Shouldn’t All Colleges Change Lives? Creating Your College List
I’m a huge fan of the Colleges That Change Lives (CTCL). If you aren’t familiar, these colleges are usually non-household names, but their smaller environments allow for a more intimate college experience. Their relatively higher admit rates belie the quality of education students receive. So why aren’t they more popular? I suppose there are just so many options out there that considering colleges with more of a regional appeal might be a stretch.
I bring this up because all colleges change lives to some degree. The college experience coincides with a formative time in a young adult’s life and of course, there’s the value of the college degree itself. However, the significance of college seems to have been overlooked or at least underdiscussed over the last few years as the admissions landscape has become what it is. The life-changing aspect of college has been overshadowed by application numbers and the strategic element of the application process.
Rising seniors should be in the process of constructing their college list, but if you are a younger student or the parent of one, you might already be thinking about what constitutes a good fit. No matter where you are in the process, and in an attempt to remind you of the significance of the college experience itself, I will attempt to provide insight into creating your college list.
It’s okay to start with what you know
Look, I get it. You only know what you know. Students (and parents) tend to start with what’s familiar. Maybe it’s related to the football team that’s on TV all the time, that name brand university that everyone’s heard of, or even a school that one or both parents attended, but starting with what’s familiar makes total sense. At the very least, that can give you a starting point and you can go from there. At every independent school I’ve worked at, it seemed like students always started with the same 30 schools over and over again. There was definitely the prestige factor and maybe partly the cumulative effect of years of college sweatshirt days, but it was always a difficult starting point.
I encourage you to start with what you know. In fact, start with what you know best–your current high school. What do you like/dislike about your school? Do you want a similar vibe or a different experience altogether in college? College is inherently a different place from high school, but maybe you’re hoping that somehow your best experiences in high school will extend into your next community. Reflecting on your high school experience leads into my next point.
Focus on characteristics over names
The issue with starting with the same 30 schools is that they are just names. Remove the names and admit rates and maybe your college research would lead you in a different direction, but unfortunately there’s no way to do a blind taste test. Reputation and rankings are always going to affect part of this process. I admit that I’ll take the occasional peek at the US News rankings, as flawed as they are. But maybe just start with purely objective data, like size, location, majors, etc., then you can at least start collecting schools that have what you’re currently looking for. Call these your “must have” qualities. As your research becomes more nuanced and your preferences change, you may discover that there are certain characteristics that you hadn’t previously considered. Maybe the academic calendar (semester vs. quarter vs. 4-1-4 system) is more important that you realized. Your college major and your extracurricular interests will likely change or expand, but think about the permanent characteristics of the colleges that are important to you.
From there, you can get a little more subjective. The rest of this information is meant to focus on subjective factors that might affect how you finalize your college list.
Visit colleges if possible, but seek out non-admissions information
As of the moment this is being written, in-person college tours are widely available, but even virtual tours can be helpful. I do think it’s valuable to hear what admissions reps and tour guides have to say because they have chosen to highlight what they or the institution deem as important. But beyond that, you will likely have questions that would be better answered by non-admissions sources. Seek out current students if possible, whether they are alums from your high school, friends of friends of friends of friends, or even random students on campus if you are on campus and feeling bold enough.
Older alums and websites with anonymous contributors will offer mixed information and accuracy, but I wouldn’t discount them completely. Just apply some critical thinking as you absorb this information. And then there’s my favorite source: the school newspaper. You will not learn everything about the school from one issue of a daily publication, but it’s always fun to learn about the ups and downs of campus life and what stories (i.e. crises) are affecting the community. There’s never a dull moment in college.
Read the college’s supplemental essay topics
For colleges that accept the Common Application, most schools will require supplemental essays in addition to the Common App essay. While many of these essays ask about your interest in the school or major, you may also gain some insight into the culture, values, or overall vibe of the school. The University of Chicago’s supplemental essays are designed to make you think, which is appropriate for a school that emphasizes the “life of the mind.” Claremont McKenna College offers a similar intellectual environment and one of their supplemental essays requires you to think about their first-year humanities program. Brown University is famous for their open curriculum, so naturally, one of their essays asks you how you would take advantage of it. Some colleges will even offer an option to write about a topic related to the school’s mission statement (here’s one from Occidental College). On that note…
Read the college’s mission statement/master plan/strategic vision
We’re digging a little deeper now, but sometimes you have to look beyond the superficial. If you keep asking yourself why a college is the way it is, you may gain some insight by reading about the college’s mission or what their institutional goals are. The mission statement will likely not affect your day-to-day experience at the college, but it’s also nice to learn about the school’s core values. I just mentioned that Occidental College uses their mission statement for one of their essay topics. Here’s a link to their actual mission.
Master planning is different. You may actually learn about what a college plans to add to or change about the campus. At my alma mater, a pretty fancy campus center was built right after I graduated, which wasn’t great for me personally but future applicants were already aware of it. This information is usually readily available online.
Final thought: Pretend that colleges are applying to you
This is easier said than done, but think about what you would want colleges to say if they had to apply to you. Sometimes, students put too much pressure on themselves to be the strongest applicants possible, at the expense of their own identity. I describe this as “forcing fit.” It’s as if students were more focused on the idea of a college more than how they would realistically grow within it. With our consumerist perspective, sometimes we are so impressed by inputs that we automatically equate that with a universally positive college experience. But if the college isn’t a good fit for you to begin with, that will affect your output (and you as an output).
The CTCL schools might be an example of great marketing, but I’ve always been impressed with their individual missions and their collective impact on higher education. They always remind me of what the college experience can be at its best. So whether you’re fully obsessed over this process or you still haven’t fully considered your options, once you’ve completed your research and have thought carefully about your values, I hope you do find that community that will change your life.