I spent about half an hour writing a response to a thread that was removed while I was working on it, so I thought I would post a version of it here, in case anyone finds it useful. The student was struggling to decide among four very different schools.
For college-bound students struggling to choose a school, particular if they are quantitative-style thinkers, using a decision tree can really help.
Decision trees allow a person to translate his/her preferences into data, and to evaluate various options in light of this.
Start by listing the things you care about and then rating (10=high, 1=low) how important each thing is to you. This is a rating, not a ranking.
Random example:
Size under 2,000 students (importance = 4)
Greek system yes (importance = 2)
Sunny weather (importance = 8)
Low tuition (not including room/board) (importance = 7)
Short distance to airport (importance = 2)
etc.
Then, do some research and note how much or how little each school aligns to each of your preferences (10=high, 1=low.) Examples:
UC Santa Cruz
Size (17,000+) = 1 x 4 = 4
Greek system (yes) = 10 x 2 = 20
Sunny weather (262 days per year) = 8 x 8 = 64
Tuition ($13,962 in-state …or… $28,992 out-of-state) = 9 x 7 = 56 …or… 5 x 7 = 35
Distance to airport (35 miles) = 5 x 2 = 10
etc.
From this example: Total Score for UC Santa Cruz = 154 (in-state) or 133 (out-of state.)
Denison University
Size (~2,300) = 9 x 4 = 36
Greek system (yes) = 10 x 2 = 20
Sunny weather (175 days per year) = 5 x 8 = 40
Tuition ($52,620) = 3 x 7 = 21
Distance to airport (30 miles) = 5 x 2 = 10
etc.
From this example: Total Score for Denison University = 127.
You can then use the decision tree to help distinguish the schools from one another. You may look at the final scores and be pleased. Or, you might say to yourself, “Actually, the weather isn’t THAT important to me,” change its value, and recalculate. You might narrow your choice to two schools and visit both, having confidently eliminated the others. Or, you may see a numerical result but realize that you feel disappointed in it, with your gut pulling you toward another school. That’s a also GREAT end result of the decision tree, because you will have gotten in touch with your own instincts. Follow your gut if it tells you something!
Hopefully, the author of the original (now deleted) post will see this and find it helpful. Decision trees are a lot of work, but do a great job of providing quantitative data in the middle of a mushy, subjective process… and/or stimulating users’ hidden emotions when they see numerical results. Either way, this process can help a confused person to be more confident in his or her final choice.