College Project Period 3

COLLEGE

PROJE

CT

BY: CARRIE ARRALDE

PERIOD 3

DUE: 12 /14/11

EXPERIMENT OUTLINE

• The purpose of this experiment is to determine which college(s) would be best fit for me based on my personal needs and preferences

Purpose

•I think a college that is close to my home in Kent, WA so I would be able to visit often or live at home. I want a school with an active student body that I can participate in sports events and enjoy my college experience. However I don’t want there to be so many students that it results in an over flow of classroom sizes because interaction with my professors is vital to my success. City life near campus is also important to suffice aspects such as school supplies, food, entertainment, etc. A college with a high praised psychology and/or business program is important because I want pursue one of the two.College tuition needs to be affordable and scholarships/ grants and student loans need to be available.

Theory

• I think that University of Washington is the best college for me because it is close to Kent, WA, has an active student body where I can enjoy the college experience, has small classroom sizes, city life surrounds the campus, has a recognized psychology program, and scholarships/ grants and student loans are available.

Thesis

COLLEGE LIST

Central Washington University

Western Washington University

University Of Washington

Washington State UniversityPacific Lutheran University

Seattle Pacific University

Eastern Washington University

Seattle University

Green River Community College

Montana State University

I want to go toOk to go toIf I have to

EXPERIMENTAL EXPLANATION

ProcedureFirst I chose my the top ten schools that could be a possibility of going to. Then I created a

survey of 20 questions with four possible answers which regarded the different aspects of an ideal college for me. Next I weighed the questions with the appropriate point value that matched their importance to me. I continued to survey the ten schools researching them to find out what scores they would have received on my survey, making an account of the point given for each school as well as the running total of all the questions. Lastly I reviewed my results to figure out which college is the best fit for me to attend.

WeightingThe way I weighted each was different according to the importance value to me in a college. I

assigned more desirable questions with higher point value and less desirable questions with a lower point value. The least important questions were worth 10 points maximum while the most important questions were worth 20 points. For example, I gave a question about a doctor always being on call only 10 possible points because it wasn’t as important to me as a question about having a psychology and/or business major which I gave 20 possible points. The question’s answers were also assigned a certain point value according to their level of desirability. I gave a higher point value to a an answer that I wanted the most from a college. For example, I prefer a smaller class size so I gave that 15 points, while having a huge classroom size would result in 0 points because that is the least desirable answer.

PREDICTED SCORES

Categories:

>200 points (Ideal): Colleges in this category are the best fit for me. I know this because I would be sure that it would fit my needs in a college after scoring in this category.

150-200 points (Okay for choosing): Colleges in this category would be okay to attend, but not ideal. I know this because the results might lack a few aspects that I want in a college.

<150 points (Not ideal): Colleges in this category would not be a good fit for me. I know this because they did not score well on many parts of my weighted survey and showed that they were lacking in many areas that are important to me.

SURVEY FINDINGS KEY

EXAMPLE: What kind of environment is the campus in?

a. Rural [7pts]b. Suburban [17pts]c. Urban [20pts]d. Wilderness [0pts]

Original Survey

Question# of each answer’s awarded points in

pink

School UW WSU SPU CWU WWU EWU SU GRCC PLU MSU

Points 5 10 15 15 15 5 5 0 15 15Running

Total 5 10 15 15 15 5 5 0 15 15

College abbreviatio

ns

Points: # of points scored for each individual questionRunning Total: A total of all the points from all the questions answered so far

UW = University Of WashingtonWSU = Washington State UniversityPLU = Pacific Lutheran UniversitySPU = Seattle Pacific UniversityCWU = Central Washington University

WWU = Western Washington UniversityEWU = Eastern Washington UniversitySU = Seattle UniversityGRCC = Green River Community CollegeMSU = Montana State University

PREDICTED SCORES

Ideal>200 Points

UW-WSU-PLU-SPUOkay for choosing

150-200 PointsCWU-WWU

Not ideal<150 Points

EWU-SU-GRCC-MSU

WEIGHTED SURVEY


Points 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 0 20 20Running

Total 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 0 20 20


Points 20 7 20 7 17 7 20 17 17 7Running

Total 40 27 40 27 37 27 40 17 37 27

1) What are the degrees’ offered?a. Bachelor’s [5pts]b. Master’s [10pts]c. Both a and b [20pts]d. None of the above [0pts]

2) What kind of environment is the campus in?a. Rural [7pts]b. Suburban [17pts]c. Urban [20pts]d. Wilderness [0pts]

WEIGHTED SURVEY


Points 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20Running

Total 60 47 60 47 57 47 60 37 57 47


Points 3 5 5 3 10 10 10 7 7 10Running

Total 63 52 65 50 67 57 70 44 64 57

3) Is there campus security?a. 24 hours a day [20pts]b. Only in the day[4pts]c. Only at night [10pts]d. None [0pts]

4) What is the size for first-time degree-seeking freshmen?a. <1,000 Small [7pts]b. 1,000-3,050 Medium [10pts]c. 3,050-5,000 Large [5pts]d. >5,000 Huge [3pts]

WEIGHTED SURVEY


Points 5 5 7 7 7 7 7 10 7 5Running

Total 68 57 72 57 74 64 77 54 71 62


Points 20 15 0 20 20 20 0 20 0 10Running

Total 88 72 72 77 94 84 77 74 71 72

5) What percentage of total applicants is admitted?a. >85% Most [10pts]b. 70-85% Many [7pts]c. 55-70% Some [5pts]d. <55% Few [0pts]

6) What is tuition for a Washington resident?a. <$10,000 [20pts]b. $10,000-$14,999 [15pts]c. $15,000-$20,000 [10pts]d. >$20,000 [0pts]

WEIGHTED SURVEY


Points 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0Running

Total 108 72 72 77 94 84 77 74 71


Points 3 5 3 5 7 5 3 5 10 5Running

Total 111 77 75 82 101 89 80 79 81 77

7) How many organizations are there to get involved in?a. >750 [20pts]b. 650-750 [15pts]c. 450-650 [10pts]d. <450 [0pts]

8) What is the population of the city the campus is in?a. <50,000 Small [5pts]b. 50,000-249,999 Average [7pts]c. 250,000-500k Large [10pts]d. >500k Huge [3pts]

WEIGHTED SURVEY


Points 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 10 15 15Running

Total 126 92 90 97 116 104 95 89 96 92


Points 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 0 10Running

Total 136 102 100 107 126 114 105 99 96 102

9) What type of school is it?a. University [15pts]b. Community College[10pts]c. Liberal Arts College [5pts]d. Vocational-Technical (Vo-Tech) and Career Colleges [3pts]

10) Does the school gives scholarships for cheerleading or soccer?a. Both [15pts]b. Neither [0pts]c. Only Cheerleading [10pts]d. Only Soccer [10pts]

WEIGHTED SURVEY

School0 UW WSU SPU CWU WWU EWU SU GRCC PLU MSU

Points 10 5 5 5 5 0 10 0 10 0Running

Total 146 107 105 112 131 114 115 99 106 102


Points 5 15 15 7 7 7 15 7 15 15Running

Total 154 112 120 119 138 121 130 106 121 117

11) What is the graduation rate?a. >85% [15pts]b. 70-85 [10pts]c. 55-69 [5pts]d. <55% [0pts]

12) What is the most frequent class size?a. <20 Small [15pts]b. 20-29 Average [7pts]c. 30-40 Large [5pts]d. >40 Huge [0pts]

WEIGHTED SURVEY


Points 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 10 20 20Running

Total 171 132 140 139 158 141 150 116 141 137


Points 10 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7Running

Total 181 139 147 146 165 148 157 123 148 144

13) Is psychology and/or business major offered?a. Both [20pts]b. Neither [0pts]c. Just psychology [15pts]d. Just business [10pts]

14) Is a doctor always on call?a. 100% [10pts]b. 99%-75% [7pts]c. 74%-50% [5pts]d. <50% [3pts

WEIGHTED SURVEY


Points 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 7 10 10Running

Total 191 149 157 156 175 158 167 130 158 154


Points 5 10 10 10 10 5 10 0 10 7Running

Total 196 159 167 166 185 163 177 130 168 161

15) Is there a campus-wide network and wireless internet connections available?a. Both campus-wide network available & wireless internet connections [10pts] b. Only a campus-wide network [5pts]c. Only wireless internet connections [7pts]d. Neither [0pts]

16) What percent of first-year students live in college housing?a. >85% [10pts]b. 75-85% [7pts]c. 50-75% [5pts]d. <50% [0pts]

WEIGHTED SURVEY


Points 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7Running

Total 203 166 174 173 192 170 184 137 175 168


Points 5 10 10 10 5 10 10 10 15 10Running

Total 208 176 184 183 197 180 194 147 190 178

17) Are parking facilities are available on campus?a. Yes for free [10pts]b. Yes with a fee [7pts]c. Yes with restrictions [5pts]d. No [0pts]

18) What percentage of transfer students is admitted?a. >85% Most [15pts]b. 70-85% Many [10pts]c. 55-70% Some [5pts]d. <55% Few [0pts]

WEIGHTED SURVEY


Points 0 0 7 5 5 10 7 10 7 5Running

Total 208 176 191 188 202 190 201 157 197 183


Points 20 10 20 15 15 10 20 20 20 0Running

Total 228 186 211 203 203 200 221 177 217 183

19) How many students attend the school?a. <5,000 Small [7pts]b. 5,000-9,999 Medium [10pts]c. 10,000-15,000 Large [5pts]d. >15,000 Huge [0pts]

20) What is the driving commute time from Kent, WA?a. <1 hour [20pts]b. 1-4 hours [15pts]c. 4-8 hours [10pts]d. >8 hours [0pts]

Final scores

GRAPH OF FINAL SCORES

Series1140

160

180

200

220

240 228

186

211203 203 200

221

177

217

183

University Of Washington Washington State UniversitySeattle Pacific University Central Washington UniversityWestern Washington University Eastern Washington UniversitySeattle University Green River Community CollegePacific Lutheran University Montana State University

IdealNot Ideal

RESULTS

Mean: 202.9Mode: 203Median: 203Range: 51Standard Deviation: 286.9

CONCLUSION

Experiment SummaryFrom researching the questions for all ten colleges I have a very good idea of

where I will attend, based on the results of how they will fit my needs. The weighing system made sure that colleges with a more desirable quality got higher points then those that didn’t.

Process ImprovementA way I could have improved my experiment was including the sports aspect

in my hypothesis. Also, I assigned a few questions with high point values that I felt in the end should have been lower because they were not as important as other questions. If I would have done this my results would have had a greater range, thus giving me a better picture of how the colleges compared.

CONCLUSION CONT.

In the end my hypothesis was supported because University of Washington showed to be the best fit for me according to my results. This was not surprising to me because most of my questions gave higher points to schools that were near me. I was however to see that Seattle University was a close second because I haven’t even considered going there until I did this experiment. Instead of being dead set on going to the University of Washington I may look into attending Seattle University as well.

Overall I found this experiment extremely helpful to me. As I said, all my life I have been set on going to the University of Washington because my dad attended there and our family has always rooted for the Husky football team so we practically bleed purple and gold. As a senior in high school I am currently applying for colleges and after this experiment I plan on applying to a few that I wasn’t going to before.

WORKS CITED PAGE

College Admissions - SAT - University & College Search Tool. (n.d.). College Admissions - SAT - University & College Search Tool. Retrieved December 13, 2011, from http://collegeboard.org

College Search - Find a College That is the Best Fit for You at Petersons.com. (n.d.). College Information - Peterson's - The Real Guide to Colleges and Universities. Retrieved December 13, 2011, from http://www.petersons.com/college-search.aspx

College Reviews by Students for Students - College Prowler. (n.d.). College Reviews by Students for Students - College Prowler. Retrieved December 13, 2011, from http://collegeprowler.com/

College Education | Scholarships | Admissions. (n.d.). Test Prep: GMAT, GRE, LSAT, MCAT, SAT, ACT, and More. Retrieved December 13, 2011, from http://www.princetonreview.com/college-education.aspx

http://collegeprowler.com/

http://collegeprowler.com/

Technology

College Project Period 3