So here’s the deal: at the end of the day, by picking what colleges to visit on the strength of their website, you are doing the one thing people tell you not to do: judge a book by its cover. That being said, if you know how to navigate a college website, you can probably get a good idea of what type of school is being presented to you and find some green/red flags that could help you narrow down what universities to take the time to visit.
How to Navigate College Websites
Watch the videos
Most college websites have an introductory video on their homepage. Take the time to watch it (or at least skim it if it’s long). What is the college emphasizing as their values? Do they talk a lot about academics, social life, or their basketball team? If it’s a Christian college, how do they incorporate faith into their college mission?
Read the articles
By reading the articles, I mean start clicking around on the cite to really figure out what this college stands for. Read their values/mission page. If it’s a Christian college, look at the list of their chapel speakers. If it’s a secular college, check out their list of clubs to see if they have any Christian organizations you could get involved in on campus.
Go to RateMyProfessor to check out their professors for your potential major
RateMyProfessor is one of the most helpful tools you can have throughout your entire college experience. This website allows you to plug in a specific college professor and read reviews about them written by actual students. Make sure to read the reviews and not just look at the professor’s rating score: sometimes the comments are helpful because they bring up a significant issue (i.e. the professor mumbles and has no class structure). Sometimes, however, students will leave a bad review because a professor was “too hard” (i.e. made the student do more work than simply rolling out of bed to come to class). As you look at colleges, do some research on RateMyProfessor to see if the professors in your prospective major are good; my younger sister decided not to go to a college on the top of her list because she discovered the professors in her department had gotten terrible ratings on the website.
Look at the college’s rating on Niche
Niche is another great online resource to get an honest perspective on the quality of a college. Just plug in a school and the website should come up with a “grade” based on student reviews. It will give you information about the college’s social/party life, academics, acceptance rate, expenses, etc.
Contact admissions
If you like what you see on a website, have questions, or just want to touch base with a real person, feel free to contact admissions! Ask about scholarship opportunities, set up a visit, and ask to sit in to a class if you want.
