College Hopes and Worries Survey - 2009

The Princeton Review conducts our College Hopes and Worries survey of college applicants and parents of applicants to gauge their expectations surrounding the college admissions process.  Respondents are readers of The Best 368 Colleges and users of our website. 

During the months of January through mid-March we collected 15,722 responses - 12,715 from college applicants and 3,007 from parents - representing all 50 states, DC, the Virgin Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico.  An abridged summary is below.

What "dream" college do you wish you (your child) could attend if acceptance and/or cost were not issues?  (fill in the blank)

	Students	Parents
1	Stanford University	Harvard College
2	Harvard College	Stanford University
3	Columbia University	Princeton University
4	Princeton University	Notre Dame
5	New York University	Yale University
6	Yale University	New York University
7	University of California - Los Angeles	University of California - Los Angeles
8	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Duke University
9	University of Southern California	University of Southern California
10	University of California - Berkeley	Massachusetts Institute of Technology

How would you gauge your stress level about the college application process?

What has been, or do you think will be the tougest part of your (your child's) college application experience?

Has the downturn in the economy affected you (your child's) decisions about applying to or attending college?

If your answer to the previous question was one of the "Yes" choices, how would you describe the major way the economic downturn affected your (your child's) college application decisions?

How necessary will financial aid (education loans, scholarships or grants) be to pay for your (your child's) college education?

What's your biggest concern about applying to or attending college?

Ideally, how far from home would you like the college you (your child) attend(s) to be?

An optional question invited respondents to share advice for next year’s applicants.  We've chosen our favorite words of advice from students and advice from parents.