Top Universities 2013

Stanford University has beaten Harvard college to emerge the top university in America and that is according to a research by the Princeton Review, a test preparation and college admissions processing company.
The consulting company which runs test preparation and college admissions services released its list of the top 10 universities that students said were their "dream schools" as part of its annual "College Hopes and Worries Survey." The survey is designed to gauge student stress levels during the college application process.

 "Findings for our 2013 survey are based on responses from 14,125 people: 9,955 college applicants and 4,170 parents of applicants. They came from across America, representing all 50 states and DC. Some replied from countries abroad."

Here are the top 10 dream Universities  for parents and students, according to the Survey.

The colleges students rated their "dream college":

1. Stanford University
2. Harvard College
3. Columbia University
4. New York University
5. Princeton University
6. University of California – Los Angeles
7. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
8. Yale University
9. University of Michigan – Ann Arbor
10. University of California – Berkeley

The colleges parents rated "dream college" for their children:

1. Stanford University
2. Harvard College
3. Princeton University
4. University of Notre Dame
5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
6. Yale University
7. New York University
8. Brown University
9. Columbia University
10. University of Michigan – Ann Arbor

In students' and parents' responses to questions with multiple answer choices, these factors were discovered to be the determining factors for their choices.

• Stressful Application.Students reported higher stress levels. 97% reported having college application stress: 69% gauged their stress levels as "High" or "Very High."

• Debt.39%, the plurality, said their biggest worry is "Level of debt incurred to pay for the degree." Previously (2010 to 2012), the answer most selected was "Will get into first-choice college, but won't have sufficient funds/aid to attend."  In 2009, it was "Won't get into first-choice college."

• College cost estimate? $50,000+87% estimated their degree to cost "More than $50,000."  Within that cohort 45% said "More than $100,000." 89% of respondents (parents and students combined) said financial aid will be extremely or very necessary.

• Better job.
  51% said "Potentially better job / income." 24% said "Education." 25% said "Exposure to new ideas."

• Distance from home "ideal" college would be?52% of parents chose "Less than 250 miles": 61% of students chose answers in ranges from 250 to 1,000 miles.