Small College or Big College?

When beginning their college search, one of the first things students need to think about is what size school they want to attend.  Many of my students immediately gravitate toward medium or large colleges, partly because they've been in a relatively small school for the last six or seven years. However, because they've been in a small school, they also aren't necessarily ready for a university with 50,000 or more students.

If you find yourself wrestling with the question of college size, take a few minutes to thoughtfully consider this advice from the National Association of College Admission Counseling. NACAC's best advice - something we agree with 100% - is that no matter what students think they want, they should always visit a variety of colleges before making their final decision.  That means taking the time to tour both small and large campuses, urban and rural ones, and public and private ones.

You never know what you might discover.

Creating a Better College Tour

When students visit a college, they typically sit through an information session provided by an admissions counselor (a good resource), and then they tour the campus with a student tour guide.  Not a bad place to start, but it may not provide an in-depth look at the college and what it offers.  I don't blame the college; there's only so much they can say or do in a short period of time.  But there is more that a student can do, and if thoughtfully planned, students can get an experience that is more like what I get when I go on a college tour.

By all means start with the info session and tour.  More important however, are the types of questions you ask.  You can probably find the basics on their website, so before you go, think about what you really want to know about a school.  Counselors typically ask questions like "What are the characterisitics of a successful student here," or "What are the trends you see in your applicant pool?"  We don't necessarily ask about admissions requirements, because we can find those on line in or in books.  We don't ask what their best departments are (how are they supposed to answer that?). Be more specific. Ask what type of courses you will have to take. Do they sound interesting to you? Ask what their graduates go on to do or ask what types of research/internship possibilities are available in that discipline.

When counselors talk to students, we want to know what their favorite courses were and why? Was it the professor? The content? The opportunity to explore new ideas?  Did it push a student out of his/her comfort zone? Did it require them to think outside-the-box?  From a student perspective, what  are the hot button issues on campus? What do students are about at this school?  Do they care about anything?  Why did they choose this school over all the others?  Are they still happy they made this choice, or what if anything has disappointed them a little? It's okay to get personal (okay, not that personal); you know what I mean.

I get to attend classes sometimes when I visit a campus; you can ask to visit one too.  Perhaps you want to experience a big class, or maybe you'd rather see what life will be like once you hit the classes in your major.  Ask! All they can say is no.  If you know you're leaning toward theater or engineering or English, call the department and make an appointment to talk to someone.

Lehigh and Lafayette

In late September I had the chance to visit two wonderful colleges in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania, and it was easy to picture GPS girls on both campuses. In fact, we have two students currently attending Lehigh, and it has been an exceptional experience for both of them.

But let's start with Lafayette College in Easton, and perhaps there's no better place to begin than with engineering.  Most prospective students don't get the opportunity to spend an hour with the dean of the college, but he was almost able to convince me of a career in the field, and I am not a math person at all!  I was particularly struck by one particularly question he posed: "Since almost every engineering school teaches the same content, what makes one stand out over the other?"  At Lafayette, I feel like students will get both the technical content and the opportunity for innovation, broad thinking, and interdisciplinary studies.  This is one school where everything is about the undergraduate, and upon graduation, students can think "non-technically."  Students at Lafayette do not graduate as the stereotypical engineer, and they do exceptionally well in the job market.

It's not all about engineering however.  Global education is an important part of Lafayette's mission, and they are in the midst of building a new Center for Global Education.  The EXCEL program provides funding for student research opportunities with professors.  Another thing I liked about this school was their career services program.  Starting freshmen year, there is also a full Saturday event just for sophomores.  Oh, and then there's the January and summer interim.  And finally, I got the chance to sit in on an Introduction to Political Science class.  While on the day I was there it was mostly a lecture, it was easy to tell that the students were engaged (and by the way, not on laptops) an curious.  You can tell so much by sitting in a class, so I encourage all students to try to make that arrangement when visiting colleges.

Even with traffic, it's only about a 20-25 minute up the road to Lehigh University. Another top engineering school, they also offer an Integrated Degree in Egineering and Arts and Sciences (IDEAS).  For example, you might combine engineering with Chinese and political science, or you could combine environmental engineering with economics or religion and philosophy.  It is a rigorous program, one that asks students to take risks and explore their creativity.  There is also a Computer Science and Business degree, one that merges business and technology.  One of my favorite programs at Lehigh was the Mountaintop Experience, a summer program that allows students from any discipline the chance to take their ideas and do something with it.  They could be entrepreneurial in spirit or a chance to solve real-world problems, but regardless of their nature, the Mountaintop Experience offers students an enriching and enngaging learning experience.  And on a side note, Lehigh has changed the name of their career placement report to the First Destination Report. After all, students these days will change jobs twelve times on average in their lifetime.

I don't know if every student who tours Lehigh and Lafayette is able to enjoy student and faculty panels, learn all of the unique degree programs, and talk to a variety of professors and staff members, but you can make your college visit come closer to the tours that I take.  Tomorrow I will give you some tips to do just that.

When I go on a college tour...

I wish that students had the opportunity to see colleges like I do.  As a college counselor, I am fortunate to be invited to visit many colleges across the United States, and I almost always come back with a different perspective than I had before the trip.

For example, as I write, I am on my way home from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington.  There's no denying the Pacific Northwest is beautiful, and personally I loved the small town feel of Walla Walla.  It's a wonderful mix of agriculture and wineries that result in both a somewhat upscale and down to earth atmosphere.  Whitman students frequently interact with the townspeople, through community service and other projects, and if you're looking for some culture, there is the Walla Walla Symphony as well as plenty of plays put on by the school's theater department.  Majors and non-majors are welcome to participate.

Able to have dinner with several faculty members, I got a look at the student body from their angle.  Phrases like "highly engaged and inquisitive, open minded, caring, healthy risk takers" came up over and over again, words the student also used to describe their faculty.  Successful students, said one person, are students who ask for help or take advantage of help when offered. They are students who can manage their own lives.

The visiting college counselors also participated in a student panel.  When asked if there is enough to do in this town of around 30,000, a student from Boston replied, "There's plenty to do, but it presents itself in a very different way.  In fact, three of our four panelists were from big cities (Boston, LA, and Chicago), and none of them complained about a lack of things to do.

As a visitor, I got to hear from the Athletic Director, as well as the head of the Student Engagement Center, Residence Life, and the Academic Resource Center. I heard about Whitman being a "high touch" sort of school, a place where students frequently have lunch or dinner with professors, a place where students combine academic intensity with a friendly, collaborative atmosphere.  Students support each other in all areas, and student athletes are most definitely students first.  And no, you don't have to be an outdoorsy kind of person to attend Whitman.

As I left this morning, I have a much better understanding of the type of student who will thrive and succeed here, and I have a few students in mind. Before I left, someone said it was a little like Sewanee, only in the Northwest. I can see that, but Whitman also has a personality all its own.  I loved my visit and can't wait to share more of my insights with my girls when I return.

Tomorrow I will share my recent visits to Lafayette College and Lehigh University, two more schools I have no problem recommending to students.  Plus, I'll give you some hints about how you can have a more informative college visit too.

Need help planning a college tour?

Summer vacation is in the not too distant future, and although we hope you will enjoy your trip to the beach or wherever, it's also a good time to work in a few college visits.  In fact, perhaps you can build this year's vacation around a college tour! After all, there are some outstanding schools to visit in some spectacular cities/states.

For example, if you're headed to New York City, you could look at Fordham, Hofstra, Columbia, Barnard, and NYU.  Or you could venture outside the city and go see Syracuse, Colgate, Hamilton, Ithaca, Cornell, Hobart & William Smith, and Rochester.  All of those are in a fairly concentrated area.  You could also add on Skidmore, Bard, and Vassar..

Perhaps you'd rather spend some time in our nation's capital.  There's so much to do in D.C., but check out all schools names "George;" Georgetown University, George Washington University, and George Mason University. Then add American University and the University of Maryland at College Park.

From there it wouldn't be difficult to travel over to Baltimore and spend some time at Johns Hopkins, Loyola, Goucher, and McDaniel.  Or you can dip down into Virginia and see the University of Mary Washington, Lynchburg College, and James Madison University. Traveling even further south, you can see Virginia Commonwealth, the University of Richmond, and the College of William & Mary for a chance to run into Ben Franklin at the local convenience store in Williamsburg (it happened to me!). There's also UVA, Washington & Lee, Roanoke, and Virginia Tech.

All of these trips provide you with a chance to see a variety of schools, urban, rural, state universities and small liberal arts schools.  That's what your trip should be about! Explore, investigate, and consider ALL your options before you narrow down your list.

Here are a few more of our favorite trips, but if you need more ideas, just let us know. We've got some great ideas for college tours on the west coast.

The Bluegrass Tour: Kentucky and Ohio are home to some of the finest liberal arts schools in the country. Travel through horse country and stop at the University of Kentucky, Centre College, Transylvania University, Xavier University, Miami-Ohio, and the University of Dayton.

The Windy City Tour: The Chicago area is home to some excellent schools that have been popular with GPS students over the years: Wheaton, Northwestern, the University of Chicago, Loyola-Chicago, and Lake Forest.

The Longhorn State: It's hot in the summer, but there are plenty of schools to visit on I-35.  Start with SMU in Dallas, and if you're interested in the STEM fields, make sure you visit the University of Texas @ Dallas! It's a great school for those disciplines! The University of Dallas is also worth seeing.  Then move on to TCU Ft. Worth, drive down to Waco to visit Baylor University, and then do yourself a favor and stop in Georgetown (outside of Austin) and see Southwestern University. Then you can finish up at that other UT, the University of Texas in Austin, and St. Edward's University, also in Austin.  If you have time, keep going to San Antonio for Trinity University and then perhaps over to Houston to see Rice.