newspaper. To really understand what differentiates one college from another, SPA’s counselors recommend digging deep into a college or university’s list of majors, extracurriculars and clubs to discover cross-disciplinary programs, travel and internship opportunities, and other unique aspects of a school. See it in session: Whenever possible, visit college campuses while they’re in session so you can talk to students, meet faculty, drop in on classes, and soak up the character. SPA parent Steve Tibbetts says one college he was sure his kids would love was “immediately dismissed because of some vibe they all got—and that was really valuable in helping us narrow down the list.” Size doesn’t necessarily matter: “One trend we’re seeing is that big universities and small private colleges have adopted the characteristics most associated with the other,” says Hill. For instance, large universities are launching small honors programs or residential colleges that foster small learning communities, while small colleges are creating more internships and research opportunities. Forget the rankings: The annual college rankings provide some comparison data, but are not a proxy for thoughtful and deliberative research into schools, says Andrea Sachs. “Don’t put too much stock in what the rankings say,” says Sachs, “and remember that U.S. News and World Report isn’t even a magazine anymore.” Trust your gut: “People always tell you that when you get on campus it should ‘feel right’ but I had no idea what that meant,” says Maggie Vliestra ’16. “But then I got to Barnard and it just felt right. That’s something you should pay attention to.”
learned about women’s colleges; she was accepted to Barnard College in their Early Decision pool. “When you’re in the process, you’re juggling so many opinions from parents and relatives and friends and teachers, it can be hard to distinguish what feels right to us and what other people think,” she says. “I learned to be an advocate for myself in a way that I hadn’t before, and it taught me first and foremost to trust my instincts.” As SPA seniors begin to submit applications, they meet regularly with their college counselors, checking in with college representative for updates, and double-checking all of their submission requirements. “I needed to take the TOEFL test and I also had to think about applying to more places, because the rate of acceptance for international students is relatively lower,” say Max Chen ’16, who moved to Minnesota from Guangzhou, China, as a high school student. With acceptance letters from five schools, he turned to his advisor Karna Humphrey to connect with professors and learn more about internship opportunities and post-graduate employment rates at his top choices. He’ll attend Carnegie Mellon University in the fall. Humphrey says that as the May 1 school decision deadline closes in, one of the toughest parts of her job is helping students get beyond the consumer perceptions about “selectivity” and pick the campus that can really serve their needs as they mature. “That balancing piece is really tricky, which is why we really hope they’ve done a lot of self-reflection during the year,” she says. “The terrifying feature of the college application process comes from the fact that it feels as if you’re being judged holistically as a person, like it’s a judgment of your worthiness,” says Milo Wittenberg ’16. He managed those fears by creating a solid list of criteria he was looking for in a college—access to a larger city, the chance to continue playing classical guitar without being a music major, and the chance to compete with a solid men’s fencing team or club. “I thought reading the decision letters would be more emotional for me, but in the end, it wasn’t that bad.” This spring, he considered three acceptance offers and eventually chose Cornell University. “I knew I’d be comfortable going to any one of those schools,” he says, “because they all have what I was looking for.” Mary Hill says seniors who set out from SPA with that attitude have taken the best lesson they can from the college preparatory process. “Like I tell my students, there is no such thing as a ‘good college’— there are only the colleges that are good for you.”
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