Best Fit Colleges

Happy Thursday Thoughts! When I was recently in Pennsylvania for college tours, there were a few schools I was looking very forward to seeing. Honestly, of the ten schools, I was pretty excited to tour nine of them! For a few of the schools, the weather was miserable - not only cold but also dreary and rainy/windy. It’s so hard for students when they are going on a tour to try to see beyond what the campus happens to look like on that day. Similarly, it’s important to not let a great or awful campus tour guide color your impression of the school. On the flip side, this is where students will be spending four years of their lives - not only on the glorious days that look like a montage scene from a movie but also on the awful weather days. They need to find a school where they will be comfortable spending a good eight months a year for four years.

It’s essential to look beyond the aesthetics of the campus. When students are looking for their custom fit school, they should be considering the academic (GPA, test scores, rigor of high school courses), social (athletics, housing, student groups), physical (location, public/private, number of students), and financial fit (graduation rate, out of state cost, average merit award, percent of need met). A best fit college will provide a program of study to meet the student’s needs, a style of instruction consistent with the student’s learning style, a level of academic rigor matching the student’s ability and preparation, and a community that feels like home. It will also be the place that values the student for what they have to offer.

This is a decision that definitely warrants a significant amount of research and isn’t to be taken lightly. Juniors should be diving into the above research as they are building their college lists. They should be “looking at” more than just what the school “looks like.” The pictures attached are from Lehigh (when I arrived versus a few hours later when I left).