Sefan's Choice

See Sefan's ranked choice at:http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pwjxOjTDZHtf5g6VktdpbEQ

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I spent some time discussing with my 18-year-old cousin, Sefan, his upcoming decision regarding which college to attend. He has applied to the following 8 schools:

1. Stanford – Early Action
2. Penn
3. Emory University
4. Northwestern
5. Vanderbilt
6. Washington University
7. University of Alabama
8. University of Virginia

The first go around looks like Wash U is the leader for Sefan but a large variable is still not included: financial aid. The packages that Sefan receives will switch these numbers around and he can then decide if the school that pops out is the best choice. Hopefully, this will help him with his decision-making process...

Sefan has many things going for him besides a high SAT, GPA, and involvement in a multitude of school and sport activities; he also has the added advantage of a rare amount of wisdom that few at 18 can claim. Thus, Sefan and I started our discussion with the fact that he would get in everywhere he applied – the question is where should he go?

I used the tools from Decision Modeling to help Sefan with his decision. I asked him what his fundamental objective is and he stated: I want to have the best college experience possible. Then, we discussed for a bit what he valued in his college experience.

He mentioned the following:

Smart students and faculty
Rigorous work
A school with high-level opportunities in math and finance
Aesthetic additions like nice campus, nice weather…cute girls (what can I say he is 18)

We talked about how we could possible find measures that would help him find out to what extent each of his schools would meet his objectives.

We came up with the following:

Good ranking
Good math/business department
Quality of Life

He then said and it would be added plus if the school was:

Close to family
Gave a scholarship

So we started here with Sefan’s choice. I asked Sefan to rank in order of importance his values and put a weight of 1-10 on each of the criteria. He ranked them as follows:

Good ranking – 9
Give a good scholarship – 7
Good math/business department – 7
Quality of Life – 5
Close to family – 3

Next, we determined what source would provide Sefan with the most accurate data.

Good Ranking – US News & World Report overall rating, Princeton Review Academic Rankings

Give a good scholarship – personal financial objectives measures, Princeton Review students are happy with financial aid

Good math/business department - US News & World Report BBA Ranking

Quality of Life – Princeton Review – Quality of Life Ranking

Close to family – driving possibility vs. flying

After this we assigned values based on the criterion:

Good Ranking:

US News & World Report:

If school ranks in top 10 for 2 years in a row – 5 points
If school ranks in top 20 for 2 years in a row – 2 points
If school ranks in top 20 for 2 years in a row – 2 points

Princeton Review Academic Rankings:

If school makes an academic ranking in 2006 – 1 point/ranking

Financial Package:

Amount of Scholarship Tuition & Room: 75 - 100% - 5 points
Amount of Scholarship Tuition & Room: 50 - 75% - 4 points
Amount of Scholarship Tuition & Room: 25 - 50% -3 points
Amount of Scholarship Tuition & Room: 10 - 25% -2 points
Amount of Scholarship Tuition & Room: 1 - 10% -1 points

If school makes financial aid satisfaction ranking in 2006 – 3 points

Good Math/Business Programs

Business Week Ranking – Top 10 in 2006 – 5 points
Business Week Ranking – Top 20 in 2006 – 3 points
Business Week Ranking – Top 30 in 2006 – 1 points

Quality of Life

If school makes Princeton Review academic ranking in 2006 – 3 points/ranking

Distance from Home

Can drive in less than 6 hours – 5 points