The University of Chicago's announcement that it was going test optional, following on the heels of Google's launch of its college search tool, made for quite a week in college admissions. The former's news shook the college admissions world, with anecdotes of startled admissions officers and enrollment VPs across the country hearing the news at breakfast with their kids, driving to work, or getting out of the shower—that's what a big deal it was. I found it ironic that Google focused on quantifiable ways to help with the college search by placing scores front and center, yet Chicago decided scores were not that helpful in building a great class. While I laud Chicago's decision, along with the announcement that they had upped the ante with substantial scholarship additions and financial aid support, I am also grateful that we finally have a place to find consistent data compiled in a standardized way for quick access.
The review
Curious about how consistent the Google search results would be, I did an informal survey of Corsava's team, from our high school summer intern to our data scientists, asking them all to enter Stanford University on Google and share a screenshot of the right side of the page on a desktop/laptop or the entire screen on a mobile device. I picked Stanford because I know they have the resources to provide complete information to IPEDS and are searched on a lot, and I was naturally curious about my alma mater. IPEDS data is only as good as the information that goes into it, and we have seen historically that there can be a lot of variety in accuracy and veracity.
Assuming our team all had different preferences that would result from a search on anything, I believed the college search tool would produce a variety of results. Maybe even different attributes would pop up? I guessed that the notable alumni would be targeted appropriately to the searcher. After reviewing the results, I confirmed it is definitely an aggregated result, as each of the following notable alumni popped up across the board for our team, regardless of age, etc.
Well of course one of the founders of Google would appear, no surprise there, although some with smaller screens had Sergey truncated—interesting. Maybe it's because I'm writing this on Father's Day, but wouldn't I want to see my very own dad, one of the most remarkable people in the world? He is definitely a notable alum to me—Stanford's first physics major, later a PhD in physics, varsity tennis player, and the one who on a Saturday night with a buddy caused a minor explosion experimenting in the chemistry lab in the corner of the old quad! Even though I have been thinking about him all day and missing him, I guess I would be a bit surprised to find out Google's search was that good. Maybe someday.
My dad
My amazing dad aside, there are a lot of great features in the search worth noting. I love the “Average cost after aid” front and center. This is a great number to access quickly. Sticker prices are often not the number families will pay and can scare them off, when in fact they may be eligible for great financial aid packages. I am totally on board with this number appearing right at the top along with the graduation rate. I would like to know if that's the six-year graduation rate. Graduation rates are powerful but difficult to compare when at many colleges students stop to work, take a break for a variety of reasons, or simply never return. But this number definitely adds some value to the search.
I am really excited to see the crossover schools listed below with “People also search for.” This has to be a great metric for admissions offices as they now have a window on Google's results. I tried Googling some smaller, non-uber selective colleges and was really interested to see what popped up. I will learn from this feature. While Stanford's had all of the usual suspects, there were surprises at many of the colleges I tested. Give it a try; it's pretty interesting.
Worth noting is the “Cost by household income.” Try clicking the “More about” arrow on the bottom of the search, and these numbers appear. I appreciate seeing these numbers clearly in a table as they will be an invaluable tool before families use the Net Price Calculator to determine their expected family contribution at each of their schools. These numbers really pop. Try entering a few of those colleges that meet full need and are notably selective. Then try some of the others, and you will see that this type of consistent level search over all colleges is going to really segment them. But having this information before applying will be important for many families who look at the sticker price and just move on.
I wish families could see retention rates up front. This is an issue with colleges these days, often bigger than trying to find students to enroll as freshmen. It costs a lot for the college to lose students, but let's think about what really matters here—the student leaving and losing momentum on their education. While some universities do a great job of offering strong financial aid packages all four years, others do not. The reality of the situation is that many students lose merit awards for a variety of reasons, others get reduced financial aid packages, and others just can't cover the expected family contribution. Families need to see this up top, but I know it would create some confusion for the reason above.
While I was disappointed to see that the standard rankings appear on the search, I chalked this up to Google's understanding of what people search on, and it's no surprise that rankings are what many families use. However, all of us know how meaningless these can be. I get that people need something concrete to search and make decisions on, as the number of choices can be overwhelming. I noticed that the rankings that pop up are different across the board for different colleges. Below are the results from a search on a small liberal arts college here in the Northwest. Who knew that Business Insider had a ranking for “Most Fun Colleges”! I certainly agree that I have a lot of students who love this college because of this and many other reasons.
The rankings that appeared for Stanford were different. It appears that Google is searching for those rankings that place the resulting college towards the top, focusing on its strengths, despite being tied to rankings of questionable quality. But again we circle back to the fact that concrete, searchable data is something families are desperate for.
Google's timing is excellent. If I were to do a search on the most common word I see on my intake questionnaire for parents—“What are your thoughts and experiences with the college process?”—counselors would not be surprised to see that “overwhelming” was the most common word. In fact, the map of colleges in my office is a blessing and a curse—some families come in and say, “Wow, look at all of the options,” and others are overwhelmed and ask, “Where would we start?” Online resources continue to confound families as they struggle with authenticity and sheer quantity. This trend was picked up in the blog by the Google product manager who said that there is so much information everywhere, it is nice to have it consolidated in one place.
Since the tool was announced, all of the usual suspect issues have been raised. Will colleges that spend more with Google get more robust profiles, is the information too basic, and will this just become another tool that overwhelms families more? Google worked with counselors, admissions offices, and researchers to design the standard features; so much thought has clearly gone into this tool. I am personally happy to see smart people take this on, working with all of the stakeholders to make a better tool. Finding the right college is a hard thing to quantify, but I imagine this is just the beginning for Google College Search.
Counselors would also agree that having so much data spread in so many different places can be overwhelming. I recently attended a great session at the PNACAC conference in Spokane about search, and while not surprised to see the quality and depth of information available, I know that families would never have the time or knowledge to navigate all of these resources, even though they're all free.
The problem remains
The problem is still there—How do students find colleges that are a good fit? Where do they start? I feel strongly that students need to understand what's important to them first, before talking scores, GPA, and other gatekeeper-type numerics that often discourage them before they even start. That's why I built Corsava. Students need to understand what they want before even thinking about a list, and they need to feel positive and have some fun in the process. As the data in Corsava expands and we have more student and counselor impressions of particular attributes tied to individual colleges, maybe someday we will see a student's deeper preferences for a strong Collaborative Environment or for great Weekend Life come up in a search.
Which brings me to the most valuable attributes in helping to find the right college, the more subjective ones that are hard to quantify. Wouldn't it be great if custom search results appeared with information targeting the user, such as learning-support resources and diversity numbers? Corsava's deeper preferences are hard things to quantify and measure, but we are working on it. Study after study extols the value of these deeper preferences in helping students thrive and graduate. At a minimum, having a discussion about what's important to the student, combined with knowledge from their mentors, parents, and counselors with regard to their learning style and emotional/social foundation, are the factors that will help students find colleges where they will succeed.
I would contend that there are many more factors, albeit hard to quantify, that make students more successful in the long run. I see it every day and have made it my goal with Corsava to help students, their families, counselors, and colleges all work together to find the best fit for students. Lofty, yes, but we need to start somewhere to make a change for the better.