Choosing the Best School

Category: Opinion
Published: May 2007

...And getting the best school to choose you.

Everyone has heard the story of how Microsoft's president, Bill Gates, dropped out of college during his sophomore year to found his company. Many of you have probably also heard someone use that story as evidence that someone does not need higher education to be successful. Technically, that point is valid. A person does not necessarily need to go to the best college or graduate school or any institution of higher education at all to succeed. It is also true, however, that attending the best school that you can will only help your chances later on in life.

Why the best school?

Let's go back to the Bill Gates example. As stated above, he did drop out of Harvard to pursue his business interests. But that is only one part of the story. Prior to attending college, he went to Lakeside School, Seattle's most prestigious preparatory school whose tuition during his enrollment was five time that of Harvard. It was here, at this extremely competitive establishment, that he was able to work on the then cutting edge GE teletype computer terminal, an opportunity that almost no other school in the country could afford. During his time at Lakeside and later on at Harvard, Gates also met talented people who would remain his trusted friends and associates for the rest of his life, including Paul Allen and Steve Ballmer. The two schools also gave Gates a level of credibility, allowing him to speak as an authority (he had published several papers while at Harvard) to heads of corporations despite being only twenty years old.

This is what a better school offers its studentsopportunities, connections, and prestige. A student studying biology or literature at a community college or an ivy league school will likely study from the same texts and learn the same facts. What separates the two are the people that will be your child's classmates and the doors that the school's name and alumni network can open.

Of course, the best schools are in no way a requirement for success. Many of the revered CEOs of the past several decades, like Jack Welch, have a less than Ivy education. However, if your child is narrowing down schools, it is almost always a better choice to spend the extra money on the superior school. Education is an investment and, if you believe in your child and know that they will be happy there and make the most of the opportunities your financial sacrifice will afford, then you should lay down the additional funds now to afford them a better chance at success later on.

What will give my child the edge in applications?

Here are a few tips to help your child get into the best school possible if he or she has not yet reached the application stage for college.

1. Make the most out of your child's interests
   Not everyone is going to be a whiz at computer coding, but we all have hobbies or passions that we enjoy. What does your child like to do? Does he like to argue a lot? Ask him if he would like to try out for the debate team. Does she love to play hockey but may not be good enough to play on a college team? Have her teach hockey to children for an hour or two every weekend. Even something you think admissions officials may find unrelated to college life, like say an interest in auto mechanics, could give your child a leg up. Making a car from spare parts is a lot more impressive than being vice president of any high school club.
2. Make sure they read - a lot
   Half of the new SAT is based on skills you passively learn as an avid reader. The easiest way to learn how to write well is to read book that are well written. The easiest way to enhance your reading comprehension is to read books long enough that your comprehension rate naturally climbs. Again, cater to your child's interests, whether it is history, science fiction or poetry. Even reading graphic novels is better than not reading at all.
3. Make sure your children know you care about them and not just their future
   Some parents fall into the trap of caring so much about their child's future that it seems to everyone else around them that it has become some sort of competition rather than a labor of love. In a perverse twist of fate, preparing for college happens at the same time that teenagers are going through one of the most insecure periods of their life. Your child needs to know you are there for them for anything at anytime, and not just when they want to discuss their high school transcript.