U. is no longer parents' dream

Though it still holds the top spot in U.S. News & World Report's list of America's best colleges, the University is no longer parents' number-one choice for their children, a survey released yesterday by the college- and test-prep company The Princeton Review suggests.

In the company's 2007 "College Hopes & Worries Survey," Princeton ranked second as the college parents would most like to see their child attend, down from the first-place position it took last year. Stanford got this year's top spot.

The question — the only fill-in-the-blank on the 12-part survey — asked parents what their "dream college" for their children would be. Harvard and Brown were also in parents' top four this year. Yale was ninth.

The survey also found that the high school seniors prefer NYU, Harvard and Stanford over Princeton when asked what their own "dream college" would be.

Last year, Princeton was ranked third, with Stanford and Harvard taking the first and second spots, respectively.

The Princeton Review has conducted this survey yearly since 2002 and publishes its results in its annual "Best 361 Colleges" book. The survey asked questions about the application process to 4,594 high school students applying to college and 1,260 parents from all 50 states, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Guam.

Though seven Ivy League schools appear in this year's top-10 list of students' "dream" colleges and five appear on parents' "dream" list, the survey's findings suggest that neither group considers academics and affordability as the most important factors when choosing an ideal school.

When deciding which college they would ultimately choose, 53 percent of students and parents said they would choose the college that is the "best overall fit."

Only nine percent said that a university's academic reputation would be the deciding factor.

Most students surveyed said they plan to apply to between five and eight schools. They also said that filling out applications and writing college essays are not the most troubling part of applying to colleges, citing standardized tests such as the SAT, ACT and AP exams as the most difficult aspect of the process.

Parents worry that academics will be the most challenging aspect of college life for their children, but students are more concerned about budgeting and spending money wisely.

While 34 percent of students said they think keeping up with coursework will be their greatest challenge, a greater portion — 43 percent — expect to be most concerned about money.