The late Loren Pope, former education editor for the New York Times, devoted his life to writing about and researching admissions issues, as well as visiting hundreds of college campuses. His conclusion as a result of all this was, “The most important quality a college can possess is a faculty whose first priority is teaching undergraduates. When this is the case, students excel.”
Pope said, “It’s not the Ivy League that shows the best results. Rather, the graduates who make the greatest impact on society come from a small group of unassuming, less well-known colleges and universities.”
Mr. Pope’s top college choices are distinct from one another in many ways—from location to size to majors offered—yet they have several common characteristics that are vital to the undergraduate experience:
• Learning is collaborative, not competitive.
• Students are involved in their own education.
• There is a sense of family and community on campus that goes well beyond four years of attendance.
• Students are on campus to learn, as well as to prepare for professional lives.
• There is an emphasis on student research projects and intern/job connections, as well as the chance for students to work with professors on their research. When these students go onto graduate school, they are often ahead of students who have attended large and/or prestigious universities where such opportunities are scarce.
• The faculty is devoted to helping students become educated and are involved with their personal development–many serve as mentors and often become valued friends to students.
• Students feel at home and are very happy with the campus and nearby surroundings.
When it comes to choosing the right college, the prestige of a school and its US News & World Report ranking are poor indicators of whether it is a good choice for you. This is not to say that students who apply to prestigious colleges such as the Ivies or public universities such as the UC’s are wrong. Each student needs to determine what characteristics and environments are best for him or her.
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