Choosing a College Seven 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.
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 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.



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.