Affordability should really be thought of as a (very important) part of “fit”. If it is not affordable, it is not a good “fit”.
Fit can be very real. My DS has been on his chosen campus 4 times in the last 2.5 years. He is visibly more comfortable there than on the other campuses he visited–all of his top 4 were visited at least twice. A bloom where planted kid may be comfortable just about anywhere but someone else may need things to be closer to their vision of community, location or academic environment to feel truly comfortable at a school. We came up with the list using objective factors (affordability, type of program, facilities, size, distance from home, etc) but the final choice came down to subjective “fit”. Fit should not be the first consideration but once the other boxes are checked off it can be the deciding factor.
I don’t think fit is a bunch of baloney. I think there are objective aspects to fit ie. size, major, architecture, distance, ECs etc. then there are the harder to define subjective aspects to fit. For us, not being an objective fit was a deal breaker. My kids have applied to schools that weren’t as “subjectively” a fit. There are campuses where my children have been visibly more comfortable than others even though on paper they might seem similar. Our older D did not like UIUC but loved Purdue, she liked CMU but not Case. In the end she applied to Purdue but not to UIUC, however, she applied to Case and not to CMU. Each school fit her objective criteria. One type of school I think it is very important to determine fit is your safety. It’s pretty important to have your safety net be a fit.
Fit matters. If it didn’t, we wouldn’t have so many types of tertiary institutions. Fit is practical, not a notion. There are characteristics and qualities that match a students academic requirements, financial limits, personality, socio-cultural preferences and so on. Why not find the best fit possible? Why spend so much money on something that doesn’t?
I went to a commuter college way back in the 80s. There was no atmosphere, community spirit, nothing. My college years simply consisted of me going to college to get a degree. Whatever enjoyment I had during that time came from outside college. I really regret that in some ways, and I definitely do not want the same for my kids. I want them to love the college they go to. Your late teens and early twenties are the last time in your life when you don’t have to think about being a “responsible adult” quite yet. Young people should take advantage of that and be at a college where they get a great education and enjoy being there.
Note that some aspects of colleges that could be considered part of “fit” (e.g. affordability, student preference, reason to attend, distance from home, etc.) are correlated to graduation rates.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1868883-college-choices-and-how-they-can-influence-chance-of-graduation.html
Fit is definitely important, and I agree with other posters that it needs to include things such as academics and affordability. But every campus has its own personality and it should at least be compatible with the student. Not necessarily the same as the student, but one where the student can coexist. For my type A high anxiety D, a competitive cut throat school would be a disaster. She does much better in a collaborative environment that is still competitive.
For students who want to avoid cutthroat competition, pay attention to whether the student’s intended or possible majors are those which require high GPA or competitive admission after entering college.
“Fit” was important to both of my kids. But it was also easy to determine because they each had only a couple of truly core criteria.
For #1, who had very little interest in touring colleges, we talked about his interests and I put together the list. He had visited many colleges over the years. His core criteria: (a) a place where it’s OK to be a thinker (but not overrun with self-styled intellectuals and poseurs); and (b) in a major league city (major league sports). Guess where he ended up? University of Chicago. He only visited it after he was admitted, did an overnight and declared the next morning “This will do.”
For #2, who was willing to tour but had a very specialized interest in stand-alone art schools, the core criterion was “located in a real city” preferably on the East Coast. She ruled out Chicago (real city but not east coast!), though she had attended the summer pre-college program at School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). Ended up at RISD, which was “enough of a real city” for her but just as importantly was within a few hours of NYC where some of her closest high school classmates were attending NYU and Columbia.
My general advice: decide what’s really critical and what’s just “nice.” This may require some research and more actual touring than my kids did. Also in their case, it is assumed that they had the talent to gain admission to many excellent colleges. This was less certain for #2 because the portfolio was critical – and a not easily “scorable” qualification, unlike GPA and test scores. Fortunately, her pre-college programs in Chicago helped her to judge her ability against that of her peers. “Fit” was not baloney to them! But it wasn’t overly complicated to determine either.
I think “fit” is more important to some kids than others. I had a 4th grade teacher tell me that my D1 was a “filler child” - the kid that the school could stick in any classroom after they’d made themselves crazy placing the special needs kids, the gifted kids, the kids who needed a particular type of teacher or needed to be kept away from particular other students, the kids whose parents had a gazillion demands, etc. I was initially taken aback, but then decided that was a good thing. And it continued into college. She knew she wanted a big state flagship. She visited 4 of them and told me that she could be perfectly happy at any of them. My husband, who accompanied her on her visits, saw some pretty significant differences between the schools, but D1 said they were all tied for first. With my D3, OTOH, we are going to be paying close attention to fit, because she wants a small school and is definitely not the “bloom where she is planted” type that her sister is. For some kids, “fit” is very important.
For most students “Fit” can be achieved by a type of school (i.e. small LAC vs expansive university) rather than a particular school.
I think that some people have the luxury of putting a high amount of emphasis on fit, and some do not. The importance of fit is in the eye of the beholder and related to their particular circumstances. For those who have the resources to focus on fit, great. For those that do not, that’s fine too.
I have attended 4 colleges, DD1 2, and have been to numerous visits and know maybe 20 colleges pretty well. I agree with the premise that college fit is not what it’s made up to be. It’s a new experience, granted, and it’s what you make of it.
What is more important is how you adapt and IF you adapt. And what are the trade-offs. I’ll be honest. Purdue was not the greatest fit for me. But getting into a top 3 ranked program at the time, who cares. Everyone was so studious, purposeful, “have to finish Calc IV homework by 3:30 PM then Nuclear Fusion Lab at 3:45” mentality. OMG compared to Cajun State’s more relaxed atmosphere.
But would I pass on Purdue? of course not. It was an incredible college experience that really helped me grow.
But then, I was the person who was walking around campus at Cajun State with a suitcase straight off the Greyhound, asking them where the Housing Office was (what? you supposed to sign up for housing ahead of time?).
Once you make the decision of ‘small’ or ‘large’ - and these are relative, Ohio State is a Purdue and a half size wise, does it make a difference? Maybe small, medium, large. I’ve attended all three, and don’t really care. I like the feel of ‘large’, when I get lost at some random part of campus and try to decipher if it’s the Biology or the Sociology dept by the look of people going in and out.
People worry too much about the wrong things. We took a tour of the University of Chicago. Hipster central. Would anyone turn down an admit because they don’t FIT there?
Considering affordability as part of “FIT”, a student/family who finds the school to be too expensive could turn it down for that reason.
Well, affordability - ironically enough - was not an issue for me. My birth country offers free college education if you can get in; First National Bank of Dad paid for my BS at Cajun State, scholarship paid for my MS, and my employer paid for Purdue. But economic fit eventually plays into it.
Financial fit in action. My kids. The older got a near full ride and TA position at the highest ranked academic grad program she applied. With its ‘meh’ location and pretty challenging nuts and bolts architecture program, she needed some bribing to attend (a MacBook Pro and a purebred kitten more expensive than said MacBook Pro). A semester and a half into it, she’s excited to be there. The profs are outstanding, the program is very challenging, the cat is nearly 20 lb, and she loves it. Had she gone to a more hipster school, say, out west or in NYC, we’d be out $35-40k a year (vs $8k - I pay her rent). $80-100k buys a lot of Fit’s (DD1 has a Honda Fit).
My younger has got admission from a few public flagships, some high end privates with 50% off merit, and is awaiting some top 10 decisions but since our well respected other state flagship gave her a very good merit aid package, will be going there most likely. Financial fit and all that.
I think that fit does matter. However, in terms of admissions, when I read or hear people saying “It’s all about fit!” to a highly qualified student who was turned down for admission, it makes me uncomfortable. I wonder whether perhaps they really mean, “We don’t want your kind around here.”
@GMTplus7, I agree that type of school matters, but there is a significant difference between (e.g.,) Reed and Willamette or Bard and Middlebury. Others have pointed out that some kids bloom where they are planted but I’m not paying $XK for just any pot (or acreage, even). It would be different if my kid had set herself up to have no choice, but we have been working to make sure she does.
DS did turn down great schools for a better fitting one. Why make something work when there are better fitting options?
Once you’ve honed the list down to financial, courses, region, size…then “fit” becomes where the young person just feels the best and many kids are aware of what that means when they are on a campus. They may not articulate it exactly, but they know it. It will mean different things to different kids - it might be the architecture, it might be the kids they see and come in contact with, it might be amenities, or location. I am not a believer that people grow where they are planted, I’ve seen far to many great employees in the wrong place who just didn’t fit in. I do think there is something in it for each individual. Fit for the parent probably is more about affordability and ability to get them to and from. Both kids and parents should be concerned and weed out the colleges that aren’t affordable, don’t offer the depth and breadth of academics desired and ability to get to and from. That process can occur long before the kid steps foot for a visit and should occur early in the process. There are just so many colleges there is no reason to try and cram a kid into a place they won’t be happy. No parent wants those crazy phone calls 3 months in to freshman year because the kid thought he could “re-make” him/herself into something they are not or aspired to something intangible. Once the financial and location boxes are checked I’m a parent in the camp of just shut up and go with it.
My kid turned down UCBerkeley, and instead attended a well regarded, but not tippy-top, LAC. He received a great merit award so the price was about the same at both. When visiting UCB he discovered he didn’t want huge classrooms, TAs and competitive grading curves, no matter how prestigious it was. By visiting many LACs, he figured out he wanted a small and rigorous but collaborative campus. He applied to and was accepted to several LACs, but at accepted students’ events it became clear that even though they looked similar on paper, each had a different slant/culture, which becomes really magnified when the institution is so small. He picked the one that he felt he fit into best, and had a fun yet very productive 4 years. In his case, “fit” was imperative.