Montgomery School

Joe Baker with an excellent article on choosing the right college!

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10 Ways to Assess College

Choosing the right college can be a long and grueling process: aside from the entrance exams and college visits, you’ll have to help your future college student decide which schools will give them the best education for the best value. The advent of social media has helped with this consideration immensely, providing valuable inside information, from the habits of current students at said universities or the many workings of universities themselves.  But there are many other factors to consider when narrowing down colleges. Make the following considerations when you and your child are looking for the best college.

1.     Talk to your student and ask him/her what they want. That sounds like a simple step, but it isn’t: some parents may be attached to their alma maters and believe their children will do well there as well. Or maybe you’re eager to keep your child close to home while they’re itching to attend a school across the country. Make sure your child is an active participant in choosing a college—after all they are the one who’ll have to survive four years there.

2.     Look for funding opportunities wherever you can. Fewer parents are capable of supporting their child financially throughout college, so looking for grant, scholarship and loan opportunities is important. Scholarships ranging from having red hair to having dyslexia are available to both parents and students. Even if you are able to provide financial support to your child while he’s in college, make sure that your child can handle money and spend wisely while they are on campus.

3.     Look for colleges and universities that match your student’s interests. While his/her desired field of study is a top priority, you should also consider his extracurricular interests: sports, campus activities and hobbies will all help your child feel more at home when he’s on campus.

4.     Size does matter—so keep campus size in mind when you’re looking for a school. Will your child feel overwhelmed by the massive campus or hemmed in because they might know everyone there? Be sure to get input from your child on what kind of atmosphere in which they will feel the most comfortable.

5.     Be sure your school provides decent mental health access to its students. Mental health is often ignored by some students and their parents, but it can be an important part of a college student’s experience. This article in the New York Times gives you an outline of what questions parents and students should look for in a school’s mental health offerings.

6.     Compare school year structures and schedules, as they can have an impact on how your child performs academically. If you think that a faster-paced program might pose a problem, you might consider an online bachelor degree program, since it can allow your child to work at his own pace and to fit school around other activities like work or sports.

7.     Personal recommendations can go a long way toward legitimizing a college’s reputation. Talk to friends, family or colleagues who’ve graduated from a college and can tie their success to the education they received there.

8.     Living arrangements are also an important part of college life. Can kids go in and out of other students’ dorms at all hours? Will your child feel comfortable in dorms? Or is the school close enough that your child can live at home while he’s in college? That might be a good way to save money and ease the transition to college.

9.     Once you and your child have made a decision about where to go, keep in touch with a recruiter or start a relationship with other people on campus so that your child will feel like he’s at home when he moves to campus in the fall. Your child can even find out which of his high school classmates are attending his college and keep in touch once they all start the semester.

10.  Be flexible. Choosing a college takes time and work. And even after you think a choice has been made, your child might change his mind. Remember that this is his education and his choice. Be patient and allow your child to do what’s best for him.

Regardless of the college choice, remember that the real education of any student is happening right now.  Their time around you and their peers as they prepare for the rest of their life is just as important (if not more so) that those they will spend in higher education.  The challenge of college choice defines each student only because of whom they already are; a person with values, intuitions and a firm knowledge base.