College Fit: How Does the Shirt Look on Me?
Last week, I spent a couple of days on the campus of Macalester College, in St. Paul, Minnesota. It’s part of my job to research college campuses, to wander around, talk to professors, start up conversations with students, and take the requisite campus tour.
The purpose is to help match students to colleges. I’m something of a personal shopper. I learn everything I can about you, so I can understand what it is you’re looking for in a college. Like a tailor, I measure you up. By the same token, I have to learn a lot about the colleges, so I can quickly and efficiently (and correctly) identify a short list of colleges that fit you.
So picking a college is a bit like picking out a pair of jeans. Or a sweatshirt. Or any other piece of apparel.
So what do you think? Does this college fit me?
Or how about this one?
Or this?
You see, what looks good on the rack, may or may not look good on a particular person. What looks good on one individual may look awful on another.
You are picking the college for you. You need to think carefully about what you want or need. A little more room in the waist? Something that shows off your best features? Or how about something in aqua?
Seriously, it’s not easy to pick the right college. You need to think carefully about what criteria are important to you, and then you need to systematically search for those colleges that fit those criteria. It’s not an easy process, with over 3,000 colleges in the United States (that’s a lot of sweatshirts to try on).
So consider getting a “personal shopper” as you go through the process. The investment will be well worth it.
After all, you wouldn’t want to spend $250,000 for that little pink number, now would you?
About the Author
Mark Montgomery
As a former professor, administrator, and high school teacher, Mark has the knowledge and skills to counsel students as they make the transition from high school to college.
12 Responses to “College Fit: How Does the Shirt Look on Me?”
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Great post Mark! I love it!!!
Let me know when you have some free time to catch up.
Bob
great post buba!!!
the pink is sassy!
Love the pink. It’s totally “you.”
Thanks for participating in this week’s Carnival of Family Life hosted by Riley at All Rileyed Up! Be sure to drop by and check out the other wonderful submissions included in this week’s Carnival!
The pink tank is very becoming, lol!
Like everyone else said, I think you look the best in pink. I think a lot of students don’t fully consider all of the qualities that make colleges a “good fit” for them. Last year, one of our student bloggers interviewed a bunch of University of Colorado students to find out “What they wish they’d considered when choosing a college”. I thought the results were pretty interesting:
http://myusearchblog.com/choosing-a-college-what-i-wish-id-considered
Hope you find some value in it.
Love the humor! Great post, great site.
Sounds good, Ashlee. I would strongly recommend, however, that you do plenty of research before the visits. AcceptedEdge’s search engine and “predictor” will not give you good results about YOUR chances. They will only aggregate data that are quantifiable…and much of the admissions process is qualitative–and impossible for any algorithm to predict. For example, “varsity letters” mean nothing to colleges. They want to know your true level of play–which is hard to build an algorithm for. AcceptedEdge is a gross-grained tool for what is, in essence, a very fine-grained process. Don’t make decisions about where to visit solely on AcceptedEdge’s predictions.