Self-Evaluation and Choosing the Right College

By Charlotte Thomas for CollegeQuest

Do You Know Who You Are?
If you're a high school student thinking about college, your eyes are focused on a future campus, not on what's inside your head. If you do think about yourself, it's probably about your next date or lack of one. Told to sit down and conduct a self-evaluation, your eyes would probably glaze over, says Carol Loewith, an educational consultant, who has counseled many a college applicant since 1984. She admits that evaluating oneself is not a "teen thing to do." Besides, what does self-evaluation have to do with college?

Plenty.

"When students know themselves and what they do well, then they'll know where they will do it well," advises Loewith. How successfully you fit (or don't fit) in a particular academic environment can have a major impact on your college experience.

Even if you realize that self-evaluation is worthwhile, you're likely to think it's too much trouble. What you don't realize is that, without knowing it, you've been evaluating yourself already. If Aunt Jane asks you what you plan to do during the summer, you are assessing yourself in order to answer her. "Even the most innocuous questions make people think about themselves," says Loewith. That's what self-evaluation is – looking at what makes you tick, or not tick, as the case may be.

When picking a college most teens tend to rely on the opinions of others. An institution's ratings or what their friends prefer are top reasons students choose one college over another. "But," says Theodore A. O'Neill, Dean of College Admissions at the University of Chicago, "ratings should be used for the number one song or the best-selling car, not for your future." To make the best choice, you have to dig deeper than that, he says.

You're seeking the best academic environment for you, not for your cousins or friends – or even your parents, for that matter.

Begin by answering some basic questions. Self-evaluation sounds a lot more complicated than it is. It's really just finding out about yourself. The following questions will get you started.

Am I Going to College?
This might appear to be a surprising question to start with, but it lays the groundwork for every decision that follows. Dr. Gary Ripple, Director of Admissions at Lafayette College says, "Going to college might be a value your parents handed down, or something they've talked about since you were three years old." Is the assumption that you are going to college yours?

Why am I going to college?
Are you going because your parents and friends expect you to? Worse yet, is it because you haven't thought of anything else to do? What is your reason?

When should I go?
Ripple points out that not everyone should jump into college right after high school. "A lot of us benefit from some time off to clear our minds and digest the prior years," he says, making the comparison to a rocket launch. You're building up some thrust so that the launch of the rest of your life will clear the pad.

Do I have a specific goal in mind, or am I going to college to broaden my knowledge?
Some students know they want to be electrical engineers. Period. Others have no clue where a college degree might lead them; they just know they want to start down that path. Both mindsets are fine. However, if you do not have narrowly defined goals, pick an institution that gives you plenty of options.

Do I Want to Be a Big Fish or a Small Fish?
A small campus might be the place to develop leadership skills or to get the top parts in musicals. A big campus offers lots of options and excitement and competition. Ripple asks the question from another perspective – would you like to be at the top of an honors program in a less rigorous college, or in the bottom quintile in a top notch institution?

What would make me comfortable in a college setting?
The climate, makeup of the student body, institution size, location, course selection – all contribute to your comfort level at a specific campus. Then there are those things that make you feel really good. Any reason you come up with is relevant. What might be mundane to one person is critical to another. "If you need to be on a campus with a harp teacher or near ski slopes, that's a relevant reason," Loewith comments. "With 3,000 colleges to choose from, you can't go wrong," she says.

What Will Stretch Me to Reach My Highest Potential?
You shouldn't pick a college just because it fits your comfort level. Perhaps what you really need is to be challenged to go beyond what you think you can achieve. You might like the cozy atmosphere of a small rural campus. What you might need is the stimulus of a large urban university. You might want a campus where you will fit right in. What you might need is a place that will force you to adapt to unfamiliar situations.

Do I want a large and diverse student population, or one where I'll get to know just about everyone?
When her daughter was choosing a college, Loewith says she wanted to be on a campus where she would know the location of all the good ice cream places by the end of the first week. "She knew a huge state university was not for her," Loewith recalls. On the flip side is the person who doesn't want to recognize everyone by the end of the first year.

Your "Who Am I?" Checklist
Now that you've found out the basics from the campus perspective, it's time to turn the questions inward. When you finish the list below, you'll have a good idea of who you are.