How Do You Help Your Kid Pick the Right College?
If you have kids close to college-age you are probably a bit overwhelmed by how to support your kid on the big decision about which college is right for them. While my three kids are too young for college, I can recommend how you help them make this important decision. I currently teach at a major university, I’m a career coach, I’ve held admissions-related roles at two well-known colleges, and while not as interesting, I spent 6 years in college (undergrad + grad school). The articles you read about how to choose a college all say the same things. My advice is different.
I will argue you should focus on:
a) Will your kid be taught by academics or industry people? and
b) Does the college have a pipeline to help your kid get hired?
Before I turn this big decision on its head and dive into why those two things listed above are so important, let’s review the basics. We can all agree several things matter when considering colleges and we read about (and probably think about) these often:
Where your kid can get into. The average acceptance rate for all ranked colleges that reported their admissions stats to U.S. News was 70%, with several schools accepting every student who applies. The ivy league colleges are certainly much tougher with, Harvard, for example, accepting only about 4% of applicants.
What you can afford. Average 4-year college tuition rates range from about $5,000 to over $40,000 per year dependent on which state you’re looking at and if your kid would be in-state or out of state. About 85% of 1st year college students have some kind of financial aid, with the average student borrowing about $11,000 per year for college. This is an expensive endeavor no matter how you look at it so what your kid get out of it matters.
What student life is like. There are many factors to consider here including size of student body, campus experience, housing options, sports, clubs, and other cultural options with the most important student life factor being what is the right fit for your kid.
How reputable is the college. Let’s be real, if your kid goes to a well-known college vs. a no-name college, that impacts the weight their degree carries on their resume. Sure, it’s what your kid does with the degree that matters most, but I guarantee you the kids coming out of top colleges are getting more interviews and more offers than the kids coming out of no-name community colleges.
Where is the college located. For parents, this can be a huge one. How far away from home are you comfortable with your kid landing? Will you be saying goodbye forever if they head out of state for college? Will they ever return home? As someone who went to undergrad on the opposite side of the country from my parents, my feeling is the further away your kid goes to college, the less likely it is they’ll ever return home.
Those five factors above certainly all matter in helping your kid decide where to go to college but I’d argue that who will be teaching your kid and how closely connected the college is to jobs are as important, if not, more important, than most of the factors listed above.
Why does who is teaching your kid matter? Aren’t all university teachers the same? No. Imagine learning to drive from someone who has studied driving but never driven or learning to drive from someone who drives for a living. Who would you want your kid learning to drive from?
Many university teachers are highly accomplished academics with PhDs in their fields who have studied, researched, and published in their fields of expertise. Many, however, with those credentials have never worked in the industry they are “experts” in outside of their work in academia. They are essentially teaching your kid to drive although they have never driven themselves.
Many universities also have teachers who are highly accomplished practitioners in their fields who have worked in or managed the day-to-day duties and people involved in their fields for example, in business or in science or in journalism. These people have worked outside of academia and are now teaching students based on theory but also on their hands-on expertise having done the things they’re teaching students about. They essentially drive for a living or used to drive for a living and are now teaching your kid to drive. For your information, that is me, I have an MBA (not a PhD) and have worked in industry (marketing) for 20+ years so my teaching is focused on teaching my students based on some theory but much more so on real-world application.
There is also the magical combination of someone who is an accomplished academic (i.e. has a PhD) and is also an accomplished industry practitioner (i.e. 20+ years working in industry in their field) - those people are like unicorns and you should listen to everything they say.
There is certainly value to be added from both academics and industry practitioners, and who is best suited to teach your kid depends on what your kid wants to do, but I will argue that in most cases, unless your kid wants to become an academic, a theorist, or a researcher, your kid will be better equipped if they are taught by someone who has actually done first-hand what they are teaching the class about - someone who has driven a car themselves.
So in short, look at the faculty website for the schools your kid is interested in and dive into where the teachers have worked. Is it only in academic settings? Or in industry settings? Or both? If the full roster of teachers is all academics, I’d go back to my driving analogy and rethink that school / that program.
And now the other factor I think you should consider:
Why does there being a pipeline to help your kid get hired matter? Colleges are great at charging tuition and giving out degrees. Where there is room for improvement is in how connected colleges are to jobs. What’s the point of a degree if your kid ends up working at a restaurant after they graduate. I built my online course, “How to Get the Job You Really Want” and wrote my book, “Made To Hire”, because of this gap. There is a huge gap between having a great degree and/or a great resume and actually getting hired.
I would explore what career services the colleges your kid is considering have and how connected those colleges are to companies, to internships, and to jobs. Ask for details, for specifics. Which companies recruit from the college? What services do they offer (before and after graduation) to help students get hired?
As an aside, I believe we are going to continue to see a shift in education with people choosing to pursue shorter term training programs that are more directly connected to jobs rather than 4-year degrees.
I hope this helps you consider a few other factors that you might not have been thinking about as you help your kid navigate their way into college. It’s a big decision and definitely one they will benefit from your help on.
I do occasionally do 1-on-1 coaching for college students and new grads (typically paid for by their parents - another reason to get them into the right college and get them hired so you can stop having to pay for everything).
For more advice, visit madetohire.com and follow me on IG @madetohire.