)
a. Under $5,000 50
b. $5,000<x<$14,000 40
c. $14,000<x<$25,000 20
d. Over $25,000 10
C
Question 10 10 10 10 40 40 40 20 20 10 50
Points

Running 720 685 710 695 760 755 680 730 600 730 455
Total

College Experiment Results
Back Ups Realistic Dream
800
750
700
Dream colleges
650 prediction (675)
Realistic
600 Colleges
Prediction (600)
550 Back Up
Colleges
500 Prediction (550)

450
400

Statistical Analysis
 Mode: The mode is 730 with Montana State and Oregon. This
shows many schools that many of my school’s results were around
low 700s.
 Mean: The mean is 683.63. This was deviated by Green River having
455 points and Concordia University having 600 points. This means
there is a big difference between my back-up schools and my
realistic schools, that received the highest scores.
 Median- The median is 710, this shows what the average score
should be if the scores did not vary greatly.
 Range- WSU-GRCC (760-455)=305. The range gives an indication of
variance from my highest scoring college to lowest scoring
college, but does not give an accurate estimate of how much the
scoring varies because it does not take into account the in
between colleges.
 Standard Deviation- 87.55. This means the results deviated from the
average by 87.55 points. This is significant because if I take out
Green River the deviation is cut nearly in half. This shows how much
all the answers varied from the highest scoring college to the lowest
scoring college.

Experiment Summarization
 I found that Washington State and Western
Washington were the best colleges for
me, according to the experiment. They have most
everything I am looking for in a school at a decent
price. Oregon State, Montana State, and Oregon
are also very good options. I did not expect
Oregon to be a good fit for me. Maybe this is
because I despise their sports teams, and this
might have given a false impression before I did
the experiment. I also found that I tend to like
public universities over private universities. I think
this is because there is more of a sense of
community in public universities, especially when
the university is in a small city.

Quality Aspects of the Experiment

 The experiment was successful, because it
showed me what I really was looking for in
a college. It made me think about what
was important to me and showed me
what I could and could not live without at
college. It also forced me to research
each college more than I originally would
have.

Problems
 I think my some of my questions were too vague. For
instance, I would have a question, and have good
answers for the question, but there could have been
more answers than the ones I had offered as
choices.
 Another problem was that, for some questions, most
of the colleges received the same score, because
the answer was the same for most of the schools, or
all the choices could be applied to each of the
schools, making it difficult to determine the answer.
 Both these causes affected the graph because the
exact same points were being added to every
school, making the scores higher than my predicted
scores and not as varied as they should have been.

Overall Findings
 I think this experiment reassured me with what
I was thinking before the experiment. I want a
school that is close to home, but still gives
independence, as well as a tight-knit
community, with lots of recreational things to
do.
 This experiment did prove my hypothesis
correct, by showing what I want and need
most in a college. This confirmed my
predictions because it showed me what I
want kind of college experience and
education is best for me.

Bibliography
• Washington state university. (2010). Retrieved from
http://www.wsu.edu/
• Oregon state university. (2010). Retrieved from
http://oregonstate.edu/
• Western washington. (2010). Retrieved from
http://www.wwu.edu/
• Boise state university. (2010). Retrieved from
http://www.boisestate.edu/
• Green river community college. (2010). Retrieved from
http://www.greenriver.edu/
• Seattle University. (n.d.). Retrieved December 10, 2010, from Seattle
University website: www.seattleu.edu
 The College Board. (n.d.). Retrieved December 12, 2010, from The
College Board website: www.collegeboard.com
 College Reviews: Studentsreview. (2000). Retrieved December
12, 2010, from Studentsreview website: www.studentsreview.com

College Selection Experiment Results

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