Does anyone know of a good, uncluttered web site about colleges that gives information about rankings/majors/etc? Its just about time for me to start looking at colleges, but every site that I find is so cluttered I can barely sort out the information. Do any Dopers have suggestions on where to look? Also, any advice for a college that has good undergrad programs for bioengineering and dentistry?
This may be the time to hit the bookstores. There may be too much conflicting information on the web to get started. Any good sized bookstore will have a small section devoted to this sort of thing and will have everything from rankings to inside essays about the schools. You could probably just browse. For real rankings, U.S. News and World Report does a pretty comprehensive list every year and I believe they sell them in a special issue most of the time.
First let me say that I don’t envy anyone about to go through the college search process. It seems like the pressure and stress has grown exponentially since I went through it ~8 years ago. I hope you can escape the whirlwind and find a good college that suits you.
When I was going through the process, I liked the Fisk Guide to Colleges. There were decently thorough write-ups of each school that seemed to give a good feel for the place. But of course you’re going to have to take all the ratings and rankings with a pound or two of salt. Good luck!
College Board has a really good system that lets you sort by criteria. You do have to register.
I’d suggest that you give us the area of the United States that you’re looking at. I’ll agree 100% that searching is more difficult than it was 10 years ago.
They have done a special edition since at least 2000, maybe even earlier (they’re ranked since the 1980s but in the beginning it was part of a regular issue). It goes on newstands around the third week or August and remains on sale most of the academic year. I believe this year’s has a bright yellow cover. Their rankings are their own invention; they determine the variables used and weights given. However, they do reprint a lot of basic information about colleges so that can be useful. For searches and sorting of their compiled data, they make you pay for premium online access.
I have always found the searching features on the Princeton Review website to be quite easy to navigate.
Midwest U.S.A, around Indiana is what I’m looking at, but anywhere around there. I’ll try the web sites. If those fail, to a book store I shall hye.
This isn’t a web site, but the best book my kids found.:
For dentistry and bioengineering any liberal arts college will do for undergrad. I’d advise going to the best one you can get into and getting all As and the grad school or professional school thing will take care of itself.
GJ
Keep in mind, though, that most graduate programs in these fields will have strict admission requirements involving physics, bio, and math courses. Maybe it would be smart to have an idea what they’re looking for before choosing your courses in an undergrad program. (I’m sorry if I’m misunderstanding the term “liberal arts college”)
I think it’s unfair that if you’re thinking about grad school, you end up almost having to plot out your next ten years, before you can start even start applying to college.
How do you quantify the “best one,” though? And does getting all A’s guarantee a spot at a grad school? I’ve heard dentistry schools are particularly tough to get into. Will a BS in any liberal arts college be enough for admission?
This is the short list of schools that I have so far, according to collegeboard.com:
Grand Valley State University
Kent State University
Minnesota State University: Mankato
Northern Michigan University
Saint Cloud State University
University of Iowa
University of Minnesota: Duluth
University of Minnesota: Twin Cities
Washington University in St. Louis
Winona State University
Wright State University
Youngstown State University
Are any of these schools particularly well reputed in either dentistry, bioengineering, or preferably both?
If you buy the book I recommend you’ll see that each school has a rating for how difficult it is to get in. That’s what I meant by “best.” Of course, what I said is a bit of an overstatement. If there’s a college which seems perfect for you in ten different ways but it is the second “best” in term of how difficult it is to get in, then by all means go there.
For the most part dentistry at the undergrad level consists of biology, chemistry, math and physics. Bioengineering at the undergrad level means biology. That’s why I said go to a liberal arts college. They all have those courses. You don’t have to get specialized before you graduate. Go to a good college, get As, don’t worry about your future, you’ll be welcome at dental school and grad school.
From your list I believe that Washington University is by far the best place to go if you want to get a good education and move on to the next level. But buy the book and look up all of the schools and find out for yourself.