What metrics should you consider when evaluating a college or even comparing colleges? Most folks start by looking at admission rate and academic stats such as the ACT/SAT profile. However, there are other metrics that are of more importance than just considering the test score ranges. It is understandable why most students/families begin by looking at admission rates and the test scores …they are so immediate, in your face that it is hard to ignore them!
While admission rate is an important metric, there are other metrics that you should consider even before looking at the test score ranges or even the GPA range of the college. The reason for putting the college under the microscope is because college spans four if not more years of a student's life and career and those many years of paying for college!
Before you begin comparing colleges or evaluating a college, bucket your colleges into two categories:
- Public or Private College: The stress tests are different for public and private colleges.
- Size of college: This is important for the overall experience and student wellbeing during the college years. Comparing a very large university to a small college is not an apple-to-apples comparison.
The 3 metrics that you should look at while evaluating/comparing colleges are:
- Graduation Rate
- Admission Rate
- Enrollment Rate
The interesting thing is that these are not completely uncorrelated metrics. We'll be exploring more about these metrics in our subsequent posts.