<p>College choice is really an optimization problem, weighing lots of factors and trying to choose the college that’s most attractive overall. Yes, each person has their own priorities. But, based on the 724 people who responded to the poll at the beginning of the discussion board, strength in one’s intended major is the most important factor for the most people. There are probably several good “fits” for everyone but they should all have a decent department in your major. And, if it’s otherwise a toss-up between two or more colleges, go to the one with the strongest major.</p>
<p>POLL RESULTS
strength in intended major 50%
prestige/overall reputation 40%
good vibes…felt at home 37%
location + geography 26%
price 18%
climate 5%
friends 3%
athletics 2%</p>
<p>afan-
Within this small sample of LAC English departments, the raw number of PhDs produced and the PhD-to-enrollment ratio mean about the same thing because the enrollments at these few LACs are pretty similar. There isn’t much need to adjust the raw number. The correlation between the raw number of PhDs and the PhD/enrollment ratio was .94. They mean the same thing because enrollment is nearly the same at these LACs. If there were wide differences in enrollment, then the PhD ratios would be the only way to go. The correlation between the PhD/enrollment ratio and the bachelors/enrollment ratio was .58, significant at .05 but not as high as I thought it would be. The correlation between PhD/enrollment ratio and PhD/bachelors ratio was .71, significant at .01. Enrollment was the current enrollment, not the enrollment 15 or 20 years ago when the PhDs started as undergrads.</p>