What Makes a Good College?

College Corner

Senior Calendar
Senior Parent Questionnaire

SAT Q & A
SAT Test Tips
What Makes a Good College?
Financial Aid Information
How to Reduce Parental Stress

HOW IS COLLEGE DIFFERENT FROM HIGH SCHOOL?
Rules versus Responsibility
Attending versus Succeeding
Teachers versus Professors
The Difference in Testing
The Difference in Grades
How to Make the Transition to College

What Makes a “Good” College?

2007 was a tough year for admission to highly selective colleges in the U.S. Harvard turned down over 1000 applicants with perfect 800 scores on their math SAT. Princeton turned away several thousand applicants with ‘A’ averages. ISP seniors did well and have much to be proud of, but there were some disappointments too. And next year may be even tougher, with a peak in the number of seniors applying to college (the size of the applicant pool should decline a bit after that).

So how can we, parents and staff, help students plan for college when it’s harder to predict how those plans will work out? If admission to “top” U.S. colleges can’t be assured, how can we help students find good alternatives? For that matter, what makes a ‘good’ college? Here are a few observations to keep in mind:

1. What makes a great college for one student will be different from student to another. One student may thrive in a big college in a city, while another will learn much better at a small college in a calm, country environment, for example. The ‘’college matchmaker” function on collegeboard.com is a great tool to help students (and parents) explore various options.

2. In some countries, the term ‘’college’’ refers to institutions with less status and somewhat lower standards than the term ‘’university.” This is not true in the U.S. Universities are institutions with graduate degree programs as well as undergraduate; colleges have only undergraduate programs, but may be of equal excellence. In fact, many people believe that undergraduates often receive more attention and better education at colleges, whose only job is to educate them. So be sure to look at colleges as well as universities.

3. A good college is not just one that is hard to get into, but one where students do well once they get there. Several measures to look at are the percentage of students who return for their second year (the lower the number, the more you wonder), the percentage who go on to graduate school, and the percentage of classes that are taught by full time faculty. Information about a wonderful group of colleges referred to as Colleges that Change Lives is available on www.ctcl.com

4. What makes happy, productive, successful adults often has little to do with where they went to college. Only 5% of the CEOs the biggest 500 companies in the U.S., went to Ivy League colleges as undergraduates. A “good college’’ stes high standards, provides the support needed to meet those standards and encourages students to develop their individual strengths and interests. There are many such colleges in the U.S., and in other countries, to fit many different students.

5. One more thing: what about ‘’reluctant students” - who say they want to take an extra year in Panama before studying abroad? Many parents fear that staying in Panama will keep students from new challenges and experiences. On the other hand, students who say they aren’t ready to leave often aren’t – if they go abroad, they don’t succeed and don’t stay. One strategy that some parents have used is to allow students to stay an extra year in Panama, but with conditions – that they attend college here and achieve certain grades, get a job, whatever they believe is important.

We hope that these thoughts are helpful. Please contact me any time with specific questions or concerns. Below are some excellent resources available on the Internet to help too.

Betsey Remage-Healey

High School Counselor

ISP

Resources:

www.collegeboard.comm – wealth of information including test prep; articles for parents; college ‘matchmaker’

www.ctcl.com – helpful information about strong, less well known colleges

www.princetonreview.com – source of ‘’The Best 351 Colleges”’ reviews

Comments or questions? isp@isp.edu.pa Tel. (507) 266-7862 Fax: (507) 266-7808
P.O. Box 0819-02588 El Dorado Panama Republic of Panama.

Hit Counter