Abstract
This study details the processes students use and the information they consider as they confront what is likely to be their first major life decision. Over the course of a year, 322 college-bound high school students participated in up to three survey sessions in which they described their thinking about college decisions. At each session, students rated the frequency with which they had consulted various sources of information or engaged in different decision-making activities. They also listed and rated the importance of the criteria they were using, and listed the schools they were actively considering. Responses were analyzed as a function of time of survey, level of parental education, academic ability, and gender. Throughout the year, students considered roughly the same number and type of criteria. There were expected shifts in the kinds of information sought and activities undertaken. Higher-ability students listed significantly more criteria and slightly (but nonsignificantly) more schools than did students of other ability levels, especially early in the process. A variety of gender differences emerged in the information sought and the criteria used to make this decision.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Boyer, Ernest L. (1987)College: The Undergraduate Experience in America. New York: Harper & Row.
Douglas, Peggy, and Powers, Stephen (1985). Factors in the choice of higher educational institutions by students with high ability.Journal of College Student Personnel 26(6): 552–553.
Fischer, Gregory W., Damodaran, Nirmala, Laskey, Kathryn B., and Lincoln, David (1987). Preferences for proxy attributes.Management Science 33(2): 198–214.
Hossler, Don, and Gallagher, Karen S. (1987). Studying student college choice: A three-phase model and the implications for policy makers.College and University 62: 207–221.
Lewis, Gordon H., and Morrison, Sue (1975).A Longitudinal Study of College Selection (Tech. Rep. No. 2). Pittsburgh, PA: Carnegie-Mellon University, School of Urban and Public Affairs.
Litten, Larry H. (1982). Different strokes in the applicant pool: Some refinements in a model of student college choice.Journal of Higher Education 55(4): 383–402.
Litten, Larry H. (1991).Ivy Bound: High Ability Students and College Choice. New York: College Board.
Mann, Leon (1972). Use of a “balance-sheet” procedure to improve the quality of personal decision making: A field experiment with college applicants.Journal of Vocational Behavior 2: 291–300.
Matthay, Eileen R. (1989). A critical study of the college selection process.The School Counselor 36: 359–370.
Wright, P., and Kriewall, Mary Ann (1980). State-of-mind effects on the accuracy with which utility functions predict marketplace choice.Journal of Marketing Research 17: 277–293.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Galotti, K.M., Mark, M.C. How do high school students structure an important life decision? A short-term longitudinal study of the college decision-making process. Res High Educ 35, 589–607 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02497089
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02497089