How to Select a College

Here's another excerpt from the book Getting into College and Paying for It courtesy of the author (I really liked the book -- I gave it 7 stars.) Today, we'll cover "Selecting a College" which is in Chapter 1 of the book. Here goes:

Selecting A College

“While we are postponing, life speeds by.”   Seneca (3 BC – 65 AD)

Consider This

It is highly recommended that early in the process parents and student(s) visit some colleges to determine if they’ll be suitable for the student. The following criteria should be considered before selecting any colleges the student will apply to:

• Average GPA, SAT, class rank for acceptance
• If the student changes his or her major, the school should offer enough other choices.
• Size, location, Greeks, religious affiliation
• Percentage of freshmen that return for year two
• Percentage of freshmen that graduate in four years
• Percentage of financial need met
• Percentage of gift aid/self-help awarded
• On or off campus job opportunities
• Meal plans and dietary situations met
• Handicap accessibility
• Name recognition
• 2 or 4-year college or university
• Student/teacher ratio
• Percentage of professors who teach and percentage of teaching assistants
• Average class size, semester or trimester
• Co-ed dorms
• Freshman cars permitted
• School uses a need-blind or need-sensitive admissions policy
• Cost of the sheepskin

Need-blind is a practice where the student is evaluated without any regard to family income or assets.

Need-sensitive is a shameful policy used by a host of elite schools such as Duke, Emory and Stanford. These schools will admit a less than qualified rich kid in anticipation of a large contribution to their endowment funds.  In essence, the family has bought an admission ticket to a school where their student might never have been accepted to!

The words of Former U.S. Representative Shirley Chisholm (D-NY) come to mind, “When morality comes up against profit, it is seldom that profit loses.”

It’s anyone’s guess how many other schools enrich their coffers in this deceitful, unprincipled manner.  Duke has even been brazenly open about this policy, and I find it curious that shortly after reaching their $2 billion fund raising goal in 2003, they reduced their freshman acceptance percentage from 7.5% to 4%.  How ironic.

Other elite schools such as MIT say that parental wealth doesn’t influence them at all.  MIT Dean of Admissions, Marilee Jones (2003), has been quoted as saying, “I understand why universities leverage parent contacts to enrich themselves…If somebody’s offering them a check, why not take it? But I honestly think it’s out of control.”

Generally, parents who blindly accept the words of college representatives, as the gospel should immediately have their heads examined – but not by a surgeon who got their MD at Duke, Emory or Stanford.

College Selection Websites

• For alternative criteria go to www.fairtest.org or call 617-864-4810.  They have a list of some 300 schools that apply non-traditional guidelines in the Admissions Process.
• Afro-American schools: www.blackhighereducation.com/hbcu.html
• Jesuit schools:  www.ajcunet.edu
• Jewish affiliation:  www.hillel.org
• Trade and vocational schools:  www.overview.com/colleges/

The Official Unofficial Visit    

Colleges are always impressed when a 9th or 10th grader pays a visit.  By keeping in touch with officials you’ve met, in essence, you will have added points to both your GPA and SAT scores by establishing a rapport, so that when the time comes, they will be able to associate a face with your application. This helps a merely qualified student become far more acceptable.

Checklist:

• Confirm that everything you plan to visit will be open.
• Ideally, school should be in session.
• Ask plenty of questions and be an attentive listener.
• Bring a video or tape recorder for your notes.
• Find out who reads applications from your area. If possible, try to meet with a reader and be sure to keep in touch with them.
• Student athletes should meet with a coach or two.
• Listen to the school radio station and get a copy of the campus newspaper.
• If you have Greek intentions, visit some frat or sorority houses.
• Students should introduce themselves to attending students and pick their brains.
• Try to get into a dorm – unannounced.
• Have a snack in the cafeteria. After all, their food is what the student will be eating for the next four years.
• Students who have decided upon their course of study should make every effort to arrange a meeting with the head of that particular department and audit a class or two. This may require an overnight, giving the student the opportunity to check out the dorm.

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My thoughts:

1. Good list of criteria for selecting colleges. Quite comprehensive.

2. I'd never heard of a need-sensitive policy. Guess I'm not rich enough to be in this category. ;-)

3. One thing I like about this book is its emphasis that planning for college starts in 9th grade. It approaches getting into college as a serious undertaking that demands a thoughtful plan and corresponding actions -- which is a philosophy that I agree with. Good stuff!

4. I especially like "Bring a video or tape recorder for your notes" as a campus visit tip. You may feel a bit geeky in filming everything, but it will certainly help you remember the visit and (likely) help recall some things you missed/forgot about.

Comments

[Alyssa]

Need-sensitive policies are not always bad. In many cases, the student bodies of schools with need-sensitive admissions policies represent greater diversity in economic background. This is because, with more rich students attending/paying full tuition/donating, the school can focus more resources on financial aid packages for students with less money. Sometimes need-blind colleges, while perfectly willing to admit poorer students, simply cannot offer an aid package as good as a school with need-sensitive admissions, so the poor students actually end up at the need-sensitive school instead.