Homework: Cognitive Diversity in Deciding University

 One huge decision that many people have to make is what university they will go to after they graduate high school. People will usually first think about what they want to get out of college, then apply to programs that fill those wants. After they apply, some schools will reject the student or accept them, and then the student must decide where to go. This is an important decision and can be thought of from many different perspectives of decision making. One way to think about it is Bayesian thinking. If your goal is to become a doctor, what is the probability you will achieve your goal, will your probability of achieving that goal increase given you go to school A or school B? What is the probability that you will have good opportunities to achieve the things you want to at a given school? 

This decision can also be thought through as rational choice, although the game is very complicated and has many moving parts and is not the best way to think about this decision. Player 1 is the student deciding between 2 universities. Player 2 can be thought of as future employers or future friendships, or financial goals. All of these games can be analyze at the same time to determine what technically the best decision is. 

The decision can also be thought of in terms of somatic markers. These are gut feelings that a school is a right fit. These gut feelings can be gathered through the website, looking on the school reddit, or going on campus tours. It is mostly guided by deciding if the school environment is right for you, which is not a rational assessment. However, it can be a key factor in the decision.

It can also be thought of in terms of bounded rationality because once you have acceptances, you are making a decision based on schools that are potentially not ideal. One school that accepted you might have all the resources you are looking for but is too expensive, another school the opposite. The decision has to be made between two imperfect options, and the factors that are more important to your future must be weighed. 

There are many ways that a complicated decision can be made. Often, many processes are happening at the same time and interact to make a decision, and deciding where to get a bachelor's degree is the same.