| iv id="body"> | | | | Supposedly, the good news about higher education is |
| How do I choose a college that is right for me? This | | | | that it is egalitarian. Regardless of your background, |
| is the question that I'm asked at least once a week. | | | | there is a college on the other side of that field that |
| And frankly, it isn't easy trying to explain to students | | | | fits you--all the way from the community college with |
| (and their parents) one very basic fact of the college | | | | its open door admissions policy to the elite university |
| admissions process: You don't choose the college. | | | | with its not-so-open door admissions policy. It seems |
| The college chooses you. | | | | as if that great tracking system you thought you |
| Here is a very simple way you can look at this | | | | escaped in high school tracks you right into college |
| complicated process. | | | | and your place in society. |
| You and a crowd of high school graduates are | | | | So are you going to choose or be chosen? With very |
| standing on one side of a big field. Each one of you | | | | few exceptions, most of you will be chosen. It hurts |
| desperately wants to go to a good college. On the | | | | me to say that because it suggests that there is |
| other side of the field are all the colleges and | | | | something terribly twisted about our entire |
| universities that exist in the country. After assessing | | | | educational system. Maybe, it is. Maybe, it isn't. Until |
| your qualifications (merit), you send applications to all | | | | the verdict comes in, here's what I suggest you do: |
| of the schools that you wish to attend. The | | | | Suggestion #1 |
| admissions officer at those schools sends you a | | | | Know that the college admissions process is a game |
| letter of acceptance or rejection. Out of your | | | | mostly decided by people who must make |
| acceptances, you pick one college and walk across | | | | assumptions about you, your abilities, and your |
| that field and through the doors of that particular | | | | potential. |
| institution. For different reasons, different students | | | | Suggestion #2 |
| will go to different colleges and some will not go at | | | | Know that most colleges cannot afford to be overly |
| all. | | | | selective or they'd go out of business. |
| Did you make the choice or did someone make it for | | | | Suggestion #3 |
| you? Usually, the college makes the choice for you. | | | | Know that your determination and your ideas can |
| You get to choose from those schools that actually | | | | lead you to success, in spite of your background. |
| choose you. For the most part, the people who work | | | | Suggestion #4 |
| in college admissions are gatekeepers. They can | | | | Know that going to an elite college doesn't |
| accept or reject your application at will. If necessary, | | | | necessarily mean you will get a good education and a |
| they can come up with some pretty convincing | | | | high-status career. |
| evidence to support their decisions: high or low | | | | Suggestion #5 |
| entrance exam scores, excellent or poor grades, | | | | Know that going to a community college doesn't |
| outstanding or terrible writing samples, or an | | | | necessarily mean you will get a bad education and a |
| abundance or lack of extracurricular activities. | | | | dead-end job. |
| Based on such criteria, it seems as if everybody in | | | | Suggestion #6 |
| that big open field is getting a fair shot based on | | | | Know that you are always much more than where |
| merit. But this only disguises some of the built in | | | | you go to college and the amount of tuition you are |
| advantages that go to you if you are a student who | | | | able to pay. |
| has the "right" background. The reality is that most | | | | Suggestion #7 |
| students just don't have the "right" background. | | | | Not only should you know this...you have to believe it. |