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College TNT
Helping students and families navigate to and through college!
College TNT
Navigating College Choices: Place, Selectivity, and Family Conversations
Choosing the right college involves much more than just academics—it's about finding a place where you'll truly thrive for four transformative years. In this episode, I dive deep into the critical but often overlooked aspect of "place" in college selection and how geography shapes your entire college experience.
What's the perfect distance from home? That sweet spot between independence and accessibility matters more than you might think. For some students, being two hours away provides ideal separation while maintaining the option to return for long weekends. For others, proximity to extended family in a completely different region might offer the right balance of adventure and support.
We explore how climate preferences, urban versus rural settings, and even state political environments factor into college happiness. Are you energized by bustling city life with public transportation and cultural attractions? Or does a small college town with a tight-knit community feel more authentic to you? From snow sports enthusiasts to year-round swimmers, your lifestyle preferences deserve consideration in this significant decision.
The episode concludes with practical guidance on having productive family conversations about college selection. We address potential friction points between student preferences and parental considerations, particularly around affordability and location. By documenting your campus visit impressions and maintaining open dialogue, you can navigate this complex decision together. Whether you're a current high school student or a parent supporting the journey, this episode provides the framework for finding that perfect college fit. Have questions about your specific situation? Reach out directly—I'm here to help you navigate this exciting transition!
For more about me - my experience and my speaking, check out the links below.
You can reach me at jen@firstgenfm.com.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenschoen/
https://www.firstgenfm.com/speaker-high-school-educators-students-parents
Hello and welcome to College TNT. I am your host, jen Jennifer Schoen, and I'm here to talk with you about all things. Preparing for getting into that means navigating college admissions and making a smooth transition into your first year of college from high school. So today, as you know, I'm kind of on a theme this month, this month of March, and I wanted to talk to you today about again finding the colleges that fit for you. So we talked about academics and we talked about a few other things too, about competition levels and what you're looking for there, and today I want to talk to you about place and then maybe having some conversations as a family about how you're going to choose what colleges to apply to. So when I'm thinking about place, I'm thinking about a lot of things, and I know I've mentioned this before, but one of the things I really want you to think about is how far away do you want to go from home and parents, if you're listening to this, how far are you willing to let your students go away from home? And because you know, kind of their maturity level, what they might be ready for and what you can afford in terms of having the students come and go back and forth from that school during breaks? Are they going to be coming home for all the breaks? Are they going to be coming home from some of the breaks? Are they going to live at home and commute to campus? Those are some really important questions to think about when you, as a student, are considering where to apply to college, so definitely keep those things in mind.
Speaker 1:Obviously, too, there's the bigger questions like where do you want to go? Are there parts of the country that you think would be great to spend your college years in and maybe explore a different part of the country? Do you love where you are now and have so many schools in your backyard that you have great opportunities to choose colleges that are a good fit for you in all the other ways? I mean, I certainly know that in Boston, you can throw a stone and hit like three colleges all at once because they are so tightly packed in that area. So is that an option for you? Yeah, so think about it. East coast, west coast, the type of culture that's there. Maybe you don't know much about the culture, but you want to learn more. Think about those things and you know I have to say, too, in this current time that I'm speaking, in March 2025, you also want to think about the political climate in the states that you're going to. Is that something that's important to you or is that not even something you want to consider? But I'm tossing it out there because I think that's one of the many things you need to look at Now.
Speaker 1:The other things are what do you enjoy doing? What are really top of mind for you in terms of maybe extracurricular or outside of college things you want to do? Is snow important and skiing and all the snow sports? Is a warm climate and swimming all the time really important to you? And again, do you need to be close? Maybe not to your current home, but maybe you have family in other areas and maybe living near them would be something different, but you'd have a bit of a help there, a backup, if you needed that when you were at college. So, what kind of climate do you want to be in? And not political climate, but actual climate climate Warm, cold, four seasons, no seasons. Think about that too.
Speaker 1:And then, of course, as we talked about before, how far away from home is ideal. I went from college two hours away from home and that was perfect for me it was far enough so that my parents weren't likely to surprise me with a visit, but also I could get home on breaks. You know, for any break, whether it was a four-week weekend, that would be a very long weekend. Whether it was a four-day weekend or a three-day weekend, I could go home for that if I wanted to. Though, when I talk about transition to college, I will highly recommend that you go home less often, especially your first year, so you really get acclimated to the college. But that's a whole other conversation.
Speaker 1:And then, where is the college located? What kind of environment do you want it to be in? Do you want to be in a big city, a medium city, a small city, a walkable city, a city with great public transportation, like a subway, a T, a metro, anything like that? Do you want to be in a small town, or do you want to be in a more rural setting? Again, lots of things to think about with place right.
Speaker 1:It's not just the size of the school. Do you want a big school or a small school? That certainly is a consideration. But also, where is the school located has a lot to do with your comfort level or, again, with what you want to explore when you're in college. So those are some things I want you to think about. You know the size of the student body is important. You'll be able to do research on that and find if you want like a small school. Do you want to be a big fish in a small pond? Do you want to be a medium fish in a giant pond? Do you want to be a big fish in a big pond? You know all things to think about when you're looking at very large colleges. All things to think about when you're looking at very large colleges.
Speaker 1:You may also want to consider is it again a religiously affiliated school or not? I had mentioned that before. Undergraduates only, or graduate students. Maybe you'd be taught by a TA, which stands for teaching assistant, someone who's getting their PhD or do you want to be taught by a professor? Smaller schools you tend to be taught by a professor, whereas large research institutions you'll probably have more TAs teaching your class, or the professor does the lecture in the big lecture hall and then the TA does the smaller group. I don't know what to call them. We call them quiz. For a while they were called quiz sections when I was at the University of Washington, so whatever they call it.
Speaker 1:And again, as you research, as you visit campuses and talk to people, you can find out more about the class sizes and who's teaching, and those are some great questions for you to ask when you do make the visit. So that's a lot about place, right? I just threw a whole bunch of questions at you, but now I also want to talk to you about the admissions criteria. So if five is the most selective colleges like they're accepting percentage points like below 10% of the people who apply. You know it's 3%, it's 6%, that's most selective. And one is not at all selective, it's open admission. If you apply, you are accepted and you can enroll in that institution.
Speaker 1:When you think about that range of schools, think about where you want to apply to. What level of college a five to a one do you expect to apply? And you know it's good to apply to a range of those. So think about what that range is for you and what colleges you want to apply to, and then also think about which colleges are likely to say yes, because you may find some colleges that are absolutely great for you, that have a lot of the things you're looking at, but they may be some of the most selective schools and so you don't want to apply only to the most selective schools. You want to mix it up a little bit. I would. You know a lot of people talk about safety schools. Apply to a school you're sure you'll get into. I think that's harder to find those these days.
Speaker 1:But if you have a counselor or if you have any questions for me and you want to say like, hey, I'm really interested in this school, what do you think the admissions is like, talk to your school counselors, reach out to me. You know you can email me at jen, at firstjenfmcom, and I will happily sort of help. You think about those things in terms of the selectivity of the school. So who's likely to say yes, who's a maybe and you could get in, and who to say yes, who's a maybe and you could get in, and who's probably a definite yes, as much as you can predict that. And then what and what colleges have you already visited?
Speaker 1:Hopefully you're out there visiting colleges. Maybe, as you're driving around, you stop at a college. Maybe you don't know anything about that school, but you go and you visit and you walk through, you get a feel for it you talk to people and that hones your skills in answering questions, and it also it's like a giant funnel, right. You're pouring all these ideas like here's what I want, into this funnel and then you're going to start to narrow it down and say like, oh yeah, I thought I wanted this, but maybe not. I'll replace it with this. Or I don't want this, I do want this. This is more important to me. This moves up the priority scale.
Speaker 1:As you go and visit these colleges, you'll discover these things about what it is you're really looking for if you take the time to do reflection. So think about that. You know what did you visit, virtually. What did you like, what did you dislike. You can have an Excel spreadsheet. You can have a journal that you keep notes in but I do recommend you keep notes and if your family is coming with you to some of these things, I think it'd be great if your family is taking some notes, you know, and having their own you know journal or spreadsheet and you are too and then you can put everything in there size, majors, selectivity of the institution, resources that they provide, clubs and organizations you might want to get involved in affordability of the school, what the cost is, what the financial aid looks like at that school. Those are all things you want to consider and I know like it's a lot to think about, right, when you're looking at all these schools. But if you're starting now as a junior, it's not going to be so hard when you're when you were senior and you're doing all those other fun things you need to do, like actually applying and writing those essays and applying for scholarships and all those good things.
Speaker 1:And it's not too early to start to think about if you're in ninth and tenth grade. Again, if you're out on a family trip and there's a college close by, make a little detour and go check it out. You may discover a college that you hadn't heard of, that you fall in love with and you think this college would be great for me to go to. So I highly encourage you to do that. And again, if you're in Boston, you're going to find a lot of colleges to look at when you're visiting.
Speaker 1:The final thing that I want you to think about is having conversations, you know, with your family, with your guardian, with your parents whoever that might be teacher, mentor about what you have in mind. So asking them like do you think there's a certain location maybe where I would thrive, and it might not be a particular college, but it may be. I see you in a small town. I see you in a big city. You know where do they see you? Get some feedback from people who know you right, and see what they say about that. This is one for your parents, right. How will the conflict be resolved if there's a difference of opinion between where they want you to attend and where you want to attend, or parents, if you're listening to this, how are you going to talk through that and make decisions if there's a conflict?
Speaker 1:I can tell you from personal experience my first choice school was not what my parents' first choice was, and a lot of that was around affordability. Their first choice was a bigger school, was a state school, and it just never felt right for me. My first choice school was a smaller liberal arts college and that was too expensive for my parents. So we went with both of our second choices, which was fantastic. It worked out really well for me. I had an amazing time at college. I made the most of it. So there are options out there, but be prepared to have those conversations about what you're going to decide.
Speaker 1:And then finally, excuse me, are there any aspects to the college search process, maybe particularly around affordability, but about appropriate colleges or college visits or the application deadlines, maybe any of those things that might cause friction in the family? Think about those for yourself as a student and think about those family members for you. What may they be, so that you can maybe get a head start on talking about that early and maybe even making some notes in your college visit journals or your college search journal. About what do you think some of those things might be like, I like this, but I'm not sure if my parents are going to go for that. So take all of these things into consideration the place, the environment, the selectivity of the institution and, again, those conversations with the people who are going to help you make the decisions probably help you pay for college and think about how you're going to start now to talk about those things and keep that communication open.
Speaker 1:I love talking about this and I'm happy to talk about those things and keep that communication open. I love talking about this and I'm happy to talk more. If you have any questions at all, again, you can reach me at jen, at firstjenfmcom. You can find me on Facebook at College TNT or on Instagram at college underscore TNT, and I will have all of these pretty soon either posted on my Instagram page all of these questions and available through a freebie link shortly. So just keep an eye on my Instagram and Facebook page and you will find those things very soon. Thank you so much for joining me today and I hope you make it a great day. Thanks, how do I stop recording?