Dave shared his notes from an evening event focused on college preparation at our children’s school, even though neither child has started high school yet. The process is notably different from my own college preparations. My son is assisting me in digitizing a large collection of documents from my past, which includes everything from handwritten class notes to printed papers with professors’ comments. These documents bring back memories of my professors and coursework, highlighting the impact they had on me. Mixed in was a single page with four short paragraphs, reminding me of John Warner’s views in *Why They Can’t Write: Killing the Five-Paragraph Essay and Other Necessities*. Though I didn’t use the typical five-paragraph format, I doubt it was my best work. It was my college essay from senior year, when I applied to the same university my parents attended, having visited a few times because of a friend already there. Comparing my simple college choice process to today’s complex scenarios for young people is striking. The school’s early college event suggests I need to adapt my understanding of the current higher education landscape.
Friends with older children have described the stress of guiding them through college applications. Current measures of quality, focused on prestige and selectivity, seem questionable. I’m more interested in aspects like belonging, mentorship, and student growth. College counselor Brennan Barnard emphasizes the importance of asking how easily students can be known at a college. His visits to ten campuses revealed insights through class sizes, advising structures, and whether students can identify a significant adult in their experience. This question reflects whether a college fosters student success. Recently, I read Flower Darby’s book, *The Joyful Online Teacher: Finding Our Fizz in Asynchronous Classes*, where she quotes Denise Maduli-Williams on the benefits of online classes for building student relationships. Denise notes she knows her online students better than those in-person, which aligns with my experience of learning personal details about students, such as their pets and jobs. These interactions are structural, supporting student risk-taking and growth.
As an educator, my focus is on knowing students and helping them feel valued. As a parent, I plan to inquire about how well students can be known at potential colleges. I will consider Jeff Selingo’s *Dream School: Finding the College That’s Right for You* as a resource for our family. My aim is to prioritize environments that truly support student flourishing over factors that may not reflect genuine quality.
Original Source: teachinginhighered.com
