Maybe this isn’t the best time of year to write a post like this — college fair season, as they say, is mostly over for the spring — but it’s been on my mind, and I know I post so infrequently! So let’s get it out.
So you’re headed to the big college fair; at your high school, at the convention center, at your local community college, or wherever. I’ve been standing on the other side of that table for eleven years now, and believe me when I say there’s nothing I haven’t heard… but amazingly, some of the questions we get haven’t changed in years, even though the answers don’t really enlighten you, the student/parent, at all! So with that, here are some things NOT to ask next time you’re speaking with an admissions counselor (“meh”), and ways to make those questions better:
“Meh”: How’s your (major) program?
Believe me, we know why you ask the question. But realistically, how do you expect us to answer that? There’s a little piece of this job that is, as much as we (I) hate it, a sales job. And so yes, we’re going to tell you that our program is awesome.
Better: What kinds of opportunities are available for students in your (major) program?
Ah, now we’re talking. Everyone has, for example, a psychology major. But not all programs are created equal. Are your interests clinical? It might be relevant, then, to know if the school has PhD programs and research that might match your interests. Are you interested in child psychology? Then see if there’s a preschool or a day care center on campus where you might be able to intern or work while you’re there.
It’s the old “what’s my degree going to do for me?” question; I always turn it around and ask students what they’re going to do for their degree. Everybody takes Psych 101, but having access beyond the classroom is key.
“Meh”: What’s your graduation rate?
“B-b-but we want our son/daughter to graduate! What do you mean we can’t ask that question?”
I’m not saying you can’t ask the question — I’m saying that the old Mark Twain quote “there are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics” is gloriously true in enrollment land. There are LOTS OF REASONS *(INSERT LINK HERE) why grad rates aren’t necessarily indicative of your experience as an incoming freshman. I’m not saying it’s a bad question, I’m just saying there are better ones.
Better: What’s your freshman retention rate?
(Even Better: What’s your sophomore retention rate?)
You want to know what’s happening on campus to the students that are most like you — the students who are completing their first year. Are they staying or leaving? This is an indicator of the success of student life, of class availability, of any number of things that are relevant to your immediate experience.
(I put parenthesis around the “even better” question because I’d bet that most counselors don’t know this stat. Prove me wrong, colleagues!)
I’ll keep posting these in the next couple of weeks… what other questions have you asked, but not gotten satisfactory answers to? And counselors, what other “meh” questions have you heard?