The Princeton Review is known as the "public review" of the university community, and each year conducts a survey called the "College Expectations and Concerns Survey."
The Survey of College Expectations and Concerns attracted a total of 12,225 participants, including 8,802 U.S. students and 3,423 parents. The survey covers a wide range of dimensions, including students' and parents' expectations of their ideal university, the biggest challenges they face during the application process, and their perceptions of standardized tests such as the SAT, ACT, etc.
StudentsTop 10 Dream Schools in My Mind:MIT, Stanford, Harvard, NYU, UCLA, Princeton, Penn, Columbia, University of Michigan, University of Texas at Austin.
ParentsTop 10 Dream Schools in My Mind:Princeton, Harvard, Stanford, NYU, MIT, Duke, Yale, University of Michigan, Brown University, UCLA.
According to the comparison of the rankings, there is not much difference between the rankings of students and parents for their favorite universities, showing that the preference for Ivy League schools on both sides is still dominant.
It is worth noting that most of the universities on the list are located in economically developed or fast-growing cities such as New York and Los Angeles, which also reflects the importance that students and parents attach to the city factor when choosing a university.
01How many universities do you plan to apply to?
25% applied to 1-4 universities, of which 27% were students and 22% were parents;
38% applied to 5-8 universities, of which 36% were students and 42% were parents;
24% applied to 9-12 universities, of which 23% were students and 26% were parents;
The proportion of applicants to 13 or more universities is 13%, of which 14% are students and 10% are parents.
Since the question was included in the survey in 2007, the majority have preferred to apply to 5-8 universities. Notably, the proportion of students who choose to apply to 13 universities has continued to grow, from 4% in 2008 to 13% this year.
02What do you think is the most important part of the college application?
Fifty-five percent of respondents (53 percent of students and 61 percent of parents) consider high school transcripts, grades, and GPAs to be the most important;
16% of respondents (18% of students and 11% of parents) emphasized the importance of essays;
12% of respondents (10% of students and 18% of parents) value SAT ACT scores;
12% of respondents (14% of students and 6% of parents) believe that extracurricular activities are crucial;
3% of respondents (3% of students and 2% of parents) value letters of recommendation;
2% of respondents (2% of students and 2% of parents) consider class rank.
03What factors do you value most when choosing a school?
In the process of choosing a university, respondents are more interested in the university's "overall fit" and "career interests" than on the university's "academic reputation" and "spending level". Specifically:
43% believe that they should choose the best university for them when choosing a school;
38% believe that schools should offer courses that match their (or their children's) career interests;
11% of respondents value a university's academic reputation the most;
8% prefer to choose the university with the least tuition burden.
04What was the biggest difficulty you faced during the university application process?
Parents and children generally agree that taking the SAT ACT, AP tests (33%), and the application for admission and financial aid (32%) is difficult to apply.
05Why take the standardized test?
Although most universities in the U.S. no longer require applicants to submit standardized test scores, when asked why they took standardized tests, the majority of respondents (44%) still believe that standardized test scores will make their applications more competitive.
In addition, 33% of respondents said they took standardized tests because they needed these scores for scholarship or grant applications. Another 23 percent said they would like a standardized test score as proof of their academic ability, regardless of whether the school requires it.
06What do you think of the computer-based SAT?
According to the data, 42% of respondents believe that the computer-based test is a better test, 25% are concerned that the computer-based test will be more difficult, 24% plan to take the ACT paper-based test, and only 9% say they will not take the standardized test.
At the end of the survey, there is an open-ended question: What advice would you give to prospective college applicants or their parents?
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