Accurate college search engines?

[klmama]

I can't remember what site I used for my older dc's college searches.  Which ones have you found to be the most helpful and accurate, as far as connecting the desired major with the schools that offer it? 

[JanetC]

Please see the pinned post at the top of the board for a directory of college search engines.

There are two types of searching by major:

One is when the kid wants something like "mechanical engineering" -- any school with an engineering department will offer this, so it won't really narrow your school list down. Instead, you can refine by location, cost, and whether your students test scores etc are in the admissible range. If you are so flexible on location and cost that you need to use academic admissibility to refine your list further, I recommend Rugg's. (See the link at the top of the board.)

Another type of searching by major is when the kid wants something esoteric -- for example, dmmetler's DD is searching for very specific opportunities not offered by every biology department. My younger DD's interest in planetary science might be in the geology department at one school, in astronomy in another, or in physics (in schools where physics and astronomy are the same department). In this sort of case, you can't use any search engine at all. They're just not that specific. You might try searching the scientific literature for which universities the experts in your field are publishing from. There's really no substitute for just drilling down on college website after website.

Shorter answer: If your major is commonly offered, search on location, cost, and admissibility first and assume you will find your major in plenty of schools that remain. If your major is an oddball, no college search engine is set up for that.

[klmama]

Thanks.  I always forget about the pinned posts.  I've just gone through the list there, and a couple sites are moderately helpful.  It's good to have a place to start.  Thanks for the help!   

[Nicholas_mom]

I didn't find the pinned helpful at all.  I am just starting to really find a list for my son to check out which colleges has what he is looking for....I will try Rugg's