College students are more distracted than ever, often replacing opportunities for self-discovery and reflection with endless scrolling sessions on their devices.
The old ways of connecting with prospective and current students through lengthy printed materials, email newsletters, and even longer lectures have changed.
Now, universities are recognizing the power of creating college quizzes.
No, we don’t mean the kind of groan-worthy quizzes and tests students are graded on.
We’re talking about quizzes that unlock a new understanding of each student’s personality, interests, and career goals. When used strategically, the data you can collect from these fun and entertaining quizzes can be surprising and even astounding.
It’s no secret that today’s college students want to learn a lot of information in a short amount of time. That’s what they’re used to! Students are more interested in receiving personalized, bite-sized advice and lessons they can take immediate action on. This is exactly what your university can provide through a college quiz.
While it’s easy to see that students’ learning habits are changing as a whole, few universities are focusing on what it looks like to evolve as a new generation of college students emerges. This presents an incredible opportunity for your university to stand out with memorable quizzes your students will love.
If you aren’t sure how or where to get started, we’ve got you covered! We’ll review 15 real college quiz examples from small and large universities alike.
There are so many different quizzes professors and universities can use, including:
- In the classroom quizzes
- Campus life quizzes
- University trivia quizzes
- Career quizzes
- College services quizzes
Whether you’re looking to help students discover their best career path, explore campus life options, or assess their comprehension, you can accomplish these goals and more when you use our free Interact quiz builder to create an interactive quiz.
Get ready to be inspired by these quiz examples!
In the classroom quizzes
At technology-forward universities, using quizzes in the classroom is common. By nature, quizzes are highly engaging and interactive, helping students retain information and learn more about themselves as it pertains to the class. It’s no surprise, then, why many professors incorporate them into their lessons.
Quizzes are also a convenient way to test your student’s knowledge before a graded assessment, helping them understand what subjects they need to review. A quiz can recommend additional resources, textbook chapters to revisit, and so much more.
Once a quiz is created, professors can be completely hands-off—no manual grading or scoring necessary. All they need to do is embed the quiz onto their classroom page or share the direct link so students can access the quiz whenever they want. These quizzes can be used for multiple semesters, lessening the workload of professors who have prepared the content ahead of time.
Classroom quizzes can be used whether the class meets in a physical space or virtually, making it easier for teachers who are in constant transition during COVID. Since one-third of all college students are taking at least one online class, free quiz builders like Interact make it easier than ever to create simple classroom quizzes.
Ready to get started? Check out the below examples to see how other universities are using quizzes. You’ll learn how to use quizzes to:
- Discover a student’s personality
- Use your classroom quiz as a calculator tool
- Test a student’s knowledge
Discover a student’s personality
At University of California-Irvine, a Feminist Gothic Literature professor assigned The Haunting of Hill House by gothic novelist Shirley Jackson. To further engage with the class, the professor created a quiz to help each student see which character from the book they are most like.
What a smart way to get to know students while increasing their interest in the course material! We like how the professor included easy questions to make the quiz even more fun, like:
- What word describes you best?
- What is your reaction to the supernatural?
- What color appeals to you the most?
- What would be your choice of outfit?
The professor also used a quiz cover image from the Netflix television series inspired by the book, making the quiz material feel current and trendy.
Create a personality quiz for your students for free with Interact!
Use your classroom quiz as a calculator tool
Three Northeastern University students created the following quiz, which a Harvard professor is now using to help students understand how often they use local government services. This is no ordinary quiz! It’s acting as a community debt calculator based on facts and figures other students have previously gathered.
After a student answers a series of quiz questions, they receive a score from 0 to 18, which is then called their “Chelsea Creek Debt Score.”
The results description details what the score means and how the student can move forward with this new knowledge. How cool!
Build your own calculator with a free scored quiz!
Test a student’s knowledge
We use quizzes to test student knowledge, which we couldn’t complete this section without highlighting. It may seem obvious, but it’s worth repeating.
There are a few different ways you can use these assessment quizzes. You can assess a student’s current knowledge of a subject before they enroll in a class, or assess how well they’re retaining information after the semester has started. A professor at the California Institute of Arts & Technology used the former strategy with a Linux+ practice quiz.
With a list of multiple-choice answers, students can see how well they understand Linux+ fundamentals. One benefit of building this kind of quiz inside Interact is the ability to teach students as they go through the quiz rather than having them wait until the end to receive their final score or results. After a student answers a quiz question, they’ll immediately see a red or green screen with the correct answer.
A green screen lets the student know they answered correctly, as opposed to the red screen, which appears with a wrong answer. Professors can decide whether or not they want to use the incorrect screen to educate students on why the answer is incorrect, although, in this example, it simply shows the right answer.
Campus life quizzes
College is about so much more than what goes on in the classroom. For incoming freshmen students, understanding how to thrive on campus is important to the college experience. The same can be true for returning students, but since campus life is brand new to freshmen, it gives universities a great opportunity to engage with them through quizzes.
As a college, it’s important to think about the questions a brand new student may be asking themselves. Quizzes can help you answer questions before students have an opportunity to ask them. It’s a proactive way to help them prepare for and get excited about campus life.
Universities can use campus life quizzes in multiple ways. In this post, we show a few examples from universities that are already using campus life quizzes with new students to:
These quizzes may inspire your next big idea!
Find a roommate
If the right roommate pairs with someone, it can make or break their college experience. Instead of randomly selecting students, why not use data to help students find their perfect match based on their preferences? Some universities are starting to use this approach, but few know how to go about collecting this data.
One way is to have your students take a roommate style quiz, which you can easily create right inside our free Interact quiz builder. We know it works because Drury University is already using their own What’s Your Roommate Style? quiz.
Rather than directly asking their students what their preferences are, the university tries to get to know each student’s personality. This makes for a more interesting quiz.
Here’s a preview of some of their engaging quiz questions:
- What’s your ideal Saturday?
- Your friends would say you are…
- You can’t live without…
The way a student answers these questions reveals more about them than you may realize. For example, one quiz question asks “What are you most likely to wear to class?” It seems like a simple and straightforward question, but check out these answer options:
When someone answers “anything from my clothes pile that doesn’t smell,” the university determines that the person is probably untidy, and should not pair them with someone very organized. The organized person might have chosen the option “something that was ironed or khakis.” These two roommates would clash if paired, so the quiz provides helpful data.
There are no right or wrong answers in this kind of campus life quiz. It’s simply a roommate matching tool that’s more fun for students to complete than filling out a boring form.
Lastly, Drury University does a fantastic job of giving concise but positively written personality results that feature a list of pet peeves, music preferences, and an ideal decorating style. Although the quiz meant to understand the person’s roommate style, it surprises and delights each new student with more information.
Oh, and we can’t forget how Drury smartly asks for the quiz taker’s name, zip code, and email address. Based on the zip code and personality quiz results, they can pair roommates who live close to one another and have similarities.
Create a roommate finder quiz with a free Interact account!
Select a dorm hall
Once someone pairs a student with their roommate, it makes sense to assess what dorm hall is best for them. Choosing a dorm hall can be a stressful decision for new students who don’t know what to expect from campus life. Ease their worries by creating a dorm hall preference quiz, much like Liberty University’s quiz titled Which Liberty Dorm Should You Choose?.
Unlike the previous roommate finder example, this asks more straightforward questions about someone’s dorm preferences. It’s less of a personality quiz and more of an assessment quiz, but luckily, the content isn’t written in a stuffy way.
Each question is easy to answer and whip through, especially for students who already know their budget, how many roommates they prefer, and how long they want to walk to class. These are just a few of the questions the quiz asks, but you can adjust the answer options to fit student and university needs.
As a bonus, we also want to share another quiz that Liberty University uses to help their students choose which dining space is best suited for them. Since the university touts one of the best dining programs in the country, it makes sense to highlight all of their options in a quiz.
Create a campus life quiz for your dorm or dining hall using Interact!
Choose a space to park
Transportation is a necessary topic for new and returning college students. While some students prefer to walk to class, others like to have a vehicle on campus. These are typically students who want to regularly visit friends or family nearby or who have a job in town that’s not within walking distance.
No matter the reasoning, universities will often charge a fee for parking spots on campus or offer a limited number of parking spots. To make light of this, someone from the UAB Student Media team at University of Alabama-Birmingham decided to create a quiz that assesses a person’s UAB parking stereotype.
This entire quiz is engaging, from the results to the main quiz description that says the quiz is a way to “distract us from actual quizzes we’re getting graded on.” A little cheeky humor makes this campus quiz stand out.
The final quiz results are varied, but they are equally hilarious. A few of them include taking a chance on metered parking, trying a competitive street for parking, or even deciding on riding to class on a bicycle instead of paying for school parking.
All in all, the main point of the quiz is to entertain the student audience instead of giving true parking recommendations. Although, after reading through some of the results, it may entice students to invest in a parking spot to avoid the hassle of these parking stereotypes!
Get involved with extracurricular activities
One of the best ways for students to meet friends on campus is to join a club or get involved with extracurricular activities. These aren’t usually required, but clubs can help students feel fully integrated into campus life. Some students may know what kind of clubs they want to join, but others may not be aware of what the university offers.
Take a page from Calvin College’s book and create a similar quiz that helps students find their place at your school. This quiz style can be great for incoming freshmen who are eager to meet new people, but it may also be a fit for students who have just transferred to the university.
In this quiz example, Calvin recommends certain clubs, organizations, and extracurricular activities based on how someone answers the quiz.
If you were to receive the “Born Leader” personality type, the school would recommend that you look into the student senate, school newspaper, and Model UN, to name a few. We like how Calvin recommends multiple options so students don’t feel pigeon-holed into one thing.
University trivia
It’s not uncommon to see universities use trivia quizzes to test their student’s knowledge of a specific subject, but what about trivia quizzes that are based on facts about the college? That could be a fun addition to your university’s website!
By asking a series of trivia questions, you can see how much your students know about your university. It’s a fun and interactive way to highlight your school’s history and what sets it apart from other colleges.
Admissions officers can use university trivia quizzes to engage with prospective students or repurpose them into a trivia quiz to test past alumni on the knowledge they acquired while studying at the university.
There are two main ways we’ve seen universities use these kinds of trivia quizzes:
Let’s get started with the first type of trivia quiz!
Test general knowledge of the university
With a little research, you can uncover dozens (or even hundreds!) of interesting facts about your university. Once these facts are gathered, you can create a multiple-choice quiz with one right answer and a few wrong answers.
Then you’ll be ready to publish and share your university trivia quiz, much like this example from University of Central Missouri (UCM). Each of the questions is extremely easy to answer, mainly due to the engaging images and concise answer options.
UCM used a variety of photos in their quiz, both from our stock photo library and their own campus photography. It really makes their trivia quiz questions stand out, which you can see by looking at the examples below.
Create your own university trivia quiz by signing up for a free Interact account!
Create a new trivia quiz every week
Instead of creating a one-time quiz on university trivia, why not break it up into multiple quizzes you can use as content every week? That’s exactly what Columbia University did with its Quiz of the Week, a regular feature on their blog.
After releasing five new trivia questions each week, students and alumni alike are able to learn more about Columbia. The questions feature popular statistics and facts about the school’s sports records, notable academic researchers, charitable projects, past speakers, and more.
Here’s a quick peek at some of the facts Columbia uses in their weekly trivia quizzes:
Instead of waiting until the end of the short trivia quiz to reveal the right answers, Columbia decided to educate their audience as each person moves through the quiz. They even include additional fun facts!
Career quizzes
While some college students have a clear idea of what major they want to pursue, many find themselves in a self-discovery phase. This is especially true for younger students who might not have declared a major yet.
Use a career quiz to help these students explore new career opportunities. Inside these quizzes, you can assess a student’s skill set, interests, and working style preferences. As students self-select their answers, they’ll be able to choose a path forward and increase their self-awareness.
There’s a reason why career aptitude tests and personality quizzes are so popular! People like to know that their career utilizes their skills and talents. The more confident students feel in their choice of major, the more likely they will be to stick with the major throughout college and complete their college program of choice.
These career quizzes can help students:
Your quiz may help a student unlock discoveries that could change the trajectory of their lives! That’s how powerful a career quiz can be. Let’s dig into the different uses for these kinds of quizzes.
Discover an ideal career
In a student’s junior or senior year of high school, they will likely be thinking about what steps they want to take after graduation. For some, the goal is to attend a two- or four-year college to earn a degree in a field they’re interested in, but what about students who don’t know what industry they want to work in?
This is where ideal career quizzes come in. This kind of career test will allow your university to uncover a student’s unique traits, desires, and skills, so you can give them better, more personalized recommendations.
In a Senior Showcase career survey, Autry Technology Center decided to offer a career discovery quiz to assess incoming students’ career interests.
Through a simple list of yes or no questions, they aim to help students understand what kind of activities and work they’d like to learn more about. This includes anything from designing a house to building shelves to assembling electronics.
It only takes a few minutes for a student to complete, and based on their results, they’ll have an opportunity to explore the college programs that might be a good fit for their interests.
When you create an ideal career quiz, focus on general interests and hobbies that students may like. You don’t want to make the questions too obvious, like saying someone should pursue photography because they like taking photos.
Instead, create questions that help you understand how someone is wired, how their mind works, and what they naturally have a knack for. These questions will be more insightful for you and more interesting for the quiz taker!
Help students find their ideal career with a free Interact quiz!
Identify a specific role
Once a student knows which industries they would excel in, they may be asking themselves what kind of role they should pursue. While a student may consult with a program advisor, professor, or guidance counselor, this decision is extremely personal.
It makes sense, then, why it’s beneficial to offer an interactive quiz that allows students to self-select their answers to discover their best path forward. With a career quiz like this, a student won’t be swayed by someone else’s opinion or perspective. Instead, they’ll feel empowered by the quiz results they receive.
A great example of this comes from Chattanooga College’s cosmetology program. In their What Cosmetology Career Matches Your Personality? quiz, they help students enrolled in this specific college program figure out what form of cosmetology is their best fit.
As said in their quiz description, a cosmetology student’s preferences will determine what career they’ll excel in. This quiz is full of pop culture references their students will resonate with and love, making the career discovery process more fun.
Chattanooga’s cosmetology program also includes questions that are more focused on beauty regimens and products, much like the question example below. An answer to this question tells a lot about whether the cosmetologist-in-training loves hairstyling, nail art, or makeup artistry.
When someone completes the quiz, they’ll receive tailored results based on how they responded to each question. These results include Couture Hair and Makeup Artist, Beauty Blogger, and Wedding Hair Stylist, to name a few. This same quiz concept could be used for any college program, so this is your chance to get creative!
Help students discover their dream role with a free Interact quiz!
Find a college program match
Once a student knows what kind of career and role they want, their next step is to find a college program at your university. No matter how many college programs you offer, you can use quizzes to help students put their interests to work in and out of the classroom.
You might want to follow George Mason University’s example since they are successfully using college program matching quizzes. We like how their business school helps students easily identify a specific graduate program based on their quiz results. What’s even better is that they do it in only four quiz questions!
From recommending students to get their MBA to starting with an MS in Real Estate Development (or another field of their choosing), this quiz offers students a quick way to understand how they should move forward.
One thing we really like about this quiz is that it shows the top results based on percentages rather than giving one definitive answer. That way, the quiz gives each student direction but doesn’t make up their mind for them. They’re still in charge of their destiny.
This type of college program quiz could help professors and advisors communicate with prospective students more efficiently before they enroll in a specific program. It’s a win-win scenario for everyone involved!
Create a program-specific quiz by signing up for a free Interact account!
College services quizzes
Every college offers a range of student services—like health centers, libraries, academic advising, and waste management, for example—to help new and returning students succeed during their time in school.
You may find different use cases for quizzes in each service department. By encouraging your university staff to create quizzes for educational and entertainment purposes, you’ll be able to engage with students and assist them in an automated way.
Let’s improve the college experience with quizzes that will:
As you review each example, jot down notes to help build your own college service quiz. Now, let’s dive in!
Assess a student’s competency
Bryn Mawr College’s library department offers a Digital Competencies program to help their students succeed in and out of the classroom. They believe students need twenty-first-century technological skills to expand their knowledge and prepare for post-grad life.
That’s why they created a simple quiz titled What’s Your Digital Competencies Personality?, which aims to test a student’s current knowledge of digital communication strategies and tools. The quiz results recommend a list of digital survival skills, among other resources.
We like how this library department decided to include interesting stock images from our Interact library for each of their answer options. Since 90% of the highest performing quizzes have answer images, this was a smart move.
Your university’s library can take a page from Bryn Mawr’s book (no pun intended) by creating a quiz to teach students about technology, literature, the library catalog system, or any number of things. The sky’s the limit with this kind of quiz!
Create a student competency quiz by signing up for a free Interact account!
Give actionable advice
Teaching students how to properly recycle can take time. Instead of sending information through an email they’ll likely ignore or printing it in a brochure they’ll throw away, why not use a quiz to educate students about waste management?
That’s exactly what Monmouth University did with their recycling quiz. Their main goal for the quiz was to help students quickly and accurately identify what items they should recycle and how they could do it. This makes less sorting work for the waste management department, which is a win for the university!
They created the quiz to make it incredibly easy for students to receive the right recycling recommendations. Because of this, Monmouth’s waste management services department decided to pose two simple quiz questions, as shown below.
With a long list of options, it’s easy for students to choose the answer that best describes their item. They receive a number for their item along with instructions for where it should be recycled on campus, much like this “furniture or luggage” example.
Before you create this kind of quiz, determine the best format for inspiring the informed action you desire. You’ve got this!
Inspire students to take action with a free Interact quiz!
Understand a student’s mindset
When it comes to building healthy habits, it’s all about your mindset. Since making healthy decisions isn’t always easy in college (hello, dining halls and buffets!), it might be a good idea for your university’s health services department to help students fall in love with exercise and nutrition. Okay, maybe not all students will fall in love with it, but at least we can encourage them to make their health a priority.
Northern Kentucky University offers a great personality quiz that helps students identify what their wellness archetype is.
To make it even more interesting, they added an engaging photo of two staff members fighting with lightsabers, Star Wars-style. What do lightsaber battles and wellness have in common? It’s not obvious at first glance, but this reference to geek culture intrigues students just enough to take the quiz.
After a student completes the quiz, they receive a wellness archetype, like “Wizard,” along with a short description of that personality, but that’s not all…
They can also scroll through the results to find customized results and resource recommendations based on their archetype. This includes everything from cookbooks to exercise types to meditations to blogs worth reading. Their health department really went all out with this helpful list of resources!
Students love receiving personalized recommendations that feel tailored to their needs and lifestyle. This personality quiz is the perfect blend of educational and entertaining. Think about how your college services department could better engage with students through an archetype quiz. They’ll love it!
Create your own personality quiz with a free Interact account!
How to use Interact to create your first college quiz
The easiest way to get started with building your own college quiz is to sign up for a free Interact quiz building account and follow this actionable guide on Everything You Need to Know to Launch Your First Quiz.
As you work through each step, you’ll get closer and closer to publishing your quiz and getting real feedback from prospective and current students. We can’t wait to see what you create!
Before you begin, here are the steps you need to take to make your college quiz:
- Choose your preferred quiz type
- Decide on a quiz topic and title
- Write engaging quiz results
- Pick 7-10 questions ideally
- Match answer options with each quiz result type
- Design your quiz in Interact
- Embed and publish on your site
- Optional: Write a follow-up email series
Happy creating!