Weekly Column Tag: College advising
Tag: College advising
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Many things have changed in the years I’ve worked as a college counselor, but there is one constant—and that’s the way students and parents describe a small college. The minute they come back from visiting a college of less than 2000 students, the adjectives and phrases are timeless: “It’s so personalized”; “They really know their students”; “It feels like a family there”; “I know I’ll get supported there”; “It’s so cozy, quaint, student-centered, learning-focused, I wanted to go there right away.” And the truth is, most small colleges are exactly this way, for most of the students who go there. But just like it’s important to see if a big school works, you want to make sure the atmosphere, services, and opportunities are going to suit your needs. Former students and their parents offer these tips in making sure the fit is right in looking at smaller colleges: Meet the faculty who teach your major. A student headed to a liberal arts college with a strong reputation for its music department without visiting a music class. If he had done so, he would have discovered two of the three music professors were far more interested in research than working with students. Be sure to look closely. Watch your timing. A similar situation happened with a passionate science student, who was looking forward to working with a famous teacher at a small college—who happened to be on sabbatical the year the student was going to take his advanced classes. Had the student asked the teacher during his first visit to the college, he would have known. Be sure to ask. Look closely at the support systems. Many small colleges have faculty members serve as student advisers—this is supposed to make student-adviser ratios lower, and make advisers more accessible. The challenge here is that students most need to talk to their advisers at the beginning and end of the semesters—the exact same times when faculty are busy preparing for classes or grading papers. Ask students if this system works. Ask about clubs and organizations. There’s a good chance the list of extra-curriculars on the college Web site is at least a year old—and at a smaller college, that could mean that the 5 students who were running the Friends of Boz Scaggs Society have graduated. That might not be good news, but it’s the sad old truth— get the lowdown when you’re on campus about what’s hot and what’s not, and that should save you. Ditto for hotspots and weekend activities—if those matter to you, make sure they’re there. Don’t forget class availability. Small classes are great, as long as you can enroll in them, and small colleges often don’t have the resources to add extra sections of popular classes at the last minute. Again, ask on campus—students will tell you the truth—but be sure to talk to more than just one student, to get a balanced perspective. Spend the night before you enroll. More than one student has come back from an overnight visit to a small college where individualized attention suddenly became claustrophobic. Some students just need a little more space than what small colleges have to offer. That’s not the college’s fault or your fault—just be sure to give the experience a test run before you commit.
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If a college you love is too far away to visit, there’s a good chance the college will come visit you. Some popular colleges will visit high schools in the fall, so ask your school counselor if the college you care about ever pays your school a visit. If they don’t, they may still visit your area; they’ll just host a visit on a weekend or at night, usually at a hotel. These hotel visits can draw a big crowd (300 or more!), but since the information is valuable, you should go—and be sure to ask a question! These same colleges often host meetings with school counselors—hey, you’re not the only one who needs to keep up with the hot schools! I had the chance to attend one of these breakfasts last week, which was hosted by five strong colleges, and they had some good ideas to pass along: APs or college classes? High school students often decide to take classes at a local college instead of taking the AP classes their high school offers. The thinking here is colleges will be more impressed by a student taking “real” college classes than students who stay at the high school and slave away over AP courses. The reps at the breakfast—from Duke, They didn’t address what to do if you want to take a college class that isn’t offered at your high school—your best bet is to call the admissions office of the colleges you’re interested in and ask. Surprises in this year’s applications. The college reps were asked if they saw any trends or changes in the applications they read this year. They said they saw an increase in the number of students who indicated an interest in math, science, and business. This isn’t unusual—an increase like this also occurred in the last bad economy, since students wanted to make sure they would have marketable job skills—and since the economy is taking its time turning around, it’s likely these majors will also be popular ones next year. Counselor letters. Like most colleges, these five require a Secondary School Report, where counselors are asked to provide some basic information on each student. This is also an opportunity for the counselor to share their thoughts about the student, or talk about any unusual circumstances the student might have been through in high school. The reps said they knew it was hard for counselors to write good recommendations on their students, since counselors have to see so many students—they said they thought counselors had about 200 students to see, when in fact it’s usually much higher. They encouraged the counselors to write as much as they could about each student, and then they talked about some counselor “recommendations” that are a form where the counselor basically says the student was never suspended or expelled, or has a criminal record. My advice? Counselors can really cheer for you, but since they have so many students to see, you’re going to have to make the first move. Respect their time and space, but find a way to get your counselor to get to know you; if every other applicant sends in a checklist, your counselor’s letter will help that much more.
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There you were, waiting in the counseling office to review your schedule for next year, when you came across the Summer Enrichment brochure your school district just published this week. As you scanned down the list, there, nicely nestled between “Adventures with Water Colors” and “Anyone Can do Figure Drawing”, you saw it—“Algebra 2, Tuesday Wednesday Thursday mornings, starts in June, ends July 20.” Do your eyes deceive you? Could it be the year-long class that is causing so many other problems with your schedule can be easily set aside by giving up 18 hours this summer? Sure—just like you’d be rich if everyone mailed you a dollar. Don’t get me wrong—summer classes can be great, and many students have taken them to “double up” in Math, Science, or English—but they sure didn’t do it in 18 hours, and neither will you. If summer classes are on your mind, keep this in mind, and you won’t lose your mind: What’s your goal? Begin your search for summer classes by looking within—why do you want to take a class? If it’s a love for the subject, remember that most students taking local summer classes are there for Round 2—their grade in the class wasn’t all that great the first time they took it, and they want to improve it (or have to improve it) before fall. It’s great they’re doing that, but if you’re taking Creative Writing to discuss ideas and themes, and most everyone else is taking it for credit recovery, this might not be the best match. Try http://www.petersons.com/summerop/code/ssector.aspm for a list of summer programs attended by students who can’t get enough of learning. Many of these programs are taught on college campuses, and while they often cost more than local summer school, many offer scholarships. Ask and see. What’s their goal? It’s also important to know what’s going to be taught in a class. The Algebra 2 class may only meet for 18 hours, but it’s most likely designed to be a review for students who’ve already had the class once. If Math isn’t your thing, and especially if you plan on taking Pre-Calc, this micro-math class is not the thing to do. Ask for a syllabus ahead of time—better yet, talk to the teacher. Got free time? Unless the class is PE (which is a great class to take in the summer—dude, you’re outside!), class time will require study time, which impacts summer afternoons, summer nights, and summer weekends. If the class means something to you, make sure you can give it your all, both in terms of time and attention. You won’t get much out of studying on a July night if your head is in the book but your heart is at the beach. Dare to dream. Summer classes are also the best time to try something new, with little or no risk attached. Sure, it’s a great time to knock off a required Health class—but what about a class in a department of the school you’ve never set foot in? You future architects and engineers should know that the best designers have a background in the fine arts—so the Water Color and Figure Drawing classes I mentioned earlier might not be a bad idea after all (busted!). School is about credits, but education is about learning— spend the summer with your eye on the big picture, and you may go back to school in the fall with something more than just a change in your credit count. Meanwhile, send those dollars to collegeisyours@....
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