How To Find the Best College for Your Student

Students often make one of two basic mistakes in choosing a college. Some students believe it is as simple as going where everyone else they know is going. For a few people, this approach works on a basic level but often deprives the student of becoming the person who they might be if allowed to develop.

The second mistake commonly seen are those students who know they want to go to a particular school simply based on the name of the school. This is seen in those students who only want to apply to the “Ivy League” universities. The eight universities that comprise the “Ivy League” athletic conference are some excellent universities but they have vast differences among the eight schools.

So what issues should a student keep in mind while trying to find the best college for their needs?

First, the student needs to decide what THEY want from the college experience. The best school for their best friend or the college where the parents attended is not necessarily the best school for your student. So what should a student look for to find the best college for their needs? A few issues include whether to attend a large or small school, a college near home or far away, or one that is academically focused or more sports oriented.  These are just a few of the issues a student might consider. Here is a list of more of the factors that a student might consider in researching colleges.

If a student doesn’t know what type of college might be most appropriate for them, they should visit several different types of colleges to get a feel for the differences. They are not deciding on a particular college at this point but rather deciding what are the important factors to consider.

If you aren’t sure how important this process of finding the best college for your student is, consider this statistic. Overall, fewer than half of the students that start a four year college graduate in six years.  Yes, six years. There are many reasons why a student might not graduate in four years but much of it depends on whether the college cares if students graduate on time. Consider similar schools in the Big 10 athletic conference. The highest four year graduation rate is Northwestern at 86%. The highest rate for a public college is Michigan at 70%. The lowest four year graduation rate is Purdue at 36%. Most of the top colleges have graduation rates of 90% or better.

So, your student is twice as likely to graduate in four years from the University of Michigan than from Purdue University.  Not only will you need to keep paying for each extra year in college but the student has also lost time from starting work.

Once your student has decided what to look for to find the best college for them, they now need to find colleges that meet their requirements.  Two good college search engines are College Navigator and College Board search. These search engines allow a student to put in various criteria and then receive a list of colleges that meet those requirements.

But, we are not quite done yet. For those families for whom paying for college is a concern, and who doesn’t have some concern, then before choosing a list of colleges you should consider financial aid. This is a critical step that is forgotten by most families seeking a college.

You are probably wondering why financial aid is a concern before even choosing a college. I mean, you can’t even file the FAFSA until after January 1 so why worry about aid now?  Because the failure to understand how college financial aid works costs many families thousands of dollars each year.  The FAFSA is actually one of the last steps in the process. Unless you understand the first steps, you are likely to pay more money than you need to for college. The reason is that each college handles financial aid differently and you need to understand which each school considers.

I don’t have room in this article to explain basic college financial aid but take a look at this article that I wrote on the basics of financial aid.

If you don’t believe you will qualify for financial aid then you need to read the Top 10 Ways to Reduce the Cost of College if You Don’t Qualify for Financial Aid.

If you take these basic steps with your student you will greatly increase the chance of finding the best college for their needs and will probably save yourself some money too.  Next month I will be talking about what colleges look for in students and the application process.

Todd Johnson, the college admissions counselor for College Admissions Partners is our College Admission Adviser for American Muslim Mom.

Previous articles include:

• When should students consider going to college? In particular, homeschoolers

As always, we’re curious about your thoughts and concerns. Please share below.

Tags: college search, financial aid, find the best college

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