Thanks, Jeff!
Your latest book and lots of other places talk a lot about thinking about aspects of the school related to your intended major. So much college discussion and advice out there is about looking at your intended major. Setting aside for a moment that tons of kids change major in college, my kid is 100% committed to being undecided which we support. That is part of the appeal of small liberal arts colleges.
My question on this is, what would you look at on the academic/career trajectory side if you are going into a school undecided? How would you approach it considering you intentionally donāt know either your major or what you want to do after? Someone who sees college as the time to explore unknown things and figure all that out?
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Is AAU membership something that one would seek as a quality in a school for an undergrad? In Chapter 7 of your book, you discussed how in higher-ranked schools (i.e. state flagships) often scored worse than regional schools in terms of the quality of teaching and how schools classified as national universities, by definition, have a very strong emphasis on research that can de-emphasize the focus of faculty on teaching.
Are there memberships that would lead you to believe that the undergrad experience and/or teaching is of higher quality than the norm?
@ECCA2026, perfectly fine to enter undecided. I would look for a school that has an Explatory or Undecided track so that they are more intential about helping students rather than just let them wander.
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@AustenNut, no, I was just pointing out AAU as a factor in āprestige.ā There arenāt specific memberships Iād look for.
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Thank you, @Jeff_Selingo, for your responses and your time. Much appreciated!
One last question 
. Were there any schools in Louisiana that had been in consideration to be included in Dream Schools? If so, would you mention the one that was the closest contender to be included?
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Remember the list is exclusive nor a ranking. Just a sampling. I donāt want to get into naming names that werenāt on the list because there were so many that deserve your consideration.
Wondering if you could name a few colleges that are more likely to admit well rounded kid
Also is SAT 1550 good enough? DD took the test 1st time in August and she is currently 10th grade. Wondering if it is necessary for her to retake
@qqmmlin001, 1550 is a great score! Most schools will admit well-rounded kids. As I laid out in Who Gets In and Why, each college has priorities that play out in the admissions process. So a lot of this is whether they are looking for someone like your kid the moment the app arrives. I know thatās not much help, but have your kid do what they want in high school, enjoy it, then apply and let the chips fall where they may. As I said above, most students end up where they are going to thrive.
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Thanks everyone for being here tonight! Be sure to check out my book at Book - Dream School | Jeff Selingo
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Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions, @Jeff_Selingo!
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