<p>If you’re like I was at that age, there was one unitary consideration: “Is it an elite academic institution?”</p>
<p>Looking back, that was incredibly naive. So what else should they consider?</p>
<p>In short: that even for high-achievers, an elite school might not be your best choice–at least right now.</p>
<p>It depends on:
- what you want to study,
- what you want to do after college,
- how you learn,
- whether you’re ready to take college seriously.</p>
<p>In my case (poorly documented in another thread), I assumed that an elite school would dominate even excellent public schools in every aspect of college. This turned out not to be the case and I turned out to be too immature and restless to take my studies seriously until my junior year.</p>
<p>So, I encourage students and their parents to give as much attention to selection as they do to admission. Don’t put off talking about every aspect of your choice. If you want to party more than you want to study, consider taking a year off. European students do this all the time after high school. It’s called a Gap Year.</p>
<p>Don’t be afraid to look for the qualities you want when researching and visiting schools. If you regret your initial choice, don’t shy away from talking about it with as many knowledgeable people as you can. Don’t assume that you’d only be able to transfer to an awful school. Find out for sure. You would be surprised how many people struggle with college, even really smart, motivated people.</p>
<p>Anyone else have any tips? Links? Books?</p>
<p>Here are two articles everyone should read:
- <a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/10/education/10harvard.html?pagewanted=print[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/10/education/10harvard.html?pagewanted=print</a>
- <a href=“Getting In | The New Yorker”>Getting In | The New Yorker;
<p>Both point out some of the common misconceptions about elite undergraduate schools.
- In the first, a group of Harvard professors talk about their effort to make education a priority for the rest of the professors.
- In the second, Malcolm Gladwell cites a Princeton economist’s study that shows that University of Pennsylvania students would make just as much money if they went to Penn State.</p>