In the months ahead, many high school juniors and their families will be researching colleges, visiting campuses, and building application lists. Selecting a college isn’t the ordinary consumer experience, and the mix of nervousness and awe many feel leads to some strange questions. If you have been on a college tour or attended an information session, you have likely heard visitors ask about everything, from the absurd to the mundane. It reflects the confusion many harbor about the nature of the “product” itself. Just what is a person buying when they “purchase” a college education? Here are a few of the off-the-wall questions that my admission and counseling colleagues have heard parents and students ask:
Who will remind my student to go to class?
Will my son ever find a girlfriend?
Will this room fit a beer pong table?
When you say two years of a foreign language, does it count if I took Spanish 1 twice?
The deadlines don't apply to my child, correct?
My son has so many AP credits. Can he come to college freshman year but not take courses until he is a sophomore?
Where do kids go to smoke weed?
How much money do my parents have to donate to get me in?
How do you deal with going to a Pepsi school instead of a Coke school?
Can parents rent an apartment nearby?
Hopefully, you will not be “that person” who asks the absurd question prompting other visitors to look at you in pity, contempt, or astonishment. You can also avoid asking mundane, “softball questions” about information easily found through an online search. Don’t waste your time–or that of the admission professionals–by asking generic or facile questions. Don’t be that person who says, “If a club doesn't exist on this campus, can I create one?" Spoiler alert: the answer will be a similarly generic, “yes."
Instead, abide by the “garbage in, garbage out” rule before speaking up. You get what you ask for, so make your questions count. In a recent piece in the Harvard Business Review, “The Surprising Power of Questions,” professors Alison Wood Brooks and Leslie K. John argue that “most of us don’t ask enough questions, nor do we pose our inquiries in an optimal way.” They offer useful tips on “the type, tone, sequence, and framing” of questions to optimize conversations. Consider the following common admission questions and ways that you might consider reframing them to dig deeper.
Not: Is the food good?
Rather: What is the dining/food experience like? Do students gather in the dining hall and share meals and conversation, or just grab and go? Are there diverse options such as gluten-free, Halal, Kosher, healthy food, and a variety of ethnic offerings?
Not: How political are the students?
Rather: What was the atmosphere on campus around the last election? What have students been debating and/or upset about? How active are the student government and politically affiliated student groups? How does this campus handle conflict or difference of opinion? When your friends and family visit, do they remark on the campus culture?
Not: What is your medical school acceptance rate?
Rather: What percentage of students are discouraged from applying to medical school so that you maintain a high acceptance rate? What is pre-med advising like and when does it start?
Not: What is your student-to-teacher ratio?
Rather: Are there teaching assistants who teach students instead of professors? What is a recent meaningful interaction you had with a faculty member? After I graduate will I be able to say truthfully that there were adults on the campus that cared about me? Who was the faculty or administration member that went out of their way to connect with you during your first year? What is the largest lecture hall you have on campus? Have you found someone that has taken a personal interest in your successes beyond a grade in a class?
Not: What is the college’s retention or attrition rate?
Rather: What reasons do students give for not returning to the college? Is there a trend for the type of schools students leave to attend? Why are you still here? What is something you wish someone had told you before you picked this school? What was the most challenging part of your transition to the college? What sort of student would not be happy here?
Not: What is the four-year graduation rate?
Rather: For students who do not graduate in four years, what are the reasons? Do studying abroad or co-op/internship/externship opportunities extend the time it takes for students to graduate? Does your college accept AP, dual-enrollment, or other college credit that enables students to graduate early or reduce their course and/or debt load?
Not: What would you change about this school?
Rather: If you were given a check for 10 million dollars, how would you spend it at this college? What are the college’s “growing edges?” What exciting opportunities do you think the college has as an institution? What is a common critique of the school?
Not: What is most important in an application?
Rather: What does holistic admission mean in the context of your application review? What institutional priorities influence how you review candidates? Do you consider demonstrated interest? What do you not look at in applications?
Not: What is your Early Decision or Early Action acceptance rate?
Rather: What percentage of the applicants accepted via early admission plans are athletes, legacy or development cases, Questbridge or Posse students, or other specific populations? What percentage of your first-year class is admitted through early plans?
Not: What kind of support resources are available?
Rather: What proactive steps are taken to address mental health on campus? What is the student culture around accessing mental health support? How openly are these issues discussed? When you have a question or problem, do you find that faculty and administration work together to respond to your concerns, or are you sent to other offices when the problem you present doesn't apply to the person you're directing it to?
Not: Can you double major?
Rather: What percentage of students pursue more than one major? How easy is it to change my major? What core academic requirements are there and how have you fulfilled them? How hard is it to register for the courses you want, both in and out of your major? When do students need to declare their major(s)? Are there any majors that limit the number of students? How does faculty advising work for double majors?
Not: Is it safe here?
Rather: Have you or a friend ever felt unsafe on campus? What is the school’s relationship with the town like? What is the most serious crime or incident that occurred on campus this year? What is the relationship like between campus police/safety officers and students? What is the worst thing that's happened to you on campus this week? Is the academic experience here competitive or supportive?
Remember, you are the consumer. Before you head out to visit colleges, read Loren Pope's "Looking Beyond the Ivy League: Finding the College That's Right for You.” It has a checklist of questions to ask when you explore a college and a chapter called "Sample and Test the Merchandise." The point is to approach the college process as a consumer, not a supplicant. Be a smart shopper and ask hard questions. Avoid the absurd and don’t default to the mundane. This may be the first significant decision you will make in your life, but it will not be the last. Practice powerful questioning and be persistent about equally satisfying answers.
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