Choosing a College

How Important is a College's Name?

Many people give much weight to a college's name. My Psychology Today article today looks at when and to what extent that's wise.

Your Child's Education

Some of the ideas in my PsychologyToday.com article today are contrary to conventional wisdom, but I feel confident that they're worth considering because they're informed by my three decades as an education and career advisor plus my Berkeley Ph.D. specializing in the evaluation of education.

Your Child and College: Contrarian ideas

My PsychologyToday.com article today offers contrarian ideas I believe that most parents of high school students should consider. 

Choosing a College: Key tips embedded in a story

I have been disappointed by too many colleges’ marketing machinations. 

Yes, my PsychologyToday.com contribution today is a parody, but at some colleges, it’s too close to the truth.

Harvard, Schmarvard

Recently, I wrote What Colleges Don’t Tell You, an attempt to help the college- and graduate-school bound make a more eyes-open decision about whether to attend college.

In my PsychologyToday.com article today, I assume you’ll be going to college or graduate school. I address two important, too often unasked questions: 

Should you attend the most selective institution possible?

Should you take a gap year to reenergize and gain real-world experience?

What Colleges Won't Tell You: There's much you should know before going or sending your child to college.

Most people today believe that college is a must—if not for the learning, as the hunting license for a decent job. So they don’t look too closely at what colleges provide vs. other post-secondary options, such as apprenticeships or the military.

Many respected entities have tried to warn students about college. For example, the cover story of the August 2016 issue of Consumer Reports was headlined, "I Kind of Ruined My Life by Going to College."

The Great College Degree Scam, in the prestigious Chronicle of Higher education’ reported that 60 percent of the increased number of college graduates from 1992 to 2008 work on jobs require high school diploma.

In my private practice, I suggest that certain students would be wise to at least defer college, but the college-is-a-must meme has been too deeply implanted by high school counselors, the media, and the very-convinced parents: “You earn a million dollars more! (A canard—see my article below.) Besides, what would I tell my friends, that my child, who could have gotten into a brand-name college isn’t going to college at all, or ‘just’ to a community college?”

Despite that, as we approach the May 1 deadline, the date most colleges require prospective students to plunk down their commitment money, I believe I should take a shot at giving you pause. I do that as my contribution today to PsychologyToday.com. 

A Letter from a High School Student Who's Scared About College

Today, I start a series of PsychologyToday.com articles that present a letter that's a composite of complaints I've heard. After each, I offer my response.  

Today's letter comes from a high school senior who's scared about the cost of college and what to major in. 

Helping Your Child Choose a College or Other Post-High School Option

In this third installment in my PsychologyToday.com series on career advice for parents of boys and for men, I offer advice on choosing and making the most of college as well as other post high-school options. I believe this is one of my more useful articles.

Which College? A Consumer Advocate’s Approach

It seems almost absurd to argue that even good students should consider a community college rather than a fairly prestigious university. But a good case can be made. I try to do that in my PsychologyToday.com article today. HERE is the link.

How to Choose a College or Graduate School

PsychologyToday is running a series called "Undone by Universities." 

My contribution to that is How to Choose a College or Graduate School. HERE is the link.

Days of Our Work Lives: Part III: Adam's Saga. Episode 7: Love Versus Career.

 Days of Our Work Lives

Part III: Adam's Saga

Episode 7

Love Versus Career

In the previous episode, Adam ran for student government treasurer and lost. 

Now a senior, he needed an extracurricular, if only to buff up his college applications--He really wanted to get into one of those seven-year combined bachelor's/Doctor of Optometry programs.

So he applied to be music director for Skit!, a competition of musical skits among the senior, junior, and sophomore classes. After all, he had learned to play piano well by ear. While still in 4th grade he played the Star Spangled Banner at an assembly. (When he finished, show-off that he was, he asked the teacher, "Can I play an encore," whereupon the teacher hustled him back to his seat.)  And last year, a sax-playing student asked if Adam wanted to make $25 playing a New Year's Eve gig at an Air Force base. Of course, Adam said yes. Alas, the sax player didn't tell him it was 100 miles away and that they'd have to rent a car to get there.

Skit's! student director chose someone else to be the music director--a worse musician than Adam but a more popular kid. Again, Adam got the message that it may be better to be popular than good.

But that turned out for the best. Skit's student director asked Adam if he'd be the audio-visual person. Adam liked gadgets and precision and besides, it was an extracurricular to put on his college applications. In his application essay, he could  explain how the skills he developed doing A/V could be relevant to being an optometrist. So he agreed.

Being the A/V guy yielded an even bigger benefit: He met Sara. She was the first girl who ever flirted with him: She looked him in the eye rather than past him. She even initiated conversation with him. In fact, she asked if he needed any help with the audio-visual. He didn't but he said he did. 

One day when he was setting up equipment in the sound booth, one of his contact lenses fell out. He and Sara got down on their knees to look for it. And when she found it, she said, "Can I put it in your eye?" Slowly, steadily, she did. And then she kissed him. His first real kiss.


In April, Adam got two fat envelopes. He had been admitted to two 7 yr OD/BS programs!  He was smart about how he picked between them: He read the student reviews in The Princeton Review Guide and on College Confidential, and when he visited the colleges, he asked random students what they liked and didn't like about the college. He gave little weight to the tour, knowing that would be like buying a car based on the salesperson. Nor did he give much weight to the campus's physical attractiveness. He knew that after the first few months, he'd hardly notice it. He also sat in on an advanced optometry class and at the break, asked students what they thought of the program and how employable the graduates are. As a result, he preferred the State University of New York program. Not only did the program seem great, it was exciting to think about living in New York City!

But at graduation, Adam and Sara had a difficult conversation. Should he not go there and go to the University of Washington where she was going? Should they go to separate colleges but agree to stay faithful to each other? Although Sara was a wonderful person, their relationship was great, and Sara wanted to continue the relationship, Adam was clear they shouldn't. 

Indeed, Adam ended up introducing Sara to her future husband. That provided an important career clue: Adam, in his heart, knew he would be wisest to resist societal pressures and remain single forever so he could devote himself more fully to work. 

That decision would profoundly affect his life...and that of many others. 

 The next episode is HERE.

How to Choose a College. I'll Discuss That on KQED's Forum with Michael Krasny

Today, I was on Forum with Michael Krasny to discuss how to choose and make the most of college. You can hear it HERE. It's an hour-long but if you want to hear my contribution, I'm on from the 9:12 mark to the 23:10 mark.

Choosing a College: 7 questions to ask before picking

It's the moment of truth: You or your child has been admitted to more than one college and now needs to pick one.

You'll make a wiser choice if you ask each finalist college's admissions representative these seven questions. These are the sorts of questions that insiders ask when choosing a college for their kids or for themselves.

If you're worried that asking seven may be too probing, just ask the few you most care about.

May I see the results of the most recent student or alumni satisfaction survey? Most colleges conduct student or alumni satisfaction surveys. Seeing the results will show you how a large sample of a college's students or graduates rate their experience in and outside the classroom, including employability. If an institution doesn't post it on its website, refuses to email it to you, or says it hasn't conducted a student or alumni satisfaction survey, that's instructive in itself.

What are the statistics on campus crime? The Clery Act requires all institutions to collect crime prevalence data on and surrounding campus. 

May I see the executive summary of the accreditation visiting team report and Association Action? Nearly all colleges periodically undergo an accreditation process. That culminates in a visiting team's report on the institution's strengths and weaknesses and an Association Action. The latter states the number of years before the institution must undergo its next review. It it's much sooner than ten years, it may be cause for concern. The visiting team report will explain the reasons for a short term of accreditation.

Given my academic record and my family's income and assets, how much cash and how much loan will I be likely have to pay in the first four years, and if it takes me longer to graduate, in years 5 or 6?  On many if not most colleges' websites, it's difficult to find even the one-year cost-of attendance, even unadjusted for student record, and family income and assets. Your cost of attendance depends heavily on those. Complicating matters more, at some colleges, your bill may rise significantly after the first year, with an especially big increase if you don't graduate in four years. And lest you be too sure you'll graduate in four years, know that nationwide, less than 37 percent of freshmen at so-called four-year colleges graduate in four years. Only 58 percent graduate in six years!

How much do students with high school grades and SAT score like mine grow in critical thinking, writing, etc? That's important even if you or your child is attending college mainly to get a better job. Why? Because the better you write and think, the more likely you are to succeed in nearly any career.

Many if not most colleges test at least a sample of its incoming and graduating students on such skills as writing and critical thinking but few colleges make the results public. That's understandable because, as reported in a major national study, Academically Adrift, a shocking 36  percent of students nationwide "did not demonstrate any significant improvement in learning" between freshman and senior year.

Colleges vary in effectiveness, so you want to find out how your candidate colleges measure up. If a college doesn't post this information on its website, refuses to tell you, or says it doesn't measure student growth, that's instructive in itself. 

What is your four- and six-year graduation rate for students with grades and test scores like mine? The graduation rate varies greatly across institutions and on the student's high school record. Comparing your finalist colleges' graduation rates will be instructive but don't give that undue weight in choosing a college. That's because an institution can jigger a high graduation rate by lowering standards. For example, at one institution, administrators meet with faculty members who give a failing grade to an above-average percentage of students. Rather than praising those professors for their high standards, the message subtly is "lower your standards."

What percent of graduates are professionally employed within one year of graduation, broken down by major? What percent are in graduate school? The institution's alumni survey usually contains such information. 

Asking even some of these questions will increase your chances of picking an institution at which you'll be happy, successful, and feel was worth your money and years.

Which Colleges or Graduate Schools Should You Apply To?

This time of year, many people are choosing the colleges and graduate schools to apply to.

You'll likely create a wiser list if you ask an admissions person the questions among these that are relevant to your situation:

• For a student with my grades and test scores, what's the average freshman-to-senior growth in reading  writing, etc? (If you're told that the institution doesn't collect that data, it suggests they don't care enough about student growth to do so.)

• What percentage of freshmen with my grades, test scores, and planned major, graduate within four years? Five years?  If it's a graduate program, what is the average, not the expected, time it takes to complete the degree?

• My family makes $X a year and has, not counting their home, has $Y in assets. My GPA is Z and my SAT/GRE etc is Q.  Approximately, how much am I likely to end up paying in cash and how much loan will I be expected to take? And what will my package look like in years 2-4? Year 5 and beyond?

• In your institution's most recent accreditation review, did it receive a full ten-year term? What did the accreditation's visiting team report cite as your institution's greatest strengths and greatest weaknesses? 

• Would you email me a copy of the results of the most recent student or alumni satisfaction survey?

• What percentage of graduates in my planned major are professionally employed within a year of graduation?

When is College Worth It?

We now send 70% of high school graduates to college, the highest percentage in history and President Obama wants yet more to go. That despite study after study now showing college education's terrible value-added for all but top students, whether in learning or employability.

For example, the unemployment rate for college graduates is 8.9%, higher than the overall rate of 8.6%! The employment rate is far worse still if you don't major in a hard science or engineering but rather in the social sciences, humanities, or arts.

So if I had a child who was deciding what to do after high school, I'd discuss these questions with him or her:

• Are you excited about learning harder academic material than you're being taught in high school?
• Are you capable of completing a major in a field such as computer science, mathematics, or physics, are you willing to accept the much greater risk of unemployment by majoring in the liberal arts, or would you like to consider non-degree options such as a short-term career-training program at a community college, an apprenticeship, learning a trade in the military, or learning how to run your own business by working at the elbow of a successful, ethical entrepreneur?
• At college, without parents' watchful eyes and without teachers knowing even if you're attending class, are you likely to stay focused enough on academic learning to be among the fewer than 40% that graduate college in four years, just 55% even if given six years? The rate is far worse still for students of color. And of students who graduated in the bottom 40% of their high school class and had had sub 40%ile SAT scores, fewer than 1 in 4 graduated, most from a third-tier college and with a low GPA in a major such as sociology or American Studies. That is not likely to motivate employers to hire you for a professional-level job, especially in today's job market.
  
• Are you more likely to succeed in a career working with your brains than with your hands or body?
• Will you be able to afford the enormous cost of a college education: At a typical brand-name public university in most populous states, the average cost of just four years, after subtracting cash financial aid, assuming you qualify, is approaching $100,000. At a brand-name private college it's approaching $200,000.
  

Do remember that most college graduates are burdened with a fortune in student loans accruing interest, the only debt not dischargeable through bankruptcy. At the same time, as mentioned above, college graduates now have a higher rate of unemployment than the general population. That's partly because the cost of employing white-collar Americans is skyrocketing, for example, because ObamaCare mandates employers provide health care not only for its employees but a surcharge to pay for the poor's health care. So U.S. employers are offshoring, automating, and temping as many positions as possible.

For top students and for those who truly enjoy academic learning, college remains a wise choice. But most others would be wise to consider forgoing college, at least until they're eager to learn and can well afford it---Often that isn't until late in life. Many young people would be wiser to consider post-high-school options as those mentioned above.

The College Report Card: A Tool for Selecting a College

Dear Students and Parents,

You've narrowed down to a few colleges. This can help you make the choice wisely. Give each college you're considering a grade from A to F on each of these factors:

1. Academic fit (for example, you'd likely do best as a big fish in a less selective pond)

2. Social fit (for example, you're studious and would grow most among politically liberal students)

3. Emotional fit (for example, you're nervous and so you want a college that's small and close to home)

4. Weather (often important: it affects you every day of every year)

Ask the admissions office for the following. Even if a college refuses, that too is telling.

5. The 4-year graduation rate for students with your high-school grades and test scores.

6. Likely 4-year cost given your family income & assets

7. Results of the latest student satisfaction survey

8. Evidence for freshman-to-senior value-added

9. Most recent accreditation visiting team report

10. For your intended major, % of graduates professionally employed or in grad school within one year of graduation.

11. Any other factor you care about (prestige, size, religiosity, availability or quality of a major, disability services, etc.)

Now, average the grades for each college. If you wish, give more weight to the factor(s) most important to you.