Awareness of the University Candidates on the Academic Program Selection

This ‌study‌ examines the rate of obtaining information for academic fields of study among qualified applicants of universities national entrance exam. For this purpose a twelve item questionnaire based on the results of a preliminary research with open-‌‌ended responses about information accessibility for academic fields was‌ designed. After reviewing and confirming the formal validity of the questionnaire, its reliability investigated through a pilot study conducted on 120 qualified applicants with a high Alpha coefficient ( r = 0.80). The final questionnaire was administered among 1737‌ (949 women and 788 men) resident applications in Tehran.
The main statistical methods for data analysis were Factor Analysis, Mean Confidence Interval Estimation, Independent Samples T- Test and Analysis of Variance. Using a factor analysis test, it was revealed that two‌ factors (media/books and advising). The results of analysis showed that the rate of obtaining information for academic fields among applicants was low (48 percents) while there is a gap (of 52 percent). In addition, findings of t- test and ANOVA showed the higher mean of obtaining information through media- books among girls and humanities applicants. Also, there was no meaningful difference between the girls and boys in obtaining information through consulting. However, these findings address the importance of providing information gathering opportunities for university applicants.