THE ROAD TO YOUR DREAMS BEGINS HERE

5 BIG MISTAKES
in Beginning Your Search for the "Right" College

1) Reading and believing magazine "rankings"
How can you possibly "rank" something as diverse and different as all the colleges in this country? You can't. It's like ranking all the professional sports in terms of which one is better than the other. But more importantly, these rankings are based on some very questionable data.

Some of the data used to devise a school's rank is supplied by the college itself. (Isn't that a lot like asking the star and the director if their new movie is any good?) Often the magazine writers and the college administrators who are rating schools have never been on the campuses they are rating. Also, some have college administrators rate schools that are in direct competition to their own. Many of the criteria used for ranking has little or nothing to do with an undergraduates academic experience. (So just how good are they going to say their big rival is?) Much of what is used to rate a school has little or nothing to do with an undergraduate's academic experience. Some of the things not often taken into consideration when schools are ranked that should be of concern to the student and parent looking for a college:
..- The percentage of Ph.D.s that actually teach freshmen or undergrads at all
..- The financial stability of the institution
..- The quality of the living conditions
..- Campus morale (faculty and students)
..- Campus safety
..- The quality of undergraduate teaching and the number of teaching assistants for the undergrad.

2) Choosing a school based on its popular or media reputation
Some schools have big name recognition because of their perennially high ranked football or basketball teams. Unless you are on the team, this is not a great recommendation for a good education.

Large schools can mean large, lecture hall style classes, bureaucracy, and little or no personal attention. The big or famous name may get you "bragging rights" but after your first job interview, everything evens out. Ivy-caliber students can often get a better advantage with an equal education at a lesser known school. They get more attention, personal letters of recommendation and genuine leadership opportunities. An interesting fact to consider: Fortune 500 surveyed the CEOs of the Fortune 500 companies and discovered that almost 65% had undergraduate degrees from small colleges.

3) Basing your choice on one person's opinion
No matter who that person may be, you are the one that has to go and be happy and succeed. Use all possible resources to base your choice upon.

4) Not asking questions, or worse yet, not knowing what to ask
You are in the market For a very College today is a buyer's market. You are considering a very expensive, long-term purchase. You should be ready to ask about some specifics before you get overwhelmed with the "big sell." Some things you need to ask about:
Graduation rate: They'll offer 5 and 6 year rates. Ask about the 4 year rate. Every extra year is more money. How hard is it to graduate from their school in the traditional 4 years?
Safety: Federal law requires disclosure of crime rates on campuses. But they will not offer, so you will have to ask.
Return Rate: How many sophomores return? If it's under 75%, be wary. There has to be a reason.
Graduate school rate: Even if you're not planning on grad school, it's a good indicator of how the school is viewed in the academic world.

5) Buying in to the school's advertising
Ever notice that all the pictures in the brochures you receive are of perfect campuses, full of beautiful students in gorgeous weather? There's the classic shot of the teacher holding class on the lawn under the tree. Perfect, right? It's advertising! No one is going to show you a picture of the old, run-down dorm, or the slum just outside the gate. Statistics in these publications are also advertising. Faculty-student ratios, class availability can all be made to seem better than reality. Check out the place for yourself!

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
ABOUT THE ADMISSION PROCESS

 
My daughter can't possibly plan for college. She doesn't even know what she wants to study! Isn't it important for her to know what she wants to do and what she is going to major in?
 

College planning is a significantly different process from career planning. In a very real sense, the undergraduate years are intended as a time for both self discovery and intellectual discovery. One of the best ways of selecting a course of study (major) and/or a career is by identifying those subjects and classes in which a student has interest and by discovering those intellectual and personal talents or gifts that each student possesses. While it is a leap from favorite subject to a career path, a student's like and dislikes do play a role in the initial major selection. But keep in mind: The vast majority of college students will change their major at least twice, and an art major can wind up going to med school while the engineering major goes to law school.

If a student genuinely has no idea about potential careers, he/she may want to look at colleges that offer a broad range of academic programs (a liberal arts and sciences emphasis) so that he/she can keep open a wide variety of options while making a decision. If he/she has a sense of what to study, that's great too. What is important is that the student explore different career possibilities during the undergraduate years. This is done by taking a wide variety of courses, asking teachers about vocations in their fields, participating in internships, using vacations for work experiences in career areas of interest and utilizing the resources such as the career planning office on campus.


We want our son to attend a college we have heard of -- after all, when he gets out into the "real world", the name of the alma mater can be a ticket to employment. Right?
  Not necessarily. The United States has about 3,000 colleges. Name recognition among colleges varies by area and industry. But you ask, aren't the Ivy Leagues the "best?" Wouldn't any prospective employer give an absolute edge to the Ivy League grad? No, on both counts. First, the fact that a school is part of the "Ivy League" is no guarantee of academic or social fit for any given student More importantly though, perceptions of colleges among potential employers are almost as variable as the employers themselves. Increasingly, employers are interested in knowing what any given student has done at his/her college. Academic success is reflected by grades, research, independent study, study abroad, honors and special projects. Social success is evidenced by leadership, participation, involvement and commitment to activities, people, and projects. Accomplishments matter far more than just the name of a school. A study by the U.S. Department of Education found that the name or prestige of the college a student attends has very little influence on future earning potential. Only 1 to 2 percent of the differences in Income after graduation are attributable to the specific college a student attends. Every college has an alumni network accessible to its new graduates. Doors are always open to those who achieve at a high level in college.

Our son really hasn't been very successful in high school, so we don't want to spend very much for his college education. Wouldn't we just be throwing money down the drain?
  While practicality may suggest that this position is logical, parents might be advised to view the college experience not as a product on which a price tag is affixed, but rather as a process whose benefits are without price. An inexpensive college is no more likely to provide a successful college experience for a late bloomer than an expensive one. The most important concern should be that of match and the ability of any given college environment to provide the elements, qualities, and people necessary for the student to succeed. Increasingly employers are interested in knowing what any given student has done

How do I deal with images and perceptions about colleges?

There are so many different images, perceptions and myths about college, and the grapevine seems to work overtime. Here are a few familiar ones:
---Only a big school an be fun.
---Without fraternities and sororities my son will have no social life.
---University is a major party school
  Students can have a great deal of fun at a small school; many would tell you that the absence of fraternities and sororities is a guarantee of a social life. No school is entirely a party school, nor is any school totally grind school. You can find parties and grinds at each and every school.

---The College of the Urbanites is dangerous because it is located in a city. -
--My daughter will have nothing to do at the College of the Cows because it is located in the middle of nowhere.

Not every urban campus is dangerous, nor is every small town or rural campus a bore. Small towns vary considerably across this country, as do the colleges that are located in them.

Check out the perceptions you hear with reliable information. Be very wary of making such blanket statements about any given school or area of the country.

 

Admissions decisions seem so irrational and unpredictable. What's going on?  
 

Admission is a complex but not mystical process. Rarely does one factor alone cause a student to be accepted or denied. Admission committees carefully consider many dimensions of each applicant when they admit a class and it is difficult to predict who will get into one school from one year to the next. Thus, the fact that one student was admitted one year with particular SAT scores means very little for admission of another student with another set of scores the following year. Be careful of the grapevine stories of absolute SAT scores and GPAs that guaranteed admission to certain schools. Students and parents shouldn't know all of the details contained in another student's admission folder.

Furthermore, the admission picture for any given school changes from year to year depending on the number of applications received and the quality sought in an incoming class. College admission committees see a young student not as their parents do, but in the light of the other hundreds or thousands of applications they read each year. (Every year the USA has over 20,000 valedictorians and many of those 20,000 apply to the same 100 most selective colleges.)


My child's counselor can't tell us what the precise requirements are for admission at particular colleges. Shouldn't she know if the college requires, for example, a 3.2 GPA and an SAT of 1100?

  Few colleges admit by a strict formula. The larger colleges and universities, especially the state run institutions are more numerically formula driven than the private schools, but no school has a cut and dry formula. A good counselor can give you a good general idea of your child's chances at an institution based on their published criteria and his/her experience with students' applications to that school.
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