Picking a college 2

Since my last posting, I have received several comments and a handful of e-mails. Just a reminder: I do not like to make recommendations about particular colleges. If I slip and DO make a particular recommendations, remember the person who asks my opinion must make the final decision.

Before I get into the procedure I believe can be helpful, let me deal with a question on the minds of students AND parents, ie, should a potential student consider how well the school is known by the general public. I had this question decades ago when I was applying for a fellowship to work on a doctor's degree. To make it brief, I narrowed the offers down to Duke and Emory. I took the Emory offer and when I told my sainted mother her reply was "why didn't you pick a school people had heard about?" ZAP!!!

I don't believe prospective employers really care WHAT college you graduated from. Sure, they want you to have a degree--it shows you can stick to something. But whether you graduated from, say, Kansas State or Bucknell,really makes little difference.

Not considering the Ivy League schools, most students and parents basically know a college by its football team. Thus, in my grandson's catholic middle school most of the kids want to go to Notre Dame. Most don't even know about Georgetown, unless by chance they are a close follower of basketball.

Three students I had in a class at a highly ranked high school illustrate my point. Jerry wanted to go to Georgetown. But his scores on the SAT were good but not that good. Out of kindness I ask my father-in-law, a graduate of Georgetwn and a close friend of the Chancellor at the school to see if the school would take a chance on letting Jerry come to the school. To my surprise, Georgetown accepted Jerry. Alas, Jerry 'candied' out and emrolled in our state university. Jim, a state champion swimmer, joined by his parents was crazed to go to Yale. Great academically and national champion in swimming. His parents asked me to tutor Jim on the vocabulary test on the SAT. He retook the test---the first time he took the test he did well but not up to Yale's standard. He did better the second time, but still not enough---so Jim, like, Jerry, went to one of our state universities.And then another Jim was set on Washington and Lee, but at the last minute wen to our hometown---very good University.