The BIG C's: character, collaboration, and curiosity are now in vogue
Here are some examples of ways teens get stuck and how you, as a parent, can help your teen get unstuck and on the road to college.
Don’t Just Go to College - Do College
College is more than just going to classes
I always get reflective as we enter the new year. It’s a time when I think about what’s important, what matters, and how I can focus more on those things in the coming year. I encourage families to do the same as they consider how to approach the college search.
If you’ve ever talked with me about education, you know how strongly I feel about fit - I’m an ardent advocate for students finding their college fit. I come to this belief from my own experiences (stories for another time), but there’s also some good data to back up the notion that fit should be the most important factor in selecting a college.
Despite the clamor to get into the nation’s most selective colleges, the truth is that it matters much more that students attend colleges where they fit - where they engage in the offerings and where they develop relationships.
A 2018 study
by the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University (one of the most selective colleges at the undergraduate level, with single-digit admit rates), found that students who fully engage in their college experience were the most likely to thrive in college and in their adult lives, regardless of where they went to college. I encourage you to attend a college that fits, where you feel comfortable and confident, where you take advantage of opportunities that the college has to offer.
Also, who you are as a student is much more important than where you go to college. Dale and Krueger, 2002, 2014, have the longest study on career and income over a lifetime based on where people went to college. While it is true that graduates of the most selective colleges have, on average, higher lifetime earnings, when you compare similar student characteristics (high school GPA and test scores) across colleges, the selectivity bonus vanishes. The one exception to this is first-generation and underrepresented students, for whom attending a most-selective college has been shown to have a positive impact on future income. Overall, students who most fully engage in college, wherever they attend, are more likely to say that their college experience has led to a successful and fulfilling life years later.
Just what does Engagement mean?
College is more than just going to classes.
In fact, you’ll spend a mere 17% or so of your time sitting in classes. It’s those other experiences that leave a lasting imprint.
In another study, 2014 Great Jobs, Great Lives
(the largest study of college graduates in US history), Purdue University and Gallup found that how you go to college is more important than where you go to college. The Big Six factors that college graduates said lead to their post-college success financially and personally?
- Having at least one professor who made learning exciting
- Feeling that professors cared about the student as a person
- Finding a mentor who encouraged the student to pursue goals and dreams
- Work on a project that took a full semester or more to complete
- An internship experience that applied classroom learning to a real-life setting
- Involvement in extracurricular activities and organizations
If you ask college graduates about their memories, they will tell you about the people, the relationships, the adventures, the projects, and the professors who inspired or mentored them. One of my favorite memories? Gathering on the quad with a group of friends on the first sunny day following a spell of gloomy weather, while the college radio station serenaded us with “Here Comes The Sun” by the Beatles. To this day, that’s my favorite Beatles song and it always takes me back to that precious moment in time.
Mentors. I had three mentors in college. My Philosophy major advisor spent hours talking with me about my future goals and dreams. The other professor was a fabulous sounding board for working out ideas on a range of topics. I can’t imagine a college experience without them. Then there was the Director of Admissions, for whom I worked for three years as a tour guide then as Senior Intern. I fell in love with college admissions work, found my passion, and ultimately my calling.
When you strip it all away - the college name, the sports team, the fancy student union, the beautiful campus green - what really counts most about college are the relationships we form and our engagement in the experience.
As seniors begin to hear back from college admissions offices and juniors launch their college searches, I hope you will remember that college ranking is much less important than college fit. The best college experience, the one that benefits you for a lifetime, is the one that has you doing college, not just attending college.