<p>I never went to college. My kid is going into his junior year, and he's supposed to start thinking about college, they said. This Fall they will get ready to take the SAT test. That's supposed to tell us what schools he should consider, right? His favorite classes are history and science. I know this sounds stupid, but what should we be looking for in a college?</p>
<p>SAT score will definitely help focus the search. What’s his GPA? Where are you located? How much can you afford? Is he a jock? A nerd? Extra-curricular interests? There are a lot of factors. The posters on this board can help a lot, but need more info. As a starting point, it might be a good idea to see how those SAT scores come out and then check back.</p>
<p>Make sure to take the PSAT in the fall of his junior year. That is the test result that will be used to determine National Merit. If he scores high enough to be a Semi-finalist, many doors will be opened for him. There are threads in the National Merit forum that detail many automatic scholarships. Unfortunately, many schools do not emphasize the importance of this test to their students and as a result, many kids miss out on the benefits.</p>
<p>We looked at the following:
What can we afford
Profile of the student body (who will my peers be)
Retention rate (how many kids like it and stay)
Graduation rate (do they get out in 4 years)
Do top companies recruit from the school, if important
The rest may be more frivolous but important: location, size, athletics (play and /or watch), urban/rural/suburban</p>
<p>First we started with what we can afford.
Are you full pay, low income, need merit aid?</p>
<p>The we asked Spygirl to answer these questions to help focus on choices:</p>
<p>Geography: In state, close to home, as far away as possible, doesn’t care?
Weather: snow, sun, in-between, doesn’t care?
School size: Big research U, state school, small liberal arts college?
School type: urban, suburban, rural, big city open campus, small enclosed campus
Intended major</p>
<p>Next step is to look at the stats of schools that may interest your child. As OP’s have stated: retention rate, graduation rate, the avg test scores of those enrolled, dorm options, m to f ratio, merit aid generosity, sports etc.</p>
<p>Some things not yet mentioned:</p>
<p>Prestige: In some industries this can be important in finding a job. And despite living in an “egalitarian” society, there is social value in being able to say for the rest of your life that you went to a prestigious university. </p>
<p>Department quality: What is the quality of instruction in the intended departments, or likely other departments incase they decide to do something else. Are there research opportunities. Is it highly regarded by employers, and highly recruited. </p>
<p>Demographics: Especially race and social status, can be very important for some. Most don’t want to be one of only a few of their race at their school. Also, if you fall far outside the norm in social status for a school that can be awkward. Additionally, some schools have far more foreigners and FOB-citizens than other schools, which may be a factor. And obviously gender ratios are going to be important to almost anyone. </p>
<p>Safety: In the school and in the surrounding area. More of a factor for girls than for guys. Responsiveness of police could also be a consideration under this umbrella. </p>
<p>Policy: Different schools, cities, and states have different policies regarding firearms, tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, ephedrine, etc. If any of these are important to the student in question than it is worth looking into.</p>
<p>Beauty: It’s just nice living somewhere that’s pretty rather than somewhere that’s ugly.</p>
<p>One thing you might consider is the culture of the school. It may have as much to do with his/her success as anything else. You might fill out some online calculators for financial aid. If you qualify, the list prices may not be so important. You may find that after factoring in loans etc, the fancy private school is cheaper than the state school. It all depends on the school and on your child’s attractiveness to them. The upshot is to consider applying to schools that are too expensive and rule them out only if the package they offer won’t work.</p>
<p>Success in college often depends on avoiding self destructive behavior. Everyone can find their own element if they look, but the culture does make a difference. You might look for the programs that some colleges have for high school students. It isn’t a bad way for your child to start thinking about what he/she is looking for. Some I think I have heard of are Earlham (liberal arts), Tufts (city school), and I expect some big state schools do something similar. </p>
<p>You might review the colleges that change lives website/book. It might give some ideas/questions that are beyond the standard objective measures you find elsewhere.</p>
<p>I would pick up the Fiske Guide. It has a short survey at the beginning that will help your son discern the type of college he might be interested in relative to many of the factors that others have listed above. </p>
<p>Definitely determine what you can afford before getting too far into the search.</p>
<p>Try to visit some colleges near you. It doesn’t really matter if you are interested in those specific colleges or not to be honest - just seeing them will start to give you a feel for what’s out there. You’d want to try a small or medium sized liberal arts college, a state school, the state flagship, a research U, then urban, suburban, rural, and perhaps religious vs secular (unless you already know you don’t want religious). You don’t need one of each types as one school can be urban, LAC, and secular. Another could be suburban, research U, etc.</p>
<p>By staying local you save travel $$ and time while getting a feel for what you (or he) likes. Then wait to see what scores come back. Then you can put his preferred types (and locations) plus scores into search engines to get a list of more to consider.</p>
<p>Fiske does have a good guide worth getting (even if from a library).</p>
<p>And, of course, start figuring out your finances… but don’t let sticker price stop you (yet). See if you’ll qualify for need based aid or if he’ll qualify for merit aid (not all schools offer this). If so, you’ll have more options than sticker price will show.</p>
<p>You have plenty of time - though do make sure he signs up for the PSAT at school as that is a one-time only deal in Oct. The rest you can work on throughout the school year.</p>
<p>Besides all the above. The sports/greek scene is important to some. Both have a influence on the energy of the campus and perceived school spirit. And while first impressions are just that, the vibe your student feels when they walk around will help them feel connected or not. </p>
<p>One of the things I also enjoyed doing is finding the online version of their campus paper to get a sense of what the kids think is important to write about and how well they expressed themselves.</p>
<p>ACT/SAT are standardized tests many colleges use to help compare applicants who have attended a variety of high schools. I am not sure the results from those tests will tell you anything about which colleges to attend. You and your son should have an honest discussion about college finances. Going into a huge debt to attend a college beyond your means is NOT a good idea and in the long run will have very little to do with his success after college. Mark those off the list that are obviously not within your budget. There are thousands of reasonably priced colleges for him to choose from.</p>
<p>Part of attending college is feeling like you fit in socially and economically with your peers. If you attend a college way beyond your means, even if on a scholarship, can be awkward since how he spends his free time and how much money he has available to him is also part of the equation. College isn’t only about attending classes and studying. </p>
<p>Visit any of the colleges he is seriously considering. It would be a big mistake if the first time he visits a college is the day he is moving in. Websites and brochures are different from seeing it in person.</p>
<p>Distance from home is also a factor, since attending a college a thousand miles from where you live will limit his chances to come home on weekends or during breaks for holidays. Those costs also need to be considered, since most likely he would have to fly rather then drive if the distance is that large.</p>
<p>There are THOUSANDS of schools, its easy to be overwhelmed by all the options.</p>
<p>I’ll second Creekland’s campus tour suggestion. I found them to really help focus my son. See if you can find 3 nearby campuses to tour, hopefully, they are different, maybe one small private and a mid sized and a large state school. </p>
<p>Take an official tour. They are usually given by current students and are very informative. Wandering even a small college campus will provide little value. Most campuses will make an admission counselor too. Take advantage by bringing your son’s transcripts and asking for an honest assessment. This will give you great insight on the admission process. If at all possible, do it when school is in session and grab lunch on campus. This will give you a feel for what it’s like to go to school there. I offered my son a t-shirt everywhere we went too.</p>
<p>This will really help you narrow down your universe. He will probably have preferences, big/small school, urban or rural, far or near, level of diverstiy/tollerance, D1 Sports, etc. Start with the easy ones and work from there.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, he’ll be posting his SATs and Jr year grades. Those will also narrow your universe. If he’s a 3.3 GPA/1800 SAT student (like mine was) Harvard, UCLA and many others are out.</p>
<p>Price is deceptive until you see the financial aid offers. Many expensive private schools provide aid to 80% or more of their students. Tell your son now what you plan to contribute. That way he knows before he applies. </p>
<p>You can use college fairs and sorting tools like Collegeboard.org (the guys that run the SAT) to identify schools that meet your criteria.</p>
<p>Second semester Jr year, tour a few he’s likely to be admitted to and use them to further narrow your choices further. Try to winnow it down to 6-10 come application time.</p>
<p>Mostly though, listen to your son a LOT, keep an open mind and enjoy the journey. It’s a pretty amazing process.</p>
<ul>
<li>Academics (after all, why attend college otherwise?)</li>
<li>Budget</li>
<li>Geography</li>
<li>College size</li>
<li>Party scene on or near campus</li>
<li>Weather</li>
</ul>
<p>I’d start with taking a look to see what schools are available in your state, especially “state” public schools. In some states like mine–there are just 3 universities–California or Florida are a whole other universe. Look at a private local school perhaps…this is just so you can get the big picture idea. You need BALLPARK info at this stage.</p>
<p>Check out their net price calculators (NPC’s)–each will be different. Start looking GENERALLY by looking at your state schools at size, costs, rural/urban etc…tours are a great idea if you are within a couple hours drive so that you can check it out. </p>
<p>Once you know your child’s SAT and stats there are books and books available including at the library on schools. Your kids stats and your own financial picture will drive the bus.</p>
<p>Since you said that he is intertested in Science and History, he should focus more on the science side than on the history side since science side is more employable than on the history side especially in the application of science such as technology and Engineering. He can go on the Medical side also. Should not be obsessed with a particular college, but what he is going to study is more important. 11 grade should somewhat decide either science or history.</p>
<p>Location, weather, price, and school size.</p>
<p>Since my kids were looking at schools that were thousands of miles away, we looked for those where most students live on campus.
This eliminates the hassle of having to deal with leases and landlords, plus I think it makes for a more cohesive student body.</p>
<p>Accreditation.</p>
<p>We definitely need a little more information.</p>
<p>Our family didn’t make things all that complicated. It is important to know that financially, private schools should still be looked because in some cases, they can be cheaper than public due to need-based aid or merit scholarships.</p>
<p>SAT’s didn’t give up much direction at all, and be aware that first scores may improve considerably. I never knew my kids’ GPA, to be honest.</p>
<p>In second half of junior year, we went to the Amherst MA area and viewed a large public university (UMass), a small liberal arts school (Amherst) and an alternative school (Hampshire). We went to a city and looked at a couple of schools there too. We did this not because those particular schools were on my kids’ lists, but because this was a way to look at school types and also a way to just start them thinking.</p>
<p>I love Loren Pope’s books, Colleges that Change Lives and Beyond the Ivies. They are available online and in many libraries. Colleges that Change Lives has a website and also offers fairs around the country, in the fall.</p>
<p>Try not to get overwhelmed and keep it simple. Is your child’s guidance office any good? For perspective, one of mine applied to only two schools, both great schools, both early action, and it was all over by December. My others applied to 4 colleges. </p>
<p>In my humble opinion (and humility increases with experience, believe me) the school vibe and academic issues are the most important (majors’ courses, and how many distribution requirements). I think it works great to pick a school based on vibe and then check out the websites for particulars.</p>
<p>So, small or large; city, suburban or rural; what part of the country; academics. But visit and hang out in the bookstore or cafeteria or under a tree while students walk by :)</p>
<p>“Fit” is a word the books and couselors use a lot. The college should fit the student. </p>
<p>Your son should be going to a place where he can thrive, feels comfortable, can fit in, is academically stimulated and motivated, and is perecieved as exciting & fun. </p>
<p>Start with simple questions…big vs small, urban vs suburban vs rurual, business vs science vs art, things like that. Find out what he wants/is motivated by. </p>
<p>It also has to be realistic in that he can get in and afford it.</p>