<p>Among most threads discussing the comparative merits of sets of undergraduate schools, a large chunk of posters advocate disregarding rankings based on numerical criteria and simply go to the school that is the best "fit." There even seems to be some sort of unanimous agreement among the more ranking-inclined posters that "fit" should be one of the most significant criteria. But what is fit?</p>
<p>People suggest talking to recent alumni and visiting to garner a "fit" for the school, but that doesn't seem very precise. For instance, how would one narrow down a list of 20-30 schools located across the country? Visiting them all is far from feasible, and I would be quite surprised if more than a few people on this site had easy face-to-face access to an alumnus from each of these places.</p>
<p>Even if you can visit and talk with alumni about a college, how is the "fit" ascertained? It seems impossible to be able to fully appreciate any significant amount a college has to offer through a single visit or conversation; what you see will only be a fraction. It doesn't make a lot of sense to judge an entire college based on only a small part of it: one potential applicant could have wildly varying views based on what parts they see! Even external factors, like whether it's raining or the social aspects of the tour guide could have an unnecessarily large impact on a person's opinion of a place.</p>
<p>Other characteristics people mention that should be important in the college decision process are things like size and location, but these don't make very much sense to me, either. How does a high school student who has lived in one location and attended one size of school have any way of determining what size and location they most prefer?</p>
<p>Clearly, I am very confused about this whole college thing, so I greatly appreciate everything you can do to shed some light on how one goes about making these kinds of decisions. Thank you in advance.</p>
<p>Personally, I think “fit” means where you’ll be most comfortable. If you don’t like the cold then you may not be happy in New England. If you don’t like the whole drinking scene then a party school may not be for you. Even though college is about getting an education, you still have to take into account that you will be living at this college for four years.</p>
<p>The school is right for you and you are right for the school. IMHO far more important than “match” conclusions mostly driven by the chances of getting in.</p>
<p>My son is going through the same thing. I don’t think there are any great prescriptive approaches to it. “Fit” for each person is going to mean something different, but I think there is a general approach that works. </p>
<p>The process that finally worked for my son is this:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Visit some schools in your area that cover the gamut from small LAC type to large public, just to get some perspective. It’s hard to start making decisions on things if you haven’t even seen any schools. Do the tours and stuff. Whether or not these are schools you might attend is not really that important; it’s more about just getting your bearings. </p></li>
<li><p>Spend some time creating a list of attributes that you think might (or even at this point might not) be important to you. Everything from majors offered to size, setting, location, Greek life, campus vibe, whether you live on campus all 4 years, research opportunities, class sizes, grad school matriculation, cost, retention rate, etc. Don’t just take someone else’s list; creating your own list forces you to think about the attributes and start to prioritize what you care about. </p></li>
<li><p>Come up with your initial list of priorities, including “gotta haves” and “nice to haves”. </p></li>
<li><p>Start investigating your 30 schools and see which ones match with at least your gotta haves. If the school doesn’t have your gotta haves then toss it. Start coming up with a prioritized list based on your desired attributes. Look for schools that are similar to your best fits. If you, like my son, end up prioritizing highly selective schools, then make sure you get some balance of selectivity in the list. </p></li>
<li><p>Research, visit, talk to people. Refine your list. Rinse and repeat. You can’t visit them all, so do the best you can with CC, Princeton Review, Fiske, and other review sites. There are many great schools out there, but the list will start to stratify. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>My son has found the need to iterate through the process a few times to get it right. There is no magic formula for “fit”; it’s a process of discovery. My son is also a rising senior so he can’t claim success, but so far he seems to be feeling good about the approach.</p>
<p>@snarlatron
I know what “fit” means in the sense that you described it. I’m more interested in how to determine when “The school is right for you and you are right for the school.”</p>
<p>@mobius911
That sounds much more realistic that what I’ve heard; thanks. It looks like it’s probably time to make a massive Excel spreadsheet…</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>School is right for you: There many variables such as location, size, Research U vs. LAC, campus culture, departmental strengths, etc. Do you want small classes w/ discussions or lecture hall lectures? Are you interested in or turned of by a big Greek system? Can you see yourself growing and learning there or just marking time? Etc.</p>
<p>You are right for the school: You will contribute to the place while you are there and after: You will be a doer and even a leader in classes and campus activities. You will become a productive citizen of the campus. You believe in the school’s mission and perhaps even enjoy being a part of the off-campus community. After graduation, you will bring some glory to the college name by doing interesting and meaningful things under the alum banner. Etc.</p>
<p>Practical considerations include being able to afford the school and a possibility of being accepted there. A student could be passionate about a college, but if there is little chance of being accepted and the family can not afford it, how the student feels about it isn’t going to make it a “fit”. Location is another consideration if there is a problem with being able to travel and the cost of travel. </p>
<p>Then there are student preferences: size, culture, classes/majors offered. </p>
<p>On paper, make a list of colleges that fit your finances, academics, and preferences. Then visit. Part of “fit” is a subjective feeling a student and family gets when visiting the campus. Sometimes one has to consider the validity of this in a choice- a second look, spending more time there, attending an accepted student visit day- may change your mind, but sometimes you just know. </p>
<p>
Yes, these practical considerations are part of the process but these they are usually considered the “match” not the “fit.”</p>
<p>a real fit is something that many fail to do. they are more worried about prestige and overlook so many schools that would be a much better fit.
a fit is a school that if you go to you will be happy at, learn a lot and come out more mature,educated and ready for your career or graduate school, you look back and say that was a challenging but amazing experience. </p>