BatmansWife Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 (edited) Last week I got this call to be a part of an online discussion type thing about colleges and universities. Today is the last day for me to answer questions and then I get a $50 gift card. But, I am stumped on the last question I have left. It is: How do colleges and universities stand out from the rest or how could they stand out? What would it need to do or say? I don't really know. This is the 2nd year my daughter has been in a small technical college and I'm just not really familiar with a lot of things about colleges and universities. I just need some ideas on what I can say so I don't end up saying...."uh, I don't know". Duh! :blush: Thanks! ETA: How about....lowering the cost of tuition? That would be a good one. Edited October 4, 2012 by ~AprilMay~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballardlm Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 One thing that I think college and universities really need to improve on is career counseling and help with job placement. There are so many people I know who have college degrees but no work or internship experience and they cannot find a job in this market. Certain degrees, such as an English or Chemistry degree, for instance, really don't lead to a specific "job". Most students with these types of degrees must go to graduate school, but many undergraduates aren't aware of this. There has been a lot of information in the news recently about how college graduates are not preapared for the workforce upon graduation, so a college or university that sought to remedy this would greatly impress me. Edited to add that I think a lot of community colleges are actually better at this than big universities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BatmansWife Posted October 4, 2012 Author Share Posted October 4, 2012 Thank you so much for these ideas. These are really good points. I'm going to add this to a few other things that I thought of. Thank you again for your help....now I'll sound educated even though I never went to college. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica_in_Switzerland Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 I would want good reputation for reasonable price tag, ovreall small student body size, and appropriate dorm life- ie, supervision of some kind, no co-ed bathrooms... But the first one is the biggest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 In the end, it's got to be about the programs, the cost, etc. etc. But honestly, I think colleges stand out when they have special programs - mentorship programs, study abroad programs, outside the box programs that other schools don't have - basically, the "this is what makes us different" kind of thing. I think that's the stuff that gets people to notice and look at the other stuff. After all, a school having a program that's really different stands out, whereas the class size, the cost, etc. just become a blur of figures after awhile for parents and students looking at the information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BatmansWife Posted October 4, 2012 Author Share Posted October 4, 2012 These are all good points. Thank you. See....I get a question like that and my mind draws a blank. I'm not a quick thinker, I guess. You all have come up with great stuff. I appreciate you all helping me out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 In no particular order: Do they require additional materials for homeschooled students compared to other applicants? Do they offer merit aid? Do they have an honors college? Are highly qualified out-of-state students offered in-state tuition? Do they offer research internships/opportunities for undergrads? Do they have co-op opportunities? What industries recruit on-campus? What reputation do the graduates have amg employers? (Fyi, many smaller unknown-to-the general public schools are well-known w/in specific industries and employers will recruit specific major grads from those schools) What % of students graduate compared to % accepted? What % of students graduate in FOUR yrs? (this is important b/c in schools like in CA w/budget cuts, many students are unable to enroll in the classes they need for graduation. Also, many schools have a high % of students that are taking 5+ yrs to graduate which means the extra tuition/room/board needs to be factored into the over all cost of attendance.) That is all I can think of in a few minutes off the top of my head. If I think of more, I'll add them to this post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BatmansWife Posted October 4, 2012 Author Share Posted October 4, 2012 In no particular order: Do they require additional materials for homeschooled students compared to other applicants? Do they offer merit aid? Do they have an honors college? Are highly qualified out-of-state students offered in-state tuition? Do they offer research internships/opportunities for undergrads? Do they have co-op opportunities? What industries recruit on-campus? What reputation do the graduates have amg employers? (Fyi, many smaller unknown-to-the general public schools are well-known w/in specific industries and employers will recruit specific major grads from those schools) What % of students graduate compared to % accepted? What % of students graduate in FOUR yrs? (this is important b/c in schools like in CA w/budget cuts, many students are unable to enroll in the classes they need for graduation. Also, many schools have a high % of students that are taking 5+ yrs to graduate which means the extra tuition/room/board needs to be factored into the over all cost of attendance.) That is all I can think of in a few minutes off the top of my head. If I think of more, I'll add them to this post. "in a few minutes off the top of my head." Really??? Show off!!! :001_tt2: Just kidding. These are great ideas. You're goooood. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeganW Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 I made my final college decisions based on my visits to the college. At Wake Forest, the tour guide wouldn't talk about anything but his amazing junior year abroad. He didn't seem to know/care about Wake itself, just the JYA program. Left me feeling he didn't like the school itself. At Duke, all the students walking around looked miserable. I don't know if it was that day, or what, but I decided based on that, I didn't want to be there. I visited Tulane last, and all the students on the campus looked so HAPPY! They were laughing and joking and carrying on, and playing frisbee on the quads. And there was a class meeting under a huge shady oak tree, and kids sitting in random places around outside and studying. Everywhere we went we saw people out enjoying socializing. That was for me! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 "in a few minutes off the top of my head." Really??? Show off!!! :001_tt2: J :lol: Not really an impressive accomplishment. ;) Having 3 high school graduates, 1 college graduate, and an 11th grader taking classes at local university means I have btdt multiple times. These are the questions you learn the answers to as you go through the process from 11th grade to college graduation. Unfortunately there are no standard answers. Every school's answers are different. BTW, another question I thought about that is important for high achieving students is does the school give credit toward graduation for AP tests and dual enrollment courses. Some schools will give credit, some will only allow them for course placement and still require the same number of courses to be taken for graduation, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BatmansWife Posted October 5, 2012 Author Share Posted October 5, 2012 I made my final college decisions based on my visits to the college. At Wake Forest, the tour guide wouldn't talk about anything but his amazing junior year abroad. He didn't seem to know/care about Wake itself, just the JYA program. Left me feeling he didn't like the school itself. At Duke, all the students walking around looked miserable. I don't know if it was that day, or what, but I decided based on that, I didn't want to be there. I visited Tulane last, and all the students on the campus looked so HAPPY! They were laughing and joking and carrying on, and playing frisbee on the quads. And there was a class meeting under a huge shady oak tree, and kids sitting in random places around outside and studying. Everywhere we went we saw people out enjoying socializing. That was for me! :) Sounds like a set-up. :lol: Just kidding! I probably wouldn't have thought of these things...so this was good to hear. Thanks! :lol: Not really an impressive accomplishment. ;) Having 3 high school graduates, 1 college graduate, and an 11th grader taking classes at local university means I have btdt multiple times. These are the questions you learn the answers to as you go through the process from 11th grade to college graduation. Unfortunately there are no standard answers. Every school's answers are different. BTW, another question I thought about that is important for high achieving students is does the school give credit toward graduation for AP tests and dual enrollment courses. Some schools will give credit, some will only allow them for course placement and still require the same number of courses to be taken for graduation, etc. Oh, I see...you have experience in this. :001_smile: I appreciate all of these things to look for. Thank you for your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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