What makes a certain college a "fit" for a student?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Is it the school's philosophy, size, location, mentality, or a combination of all that and more? What makes Cornell different from Harvard? Or Brown from U Chicago? Or Reed from Amherst?</p>

<p>I'm truly clueless in this regard, and I think it may be because I don't think I have a preference. My family has moved a lot the the past 10 years so I've gone to and lived in big and small schools and cities. I've lived in different countries and have studied in languages I hardly understood. I have a knack for adapting and I essentially think I'll be happy anywhere I go, or so I think. How do I decide which colleges would be best for me?</p>

2

<p>It might be that you are one of those applicants who don’t really have a preference for the criteria you name, but there are other criteria to consider when it comes to fit. Does it have your major? :stuck_out_tongue: Does it have the gender ratio you prefer? On a bright sunny spring day are there students sunbathing, reading, studying, and snoozing on the grass? Does it matter to you if no one is doing that? Does it have nearby downhill skiing? how’s the trout fishing? Do you walk around the campus and see people who dress like you? Do the students ALL look like you? You may be really flexible in what you will accept from a school and the students that attend it, but do the students who attend this school seem similarly tolerant? How do you feel about lectures with 400 students in them? You’ve never done that before, probably. Might you be able to several large courses for a couple years? How about fewer lectures of such enormity? Would that matter? How much?</p>

<p>You might have a lot of schools where you think you can fit because of your experiences and because you’ve been reading up on them in a book or online. So pick some out and go visit them. Whenever you can, go when classes are in session. If you’re travel budget is limited, pick nearby schools that are types: small LACs, a mid-size uni, a large state flagship, and walk around them, ask professors if you can sit in on their classes, interrogate students wherever you find them. Tell them about your concerns and interests. See how they respond. </p>

<p>Regardless of where you go, tho, I think your tolerance is going to serve you well. Colleges throw all kinds of things at you that you’re not expecting, even if you think you fit there, and it’s good to be able to move along without getting de-railed.</p>

3

<p>If you have a list of schools you’re sincerely interested in and whose differences you want to understand, you might ask the forum. However, realize that much that you’re going to get back are generalizations and not necessarily what you would experience if you went to the school. You’ll never be certain if a school fits you perfectly until you spend a year taking classes. By then you’ll have a pretty good idea, but certainly not by Thanksgiving.</p>

4

<p>Things that make a good fit:

  1. Do they offer your intended major?
  2. What is the quality of that major at that school (if you can find that out)? Great schools are not necessarily strong in every major, e.g. engineering at Cornell vs. Harvard.
  3. Do your SATs fall above the average at that school (if so, that’s generally good unless it is a very selective school in which case it would be great just to get in)?
  4. Graduation rate, especially in your major (if you can find out).
  5. Quality of instruction in your major and in general (if you can find out).
  6. Distance from home?
  7. Urban, suburban, rural campus
  8. other objective statistics like demographic make-up (e.g. male-female and ethnic ratios).</p>

<p>Things that are NOT as important as many think:

  1. campus visit
  2. sitting in on one or two classes
  3. private vs. public (private schools give financial aid that might make them about equally expensive with publics).
  4. campus beauty</p>
5

<p>if that were the case, @collegehelp, OP will already have found fits. If you can look it up in a book or online :P, it’s only part of the information that most students need to get an idea if they fit.</p>

6

<p>I generally agree with the above post. It truly is up to the individual student, however, as to what criteria makes the college a good fit. You may not care about the schools demographics, but you may really care about location. You may prefer a small school, but only if it’s in an urban area. Regardless, you have to ask yourself: Will I be happy spending at least the next four years of my life here? Will I be able to pursue my interests here? Will this college prepare me for the career I want? Are there similar students to me, in terms of scores, attitude, interests, or background, etc. at this school?</p>

<p>Just remember, its easy to get hung up on a name/perceived prestige, advertised cost, etc. If you aren’t sure if a school is a good fit for you, do some research. Run their net price calculator, visit the college (or at least find out information about the location, campus feel) and check out admissions requirements. </p>

7

<p>OP, you are lucky. I had one of each kind of kid. D1 could have been happy and thrived in many environments. She would “grow where she was planted”. D2 – well, I honestly think there was one school in all we looked at that was a perfect fit for her, and she is (fortunately) there now. I think you do want to turn off the prestige buzz from people around you. Research, visit, and develop your own opinions of each school. Don’t listen to hype or worry about the name brand. Worry about what you can afford, strength of major, and where you feel comfortable and happy.</p>

8

<p>@jkeil911 @intparent @sw0206 @‌collegehelp</p>

<p>Thank you all for the responses. Unfortunately, I can’t do any campus visits because I live overseas. I lived in America for 11 years but I do have to apply as an international. </p>

<p>I have, however, realized that I do actually have some criteria. More or less in order, it goes:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>The school must have great programs in International Relations, Political Science, and Economics. These are the courses I plan on majoring or double majoring in. </p></li>
<li><p>A relatively open curriculum. I hate being told what to do and not having the ability to control my education 100%. My parents moved me around so much that now I don’t really heed their advice all that often. I still do, but I listen to myself more than anything. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>My school has a limit on how many AP classes a junior can take (2). I wanted 5. I ended up worming my way into 4, and self studied European History. The director of my school said I wouldn’t score any 5s if I took more than 3 AP exams. I ended up scoring 5s on all of them, and got As in all of my classes. So due to that and a few other experiences, I no longer value the advice of educational “experts” and tend to due my own research. </p>

<p>That said, I still love the University of Chicago, even though it still has a very rigid core curriculum. This is because I’m very impressed with the Economics and Political Science Program and the overall student vibe there.
Thus, I am now considering applying to Brown, Amherst and Rochester.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>The quality of financial aid available for International students. I can definitely afford to pay 30k or so, but in order to pay the full 60k that some universities demand I would need to take out loans or win scholarships in my native countries (I am a dual citizen). I want minimal debt and working for a national scholarship would be very hard, though feasible. The problem with the scholarships actually lies in the fact that if Country B offers me X amount of aid, I have to return to country B for Z years to work. I do not want to make that kind of binding agreement.</p></li>
<li><p>Student Environment. I hate extremes, whether that be the left or right. While I am more than willing to associate myself with people that have different views, extreme or not, I want to be around those who are accepting and willing to have a mature debate, which can generally be difficult with extremists( though not all the time). I also want to be able to discuss Dostoevsky and Kierkegaard at parties and not be laughed at, another reason I like Chicago.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>5.Prestige. Oh how I hate myself for valuing this. It’s superficial. I know. But I just can’t get it out of my head. I’ll probably work overseas most of my life, and most people will not know any universities outside of HYPMS.
I’m only being honest with you guys. Am I a horrible person? :(</p>

<ol>
<li>Campus location and environment. The city I study in right now has crap weather. I hate it. I do also want to be near a ski resort as I love snowboarding. And I prefer California snow to that of the East Coast. But this isn’t that important, just a preference. Who doesn’t prefer nice weather to bad weather?</li>
</ol>

<p>However, it should be noted that I can and probably will ignore some schools that have weaknesses in my little list, except for number 1. Does anybody have any suggestions? </p>

9

<p>And once again, thanks to all of you who replied. I’ve been thinking about this and I have realized that I do indeed have preferences, though they may not be as demanding or inflexible as some students. Now all that is left is to due endless amounts of research, and thanks to you guys, I now know what to actually look for. </p>

10

<p>If you are asking about suggestions for colleges, we will need more info about your GPA and test scores. </p>

11

<p>@sw0206</p>

<p>-UW GPA: 3.81
W GPA: 4.31
-SAT: 2330
-SAT 2:
World History 800
Spanish with Listening 800 (non-native speaker)
American History 800 (not yet taken, but I predict I will get an 800 because I am very good at history).
-Essays: in progress</p>

<p>My biggest weaknesses are my ECs, though I do have some. I just hope colleges will understand that because I moved around so much it was never possible for me to get heavily involved or to start my own clubs, especially in foreign nations. Most of my time was spent learning new languages and their cultures.</p>

<p>Overall, I think I am as competitive as any student can be. Obviously being an International student who needs some aid will hurt me, as will my ECs, but I don’t fear applying to any schools.</p>

12

<p>One obvious possibility is Georgetown, given your international experience, intended majors, and experience with languages. There’s a global feel to GU, as if the school and many of the faculty have their minds on global issues. It is catholic in the best sense of the word, and has a dozen graduates in every country in the world probably. It is ideally located to have such perspective and outlook, here in the navel of the world. Their Foreign Service School would be hard to beat. They’re very brainy kids. Emphasize in your essay your experience, flexibility, and worldliness. They probably will like you very much. It is far superior, in my mind, to GWU and American. If you interview there, which I suggest you do by Skype, have a plan for what you want to fix in the world and how to go about doing it.</p>

<p>Disclaimer: someone close to me went to another school at GU.</p>

13

<p>@jkeil911‌ Yes I’ve always thought about going to Georgetown, but I’m not sure how good their Economics and Political Science programs are.</p>

<p>I also can’t seem to find any statistics regarding financial aid for international students, or if Georgetown has a reputation of being nice to foreigners (financially).</p>

14

<p>FA: It isn’t easy to find such information, as far as I know. You could call each FA office and see how they respond to your question about FA.</p>

<p>Let me also suggest Tufts and Johns Hopkins. Here’s a few places to look for info on FA for int’l students:</p>

<p><a href=“Automatic Full Tuition / Full Ride Scholarships - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums”>Automatic Full Tuition / Full Ride Scholarships - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums;

<p><a href=“Competitive Full Tuition / Full Ride Scholarships - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums”>Competitive Full Tuition / Full Ride Scholarships - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums;

<p><a href=“VERY LOW COST OOS COA universities......less than $25k COA for everything! - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums”>VERY LOW COST OOS COA universities......less than $25k COA for everything! - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums;

<p>Georgetown: there’s been some debate on CC about GU’s strengths in these areas, but they’re both Top 50 departments in graduate school rankings. If you’re not going to major in IR, you can probably find a lot of schools that are better in both departments. Getting u/g rankings is difficult.</p>

15

<p>Your scores are excellent: you are a qualified candidate at any school, but yes, international students in need of financial assistance have lower chances of getting in. I wouldn’t stress the ECs too much. If you can demonstrate some commitment to a job or community service prior to applying, do so, but if not, other factors can easily make you stand out despite fewer ECS.</p>

<p>I agree with above recommendations. Other schools that do offer relatively higher aid to international students, as far as I am able to determine from available info, are Dartmouth, Yale, UChicago, Williams, and Amherst. This list of colleges offering international FA may be a good starting point in your research : <a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/the-short-list-college/articles/2013/09/19/colleges-that-give-international-students-the-most-financial-aid”>http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/the-short-list-college/articles/2013/09/19/colleges-that-give-international-students-the-most-financial-aid&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

16

<p>@sw0206 The list of colleges that are need-blind for international students are as follows:
Harvard
Yale
Princeton
Amherst
Dartmouth
MIT</p>

<p>This is the best list I have found: <a href=“http://www.desperateguide.com/us/top-25-financial-aid-colleges-in-us-for-international-students-need-aware”>http://www.desperateguide.com/us/top-25-financial-aid-colleges-in-us-for-international-students-need-aware&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>As you can see, only 55 and 45 percent of intl students get aid aid at Stanford and Pomona. U Penn only gives aid to 28% :o So clearly, asking for aid does hurt you, but if the school likes you, it will cover a large portion of the cost (most of the average grants are around 35k or above)</p>

<p>I just wish I had these numbers for schools like Georgetown, Duke, Tufts, John Hopkins and U Chicago to see just how “generous” they really are.</p>

17

<p>@jkeil911‌ Do you think schools like Georgetown, Tufts, John Hopkins or Duke will provide me with helpful information if I email them?</p>

18

<p>We’ll never know if you don’t. All they can say is we don’t publish that information. If you hear a response like “I don’t know,” then ask to speak to the officer who handles international student applications. Might take a couple emails and phone calls to each, I really don’t know, but what have you to lose?</p>