I started down the path of considering a liberal arts education at a liberal arts college for our son, because I was questioning the value of chasing the grades of top 10%, and was worried about my kids’ chances of getting into a “competitive” (read “good” or “well-ranked”) college if they didn’t join that race. (This turned out not to be true. You can get into a good college without a high class ranking.) One alternative is to attend a small liberal arts college instead of a large research university….
College Rankings, the truth about what they really mean – how to choose a college part 3/5
This post may contain text and image affiliate links. You pay the same price, but I may receive a small commissions for purchases through those links.
It might seem like the easiest way to figure out which colleges and universities are good, or the best, is to just look at the college rankings.
The short answer is that is not a good idea.
In fact, it’s a TERRIBLE idea.
If you want to know why, read on….
Difference between college and university – how to choose a college part 2/5
This post may contain text and image affiliate links. You pay the same price, but I may receive a small commissions for purchases through those links.
Because I was worried about the chances of getting into college if you don’t chase the top 10% (a misconception that turned out not to be true) and I liked the idea of getting your undergraduate degree at a school that emphasized teaching undergraduates over graduate research, I found the idea of a liberal arts college appealing. So, what is the difference between college and university degrees? What are the differences between liberal arts colleges and research universities?…
Consider a Liberal Arts College – how to choose a college part 1/5
This post may contain text and image affiliate links. You pay the same price, but I may receive a small commissions for purchases through those links.
It’s that time of year again. College application deadlines are approaching and seniors are trying to figure out how to choose a college or university to apply to. Where do they want to go to college? And why should they choose one college or university over another. What are the different types of colleges and universities? There are lots of choices!
At freshman orientation for our second child, I greatly appreciated that the principal started trying to address how competitive our high school had become.
He pointed out that 90% of the class will not be in the top 10%.
Obvious math, I know. But he was pointing this out because the idea was becoming prevalent that if you weren’t in the top 10% of the class, you were doomed to attend a second rate college or university and wouldn’t be successful. Therefore, “everyone” was chasing the top 10% so they wouldn’t be left behind. But when you embrace that reasoning, 90% of the kids sitting in orientation would be “left behind” and doomed to be unsuccessful.
A depressing idea.
90% of our children are living with constantly being told that they are failures.
No wonder everyone is scared and chasing the top 10%!
As an alternative to having the goal of attending only elite universities, he suggested considering the colleges proposed in Colleges that Change Lives, by Loren Pope.…
Project Based Learning – Most Likely to Succeed Part 7/11
This post may contain text and image affiliate links. You pay the same price, but I may receive a small commissions for purchases through those links.
The response at our school district’s showing of Most Likely to Succeed was overwhelmingly positive. The film did a good job of pointing out all the weaknesses of our current system, but left you with an uplifting feeling. This was a welcome change from all of the other research I’ve done that has confirmed my fears that something is drastically wrong with our current educational system, but with little to offer in the way of change other than patching over some real problems.
I think the positive response was also in part to a growing concern I have seen in our district about the amount of homework and anxiety in our kids. Parents did bring up some valid concerns, some of which were answered by other parents present who work for testing agencies, state education agencies, and universities. The concerns were mainly centered on project based learning.
As I said, the documentary gave the impression that project based learning was the only option. Even though it was acknowledged early on in the discussion in our district that it was just one option, the discussion stayed pretty much on project based learning. The long and the short of it is…
How important is doing well in school to success? – Most Likely to Succeed Part 3/11
This post may contain text and image affiliate links. You pay the same price, but I may receive a small commissions for purchases through those links.
In my last post, I talked being able to relate to the experience of the makers of the documentary Most Likely to Succeed, because my kids don’t like school.
Their dislike of school started at a young age, but at this point I will admit that I might not be helping any. Because I also identified with the narrator when he realized that what he was telling his child about school – that you need to do well in school to get a good job – wasn’t true. In the past I’ve used statements, almost exactly like the ones he used, when talking to my own kids. Things like —
“You want to flip burgers the rest of your life? If not, you’ve got to do well in school.”…
Employment Numbers – How to choose a college major Part 3
This post may contain text and image affiliate links. You pay the same price, but I may receive a small commissions for purchases through those links.
How do you choose a college major? Based on my own experiences and the job search experiences of several women I know, picking a major based on the classes you like isn’t a good method. And you have a good chance of ending up un- or under-employed. Unfortunately, this method of picking your major based on favorite classes is most likely to be recommended to good students, the kids who have worked the hardest. And, unfortunately, because girls are more likely to be model students, this probably happens to a greater number of women than men.
Colleges and universities should do a better job educating the students about what kinds of majors lead to which jobs….
College Majors – How to choose a college major Part 2
This post may contain text and image affiliate links. You pay the same price, but I may receive a small commissions for purchases through those links.In my last post, I summarized the experiences of several of my friends who chose their college major largely by the classes they enjoyed in school. I won’t go into all the reasons I ended up there, but my college major was in Chemistry.
Over the course of my summer internships, I realized didn’t really want to go into research. I don’t think I ever really thought I wanted to go into research, but research was where I was able to find summer internships. (And I worked really hard to find my summer internships. It wasn’t easy.)
As I neared the end of the completion of my degree, I spent hours in my universities “career office” …
You’re majoring in what? – How to choose a college major Part 1
This post may contain text and image affiliate links. You pay the same price, but I may receive a small commissions for purchases through those links.You’re majoring in what? And what are you planning to do with that college major?
You’re probably thinking that I’d be asking that of an English major. At least, that’s the way the classic joke goes. Everyone knows you can’t get a job with an English degree. “Everyone” knows that English isn’t a “practical” college major.
But did you know you can’t get a decent job with a college chemistry degree? A biology degree? A math degree?…
Success biography – Scalia, stellar student
This post may contain text and image affiliate links. You pay the same price, but I may receive a small commissions for purchases through those links.In my reading I’ve noticed a lot of anecdotes about people who achieve outstanding success, and they usually don’t get there by the normal academic route. There’s Steve Jobs, of course, who I covered in this series of posts. Then there are several mentions of successful people in Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell. The idea that college isn’t needed for success came up again in How Children Succeed, by Paul Tough.
As a former top performing student, I wonder how much to encourage my kids to stay top performing. (That’s where my kids are now.) Because I’m starting to think that being a stellar student actually teaches out (or un-learns) some skills you need. I’m still collecting data. So, I’m also going to start taking note when I hear of someone who is a success who was a stellar student….
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- …
- 11
- Next Page »