Getting "Engaged"

According to self-reported data from America’s colleges, more than 60% of students that matriculate at a college do not graduate from that college. Translation: well over half of American college students either transfer or drop out.

After the family home, college education is the largest monetary investment a family will make. If the vast majority of college-bound students are transferring or dropping out, what’s wrong?

1. NACAC recommends a caseload of no more than 250 students per guidance counselor annually. 250! The national average is 450! Many guidance counselors are over burdened and struggle to find the time and energy to meet students’ needs.

2. We have been brain-washed by “Animal House”, “Road Trip” and other Hollywood movies that tout the “college experience” over higher education.

3. We have “prestige-itus”. I want to get into the BEST college or as Groucho Marx put it, “I don’t care to belong to any club that will have me as a member.” We all want the “best” and the most sought-after schools must be the best, right? The best for whom?

4. Fit and Match should be the first words when embarking on the college search and application process and the last words when choosing from one’s acceptances.

5. Students must become experts in the colleges to which they apply. Effort must go into the narrowing process.

6. Characteristics such as size, location, presence or absence of Greek life, cost, and weather should be preliminary and followed by a deeper exploration of what NSSE recommends as keys to ascertaining student engagement:

(1) “A campus should support both academic and social opportunities for students;

(2) A college should provide a rich complement to academic offerings like international study, service learning, internships;

(3) Faculty should be student-focused and allow for interaction;

(4) Learning should be collaborative and active (NSSE explores, for example, whether students memorize facts or engage in analysis); and

(5) Coursework should be intellectually challenging and foster creativity."

The more engaged students are, studies prove, the more edifying their education. Engagement is a critical measure in the efficaciousness of a college education.

Start early. Visit widely. Concentrate on Fit Decisions. Express Interest in Those Colleges. Happy Ending.