Check out your neighborhood asylum.

Just got back last week from the East basketball regional. I'll try to catch up on my e-mails and questions. But I still need it appears to get my philosophy about 'choosing' a college first.

Several of you have sent me copies of and quotes from the many college guides available at the bookstores.Also the net has almost endless sites on how to choose a college. I see basically two mistakes that many potential college enrolees make.

" I want to go to A college because I'll have a chance to be taught by a Nobel prize winner." This is a rather common refrain. But there are two problems. One the Nobel prize winner, in all probability, wont teach a class you take. And two, he may be a great scientist or economist or whatever, but there is a good chance he/she may be a dreadful communicator==teacher.

Most of the questions from the high school kids are based on "How do a get some extra points on my SAT or ACT so I can "slip" into the "best" (prestigious?) college I can. Okay, my young friend,pay thousands for tutoring on these test and you might get your wish. So you won??You might slip into Harvard where---HOLD ON---you have a great chance to rank at the bottom of your classes with a possibility of a trip to your neighborhood psych clinic.

I've said before that at almost any college you attend will be staffed with profs that know at least 100 times what you know. And if you're a good student you may 'remember' about 15 per cent of what he's trying to get across. Or you can go to the "best" school you can "slip" in, and the profs (some of them ) may know 300 times what you know about the subject but for what good? You're still going to absorb the same amount of knowledge from the 100 per cent or the 300 percent teacher. So good luck.