Students interested in taking the Feburary 6th ACT need to act quickly -- the registration deadline is today, January 5th. Late registration runs from January 6th through the 15th. It's easy to sign up for the ACT online at the ACT website.

Students who want to take the January 23rd SAT have already missed the regular registration deadline, but the College Board recently announced that the date for late registration has been extended until Friday, January 8th. As with the ACT, registration can be done online. Just visit the SAT website.

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Today #7 University of Oregon will take on #8 Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. Oregon is a member of the Pac 10 Conference and Ohio State plays in the Big Ten Conference. For game analysis, be sure to visit Tim Hyland, the About.com guide to college football. Here we'll look at how these two large public universities measure up for academics and admissions. Both have chapters of the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society for their strengths in the liberal arts and sciences. Cost and test scores are compared below:

University of Oregon:

• Percentage of applicants accepted: 87%
• Middle 50% SAT Reading: 480 / 600
• Middle 50% SAT Math: 490 / 610
• Total Cost (In-State): $18,108
• Total Cost (Out-of-State): $31,665

Ohio State University:

• Percentage of applicants accepted: 62%
• Middle 50% SAT Reading: 540 / 650
• Middle 50% SAT Math: 590 / 680
• Middle 50% ACT Composite: 25 / 30
• Total Cost (In-State): $22,554
• Total Cost (Out-of-State): $35,793

Both schools are strong universities. Ohio State is more selective. After financial aid is factored in, the cost for both schools is about the same. I'd have to give Ohio State a slight edge for strong academics at a great price. It's the reason Ohio State made my list of top picks among public universities.

Related Links:

• University of Oregon admissions profile
• Ohio State University admissions profile
• Big Ten Conference
• Pac 10 Conference
• SAT comparison chart for the Big Ten
• ACT comparison chart for the Big Ten
• SAT comparison chart for the Pac 10

On New Years Day, #4 Cincinnati takes on #5 Florida in the Sugar Bowl. I'll leave the game analysis to Tim Hyland, the About.com guide to college football, but how do these universities compare on the college admissions front? Both are large public universities and both have chapters of the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society for their strengths in the liberal arts and sciences. Florida is a member of the Southeastern Conference and Cincinnati competes in the Big East Conference. On the admissions front, Florida is the more selective university as well as the cheapest:

University of Florida:

• Percentage of applicants accepted: 41%
• Middle 50% SAT Reading: 570 / 680
• Middle 50% SAT Math: 590 / 700
• Middle 50% ACT Composite: 25 / 30
• Total Cost (In-State): $15,248
• Total Cost (Out-of-State): $32,093

University of Cincinnati:

• Percentage of applicants accepted: 75%
• Middle 50% SAT Reading: 490 / 610
• Middle 50% SAT Math: 500 / 630
• Middle 50% ACT Composite: 21 / 27
• Total Cost (In-State): $25,884
• Total Cost (Out-of-State): $40,407

Both schools are excellent public universities, but Florida is my pick for high quality at a great price. It's the reason the University of Florida made my list of top picks among public universities.

Related Links:

• University of Florida admissions profile
• University of Cincinnati admissions profile
• SEC, Southeastern Conference
• Big East Conference
• SAT comparison chart for the SEC
• ACT comparison chart for the SEC
• SAT comparison chart for the Big East

The final college spotlight of 2009 takes us to Memphis, Tennessee, where Rhodes College sits on a 100-acre park-like campus near downtown. Rhodes is a private, liberal arts college associated with the Presbyterian Church. The college places emphasis on service, and the school's strengths in the liberal arts and sciences have earned it a chapter of the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society.

Rhodes College students have extremely high acceptance rates into graduate programs in business and law. With a 10 to 1 student / faculty ratio and an average class size of 13, Rhodes College students get a lot of personal attention from the faculty. It's perhaps no surprise that Rhodes is one of the 40 colleges featured in Loren Pope's well-regarded book, College's That Change Lives.

As a high-quality small private college, Rhodes College is not cheap. However, more than 4 out of every 5 students receive significant grant aid to help fund their educations.

If you'd like to learn more about Rhodes College and what it takes to get accepted, visit the Rhodes College Admissions Profile and the college's official website. If you have visited or attended the Rhodes, please share your experiences below.

Every week I spotlight a great college that might be off the radar of college applicants. If there's a college you'd like to see featured here, please post your recommendation in the College Admissions Forum.