Our newest Green Ivy coach (and recent Stanford grad) Kelsey and I collaborated on this piece together – print it out and take it on your next college campus visit.
Last week, I loved this article in the NYTimes entitled “How to Raise a University’s Profile” for many reasons, mainly because Kevin Carey discusses details I’ve been talking about for years. I often explain how schools improve their “clout” and make themselves seem more prestigious and selective. Carey details how the president of George Washington University transformed the university’s reputation by appealing to public notions of luxury, in something called the “Absolut Rolex” effect (“Absolut” vodka coupled with a “Rolex” watch). Carey writes how university president Stephen Joel Trachtenberg “convinced people that George Washington was worth a lot more money by charging a lot more money.” We know college tuition has skyrocketed over the past few decades, and that even though all parents want the best possible college experience for their young adults, we have to ask ourselves: what “bests” are the most important?
With Spring Break right around the corner, many high school sophomores and juniors will be checking out college campuses. If you and your child happen to take a campus tour in the upcoming months, please be sure to ask the tough questions! Questions like: How many students receive need-based financial aid? Do most students graduate in 4 years? Beyond stunning dorms and newly renovated athletic facilities, what resources and support are available to undergraduates? In the recent release of its annual Freshman Survey, UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute reports that “with counseling centers on campus reporting a record number of visits and increased wait times, it is clear that campuses have more work to do to assist students experiencing emotional health issues.”
Campus tours can give you a fine sense of a school’s accolades, but it’s also important to look at what resources are in place when things don’t go as planned. I always encourage students to speak with a random student in the Student Union and ask questions like the following:
- What are visits to the health center like? How hard is it to get an appointment?
- How late is the library open? Where do students go to find academic help?
- Does each student get an academic adviser? What are the policies for dropping a class or changing a major?
- What is the gender and cultural diversity of the faculty?
- Are there department or career center programs that help students find enriching summer opportunities?
- What is the student union like? Where do students congregate?
- What do you like best about your experience so far?
Beyond asking current college students about their favorite aspects of their school, be sure to ask about pain points and frustrations, too. What do they wish were different? What do they wish they had known before they enrolled? When students live and work in the same place, day-to-day details make a big difference. No college or university is perfect, but a school’s certain set of strengths and weaknesses may fit your child best.
Check out the related article below and note that Lesson 1 is “Sticker Price Is Not a Gauge of Quality”(!)
The Best Colleges for Your Money 2014-2015 (lots of interactive links and related articles, too).
