Finding a College that Fits your Budget

A WebQuest for 11th and 12th Grade (Math)

Designed by Eric Kruger, Student Teacher, Gaston High School
Gaston, Oregon

E-Mail your questions here

Introduction | Task | Process | Resources | Evaluation | Conclusion | Teacher Page

Introduction  

For some of you here at Gaston High School, graduation is only a few months away!!! Before you know it, you'll be tossing your caps, flying away to a sunny destination for a week or so without a care in the world except tan lines and swimmers itch.  Your life as a high school student will have come full circle as you reflect on the past four years.

Then, all of the sudden, you get home from the airport and think to yourself........

NOW WHAT???????????????????????????????

It happens to all of us, the time in our lives when we actually have to start making our own decisions and becoming responsible for things we take for granted such as rent, bills, laundry, hot meals, clean living, and the comfort of family.  

Luckily for you, you have decided to plan ahead and make sure you don't have to worry about the next step in your educational path the day you finish your senior trip.  

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Task

It's up to you to find a college that fits your educational needs, financial situation, and overall lifestyle.

During your quest to find the college that is perfect for you (your group), you will be expected to consider the following:

  • your group's grade point average and SAT score;
  • financial status;
  • availability and cost of living (NO DORMS ALLOWED);
  • courses offered;
  • climate;
  • employment availability;

Any catalogs, journals, newspapers, or web sites you can find are at your disposal.  You will be given a group profile that will tell you your fiscal and educational status, as well as any curve balls that life may throw you.

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Process

In order to accomplish this task, the following steps should be used as a guide in you journey to finding a college or university that fits your needs and your budget.  Remember that you cannot under any circumstances exceed the amount of money, GPA requirement, or SAT score requirement that you are given.

  1. You will be assigned to a team of 3 students
  2. Each group will then draw a piece of paper out of a hat that describes their financial and educational background.  There will be no redrawing.  
  3. From here, it is up to your group to find and decide on a college that fits "your" needs.  The following list of sources will serve as a beginning point for each group to complete the task at hand.  Groups are encouraged to use their own sources as well, documenting each that will contribute to the final decision.
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Resources

     Finding a School
     
     GoCollege
     CollegeNET
     College Search

     Finding a Place to Live

     Rent.com
     Rentwave
     Yahoo! Apartments

     Finding a Place to Work

     Career Builder
     FlipDog
     Monster

I encourage you to use many more sites than the ones listed here in your quest around the web.  I suggest using Google to search for resources related to what you are looking for.

Being that this IS STILL A MATH CLASS, I expect you to use your recently acquired Microsoft Excel skills to show how your money will be taken care of.  I expect proper formulas to be used to calculate additions and subtractions of money during your first year at college.  

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HUH???????

All right, I know this is quite a bit to swallow all at once, so here is a checklist for you to use so you know what I am expecting from each group.

Each group will present to me a portfolio of what they have found on the internet pertaining to their final decision on a school.  This will include:

  • School applications and/or catalogs ordered from the school
  • Descriptions of the program of study you plan to enter along with class descriptions and a hypothetical schedule of classes
  • A description of extra curricular activities you would engage in on-campus (intramural sports, clubs, fraternities, sororities, organizations, media outlets i.e. radio or newspaper).  At least 3 are required.
  • Descriptions (printouts) of three different places that you would consider living off campus
  • Printouts of 3 jobs that you would qualify for in the area of the school which accommodate your financial needs.
  • An Excel worksheet with a budget plan for your freshman year including:
    • How much money you started with
    • income from all sources
    • expenditures from all sources
          It should be formatted per the requirements of previous excel assignments.
  • A typed list of all sources considered when researching, including only those which helped you make your final decision.
Hand this information to me in a folder with the names of the group members, the school you chose, and the city it is located in.

You will also be given 10 minutes to present to the class your group's school of choice.  This presentation should show all of the main components of why you chose your particular school including tuition, programs, social life, and economics.  Also include presentations of your jobs of choice and where you want to live.

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Evaluation

Describe to the learners how their performance will be evaluated. Specify whether there will be a common grade for group work vs. individual grades. You may want to have separate rubrics for individual and group work.

Beginning

1

Developing

3

Accomplished

7

Exemplary

10

Score

 

Portfolio
Organization

 

 Lack of printed sources and required printouts; Portfolio messy and unorganized;   Some required printouts included; Portfolio somewhat messy;   Most or all required printouts included; Portfolio mostly organized but lacking expected neatness All required aspects of portfolio given; Portfolio neat and organized in appearance, easy to navigate

 

Portfolio Information

 

 Given information lacks pertinence; insufficient information given; Inaccurate information
 Some information is relevant to assignment; most required info given; some of info given is accurate Most information is relevant to assignment; required info is given; most info is accurate All included info is relevant to school chosen; all info given is accurate

 

Spreadsheet

 

 Spreadsheet lacks required elements of project; no formulas used; Spreadsheet has some of required elements; some formulas or incorrect formulas used; standard spreadsheet format ignored Spreadsheet has most required elements; most formulas are correct and working; standard spreadsheet format used Spreadsheet includes all required elements; all formulas are correct and operational;

 

Presentation  		Nothing is prepared to present;  Group has some info to present; presentation lacks organization and doesn't encompass entire project Group has most of info ready to present;  Group does so with some organization Group has all info ready to present; presentation is organized and thorough

 

Participation 

 Group member did not participate in any aspect of the assignment; Group member did some of what was expected of him by his partners Group member did most of what was expected of him by his partners Group member did all expected of him during the duration of the assignment

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Conclusion

Hopefully, you all realize that there is more to going to college than just signing up, packing up, and going.  There are a number of aspects of moving out on your own in a new place that you don't really think of when considering life in post-secondary education.  This assignment was designed to get you thinking about things you may not have considered before.  After completing the WebQuest, you should have a better understanding of what you are looking for in a school and have a grasp on how to use sources at your disposal in order to find what you are looking for.

Are there any other ideas you have for this assignment?  What other aspects of college life are important to you?  Do you care more about the academic programs or the social community?  There are a number of questions like this that you need to consider when applying for schools, and I encourage you to think hard about some of these in determining what YOU want from your college experience.


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Credits

Picture on top of page courtesy of Pacific University

 The WebQuest Page and the Design Patterns page include the latest versions of the WebQuest template.

"We all benefit by being generous with our work. Permission is hereby granted for other educators to copy this WebQuest, update or otherwise modify it, and post it elsewhere provided that the original author's name is retained along with a link back to the original URL of this WebQuest. On the line after the original author's name, you may add Modified by (your name) on (date). If you do modify it, please let me know and provide the new URL."

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Last updated on October 20, 2002. Based on a template from The WebQuest Page