As you are thinking about college and working on selecting the right ones, it behooves you to introspect and think about it quite deeply. It is important that you make the right decisions, but it is equally important that you are clear about why you are making them.

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What do I want to get out of College?

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A seemingly simple question but one that each student should ponder deeply on…. What do I want to get out of College? to get a degree? to get a job? to earn a livelihood? to fit into society? to get married? all of the above?

 

Alternatively, you can look at your time in college as an opportunity to transform yourself into a certain kind of person, having laid the foundation for learning, having developed a mechanism to acquire knowledge, having gained the ability to analyze and solve problems, having cultivated a certain kind of personality...  and if it isn’t the above, what is it? Can you put it down in words?

 

As you are making decisions about identifying the right college and the right major, please bear in mind that an undergraduate degree in the US is ultimately about opening up your mind, broadening your horizons, gaining perspective, and embracing change.

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College can and should be an environment where you explore and inquire without fear and in turn you are treated with a deep sense of respect. This goes far beyond the skills and subject matter knowledge you would acquire in a classroom and this process will lead you down the path of self-discovery.

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College Fit, a 2-way street

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College Fit is a 2-way street and students often make the mistake of seeing only one side of the story, their side. Selecting colleges is a complex activity that begins with defining what you want, understanding what the college wants and evaluating fitment across various factors – academic, social, and personal.

 

Seen from the college’s point of view, college admissions are not just about how good a student is, but it is about balancing the needs and priorities of the college and this necessitates assembling a student mix that best meets the school’s strategic needs. Also, what you deem as your strengths may or may not match the college’s definition of a strong candidate. Colleges may be looking for applicants with demonstrated leadership qualities or a strong commitment to public service. Some may prefer to hear about your challenges while others may be more interested in your vision. These inadvertent biases are often tough to know, let alone factor into your applications.

 

How do you find details about a college’s priorities and culture? Read their mission statement, pore over their website, research their publications and positions, visit the place if possible, talk to students who’ve gone there… if the school values the things you value as well, the fit is high. Researching colleges may seem like a lot of work, and it is, but it is well worth the effort.

 

Many a student has tried to tailor their profile or present themselves by forcing a fit to the college’s priorities, needs or culture. This would be a mistake. Instead, choose colleges that fit you. Ideally, you want to be in a place where the environment encourages and energizes you. In such a place, you are automatically more likely to be happy and do better.

 

While it is easy to characterize this as obscure and not transparent, colleges hold their cards close to their chest so that they can truly assess students for who they are and not make a determination based on the persona presented to them. What does this mean for students? Given that the only expectation from students is to be themselves, there is only one answer. Be authentic, at all times.

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Women's Colleges

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The cohort of women’s colleges is a small and shrinking segment of educational institutions in the USA. There are only about 34 colleges that exclusively admit women and most of these are liberal arts colleges. The trend towards coeducation, combined with courts determining that public single-sex universities violate the Equal Protection Clause, brought down the number of such institutions from its peak of 281 colleges in the 1960s.

 

The formal education of girls and women began in the middle of the 19th century. The approach was intimately tied to the conception that society had of the appropriate role for women to assume in life. The Julia Roberts movie Mona Lisa Smile captures some of the trials and tribulations that women encountered when making career decisions and balancing other priorities. But that’s history and we’ve come a long way since then.

 

What you can expect, and some reasons why you may choose to attend a women’s college:

• The women’s colleges have made it their mission to produce women leaders in all walks of life, and numbers indicate that they have been extremely successful in doing so.

• Nothing holds you back from garnering and making the most of all opportunities. You don’t have to compete with male students for leadership roles and responsibilities, scholarships and assistantships,  and other opportunities.

• Girls contend that an all-girls college allows them to focus on academics and apply themselves fully without distractions. It helps that many of them are located close to, and some even have arrangements with, other co-ed schools where they can attend parties etc. This is a win-win.

 

In the end, these schools continue to attract some of the most brilliant minds and an all-girls school could be a possibility for you based on your priorities.

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College & Me is a series of articles featuring useful information about College Admissions for undergraduate degree programs in US colleges. 

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