| Having to choose just one, I would have to say academic strength in the intended major. I suppose if a student weren't quite sure in what field they would end up, overall academic excellence would be the key factor.
Now other things being equal, then other things can factor into the decision. But the academic program is why one goes to college, right? (You can tell I'm a parent ...)
My kids have ended up at prestigious schools, but this didn't seem to factor into their decision-making. My son looked at lists of top engineering programs, and then started winnowing them down using other factors (the city, his feel for the student body, and extracurriculars primarily). My daughter is going into such an esoteric field that where she would apply was pretty much preordained -- although finding the schools to begin with wasn't that easy. Fortunately, she made it into the only school that has an major in what she wants to do. It's an Ivy, but that wasn't a factor in the decision. If this one program was at some much cheaper state school she would have gone there.
Neither of my kids are enamored with distribution requirements. So my son found a place he liked that would require very little in the way of nontechie things and my daughter found a place that has no distribution requirements whatsoever. But I suppose this goes into the strength of the academic program in a way. If you aren't taking courses you just have to take to fulfill some college requirement, you can be taking those that relate in some way to your field or that you find personally interesting. |