College Planning Blog

Myth: All colleges and universities are alike.

Reality: This country boasts a rich array of more than 3,000 colleges and universities dedicated to providing post-secondary educational opportunities. Their personalities, curricula and institutional cultures vary, though, as greatly as 3,000 sets of fingerprints! While they teach essentially the same stuff, they do it very differently.

Think about what this means for you. While your educational needs can be met in many places, you can’t assume they will be met in the same manner—or, more importantly, in a manner that is well suited to your learning style. If you and your family are going to invest in a four-year college education, it only makes sense that you put yourself in situation that is most likely to support a successful learning experience.

Finding a good college fit begins with identifying places that provide not only the program you need, but also a style of instruction that is most comfortable for you. Just as students possess unique learning styles—they each process information differently—colleges offer different styles of instruction. For example, let’s suppose you want to study Biology. Some colleges will teach Biology in seminars that include 25-30 students while others teach it in lecture halls of five hundred! Yet others will attach labs to the instruction or offer research opportunities. In each case, the material is the basically same—bio is bio—but the experience is different. How would you function in these different environments? What sort of interaction do you want to have with the information that is being presented?

The objective, then, is to find a style of instruction that compliments the way you like to learn. As you begin looking for a good college “fit,” take stock of your learning style. How do you like to be engaged with learning? Who or what inspires you? Under what circumstances are you most likely to produce your best work? The more you know about how you like to learn, the easier it will be to make critical distinctions among the learning environments of different colleges.

Consider the following questions as you try to get your arms around your learning style. Be particularly attentive to the “why” part of each question.

• Who is your favorite teacher—and why?
• What is your favorite class right now—and why?
• In which type of classroom setting, i.e., large group lectures, seminars, etc., are you most comfortable—and why?
• With what kinds of people and personalities do you enjoy exchanging ideas—and why?

As you reflect on your answers—especially the “whys”—you come to better understand the characteristics of a learning environment that would be the most appropriate for you in college. The next step is to look for colleges that mirror these characteristics. They will be the best fits for you.

If, for example, your approach to learning is to take good notes, read diligently and prepare carefully—all in the relative anonymity of the large lecture hall, then you are more likely to function comfortably in a larger, more expansive instructional setting. On the other hand, if you like the engagement of a small classroom where you can ask questions—where you can challenge and be challenged—then the seminar format will be more productive for you.

Now, let’s take a quick look at what can happen if you are not attentive to the information you are gleaning about your learning style. If you do prefer the large lecture hall experience—but you’ve chosen a college where most of your classes put you front and center around the seminar table, won’t you fell like the proverbial “fish out of water?” On the other hand, if really like the engagement of the small classroom but find yourself in a setting that features lectures of 300 or more students—all the time—will that learning environment bring out the best in you? In the final analysis, you are more likely to get the most out of your ability when you find yourself in an environment that is well suited to the way you learn.

I asked these questions of my daughter as she was looking at colleges. After some reflection, she concluded that, “choosing a college is one of the most important decisions I will make in my life. In order to make a good choice, I need to know myself a little better.” Take the time to get to know yourself—and how you enjoy learning—in order to make good choices that reflect your interests and needs. Doing so will put you in a better position to find and get into colleges that fit you well.

In my last posting, I talked about the importance of staying “student-centered” as you begin your college selection process. Focus on what is most important to you as think about where and how you will spend your years in college. Students who are truly reflective as they enter the process are more inclined to make decisions based on a set of core priorities that guide them in the discovery of colleges that fit them best.

In this first installment of “the good fit” series, I would like to discuss the importance of finding an academic program that meets your needs. Students often enter the college search process with specific academic programs or career interests in mind. And why not? If you know what you want to study in college, it makes sense to target places that will accommodate your interests and support your strengths. For example, if you want to pursue chemical engineering, focus on schools that offer it. The same is true whether your interests lie in business, elementary education, or graphic design.

Follow your passion. If your passion happens to be film studies but a college you are considering doesn’t offer a very substantive program in that area, then you need to recognize early that it is not a good fit. Look into colleges that offer strong programs that meet your needs.

Be careful not to let emotional interests override your academic priorities. Embracing a college or university simply on the merit of its overall ranking or reputation, or because it has a great athletic program or is in a location you like, on the assumption you’ll be able to figure out the academic piece later, is not wise. When you do that, you become “destination-centered” and set yourself up for frustration down the line. Think about it. How often do you hear about students transferring because the colleges they have chosen don’t offer the programs they want to study?

If, on the other hand, you are still searching for that passion and you don’t feel drawn to a particular career interest or academic direction, don’t worry. You’re normal. It’s difficult to know at any age what you’ll do for the rest of your life, so relax. You’ve got a lot of time to figure it out. And here is the good news: hundreds of institutions across the country–liberal arts colleges as well as universities with robust general studies programs–are eager to embrace the undecided student. If you are not sure about your future directions, look for places that will allow, if not encourage, you to explore. Whatever you do, don’t succumb to the notion that there is something wrong if your future plans are not laid out in great detail. You’ll be fine–you just need to plan accordingly to give yourself options.

Whenever I present to groups of students and parents, I like to ask the parents the following question: “How many of you are now doing in your careers what you knew you would do when you were 17 years old?” When I asked this of my audience last night only six of nearly 100 parents present indicated that was true for them. Interestingly, that response is pretty typical of most parent groups around the country. Despite their many achievements in life, most of them have arrived at their current positions by pathways they couldn’t have imagined when they were your age. You, too, need to be flexible in finding and following your path. A good college fit is one that will encourage you in this direction.

For more insight into dealing with indecision, check out my January 28, 2008 blog, “Seize the Opportunity in Indecision.” (http://www.TheAdmissionGame.com/blog/archives/46)

In summary, go into the college selection process with your eyes wide open! Be true to your passions. Be careful about adding schools to your list that don’t offer academic flexibility if indeed what you need is the opportunity to explore. If you are undecided about your future academic directions yet find yourself looking at an application for admission that requires you to declare a major as you apply for admission, you are looking at an institution that is not a good fit for you. Don’t abandon your academic needs in favor of factors that will have little or no impact on your learning experience.

Did You Know?

• You will probably change your major in college? Most college students do at least once.
• Most students enter college “undeclared” with regard to a major?
• The odds are that you will change jobs at least four times and change careers twice?
• Many colleges report that 80-90% of the people who graduated more than 25 years ago are now in careers that did not exist when they graduated?

For help in finding colleges and universities that fit well given your academic interests, check out the following websites:

http://www.petersons.com/ugchannel/code/searches/srchCrit1.asp
http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/adv_typeofschool.jsp
http://www.collegeview.com/collegesearch/index.jsp

“What do I need to do to get into XYZ college?” It’s often the lead question from students, with their junior years of high school largely behind them, as they begin to focus on college planning. Unfortunately, as many ask the question, they have already skipped a vital step in the planning process. They have failed to fully assess their own needs and interests. Instead, they are focused, if not obsessed, on the place—the destination.

Not long ago, a young woman approached me after a program to inquire about rigor as it relates to course selections in her senior year program. “Is it better for me to take four APs or five APs next year?” she asked. Before attempting to answer her question, I asked if she had some colleges in mind as the importance of rigor is correlates strongly with the selectivity of a college. Her immediate and enthusiastic response was to identify schools at the top of the pecking order (or the tip of the Pyramid of Selectivity for those of you who have read my book, Winning the College Admission Game, or seen my program, “The Admission Game”).

Curious about her thought process, I asked her “why” she was interested in these schools. She looked at me with astonishment and said, “Well I always assumed if I could get into one of those schools, that’s where I should go.” Without missing a beat, I again asked “why?” She was dumbfounded. Apparently, no one had ever challenged her thinking before. What’s more, she had no answer. We briefly talked about APs within the context of selectivity, but that was the end of the conversation. I wasn’t trying to talk her out of the schools about which she seemed very excited. I simply wanted to see if she had given much thought to her choices. Based on this brief exchange, it appeared she had not done so. Instead, she was “destination oriented.”

While on the surface this may not seem to be a big deal, it is my observation (over years of watching the admission process unfold) that most of the students who are frustrated by their lack of acceptance into high profile (and highly selective) schools are destination-oriented. Think about it. Every year, it seems the headlines in early April read “Record Number of Talented Students Rejected at Top Colleges.” And why is that? It’s largely because kids (and families) become so consumed with getting into places that they overlook the fundamental needs and interests of the student. They are not student-centered in their respective approaches.

A student-centered approach to college planning begins with a fundamental question: “Why do you want to go to college?”

The correct answer is not: “Isn’t that what you do after high school?” Or “My parents told me I have to go.” Or “I don’t know what else to do.” Regardless of your circumstance, going to college should never be the default answer! There is too much time and money at stake for you to follow a whim. That doesn’t mean you have to have the rest of your life mapped out before you can consider college, but it does mean that going to college needs hold some sense of purpose for you.

If you think college is indeed the answer to your post-high school plans, the next question to ponder is, “What are the three things you want to make sure you accomplish by the time you cross the stage at your college graduation?” As you think about the answers, you begin to identify your priorities or those factors that will be important filters as you process information about colleges that come across your radar screen.

When my son answered this question, he said that he wanted to make sure he got a good education. This struck me as a pretty thoughtful response so I asked what a good education would look like to him. As he talked about how he liked to learn and the type of instruction that inspired him, he began to hear himself describe the qualities of an educational environment that would be important to him. When we had finished working through each of his priorities, he realized that he could be more intentional in evaluating his college options.

Focusing on this question of “what do you hope to accomplish” will also help you get past a lot of the emotional stuff about wanting to live in warm weather climates or big cities—or on campuses with big-time athletic programs. While these characteristics of a college experience are not unimportant, they are the gravy or the value that is added when you have found a college that fits you and your priorities well.

So, stay student-centered as you begin to think about college planning in earnest. Stay focused on you and your priorities. Evaluate why you want to go to college and how you will measure the success of your experience. This is not college for your parents or for your teachers or for your friends. It’s all about you.

Next week’s blog will be the first of a six-part series in which I take a look at elements of a good college fit. I look forward to sharing with you perspectives on what does or does not constitute a good college fit as you look for the colleges that are best for you!

For more discussion about finding the best college fit, check out the audio recording in my Straight Talk About College Admission Series, “How to Find the Best College Fit.” This session provides an effective compass bearing for the college search while helping students develop action plans for finding and getting into the colleges that fit them best.