Now is the time for seniors to finalize their College List and move on to the applications. I am confident all have evaluated each college’s location, cost, reputation, Greek life, academic program, and extracurricular activities such as NCAA sports, intramurals, and the arts.

But stop! Before that list is finalized, have you considered whether or not the college offers:
1. First-year experiences are first-year seminars/colloquiums or other programs required of freshmen that group 20 students who meet regularly with the faculty member both academically and socially. Often times the students develop lasting friendships with their fellow students and the faculty member –helpful throughout and after college.

2. Internships/Co-ops facilitate student opportunities in the real world through superviesd internships that give students critical insights into potential careers in addition to adding perspective and variety to their studies with off-campus hands-on work.

3. Senior capstone or some culminating experience in which students design a project that integrates what they have learned and requires them to apply it to answer a question important to them. In addition to academic benefit, this experience will create yet another working bond with the professor who is the sponsor.

4. Undergraduate research/Creative projects where undergraduate students working with faculty do research or creative work that results in an original scholarly paper or other product presented on or off campus.

5. Learning communities where students take two or more linked courses as a group and get to know one another and their professors especially well. These are often tied with a student residential choice, also called a theme house.

6. Study abroad are programs that involve substantial academic work with considerable interaction between the student and the culture. Colleges vary significantly in their commitment to study abroad programs. Check to see the resources alloted to the study abroad office and the effort on the part of the college to advise the student to assure he will select the best fit program for his academic interests and still graduate in four years.

7. Service learning programs involve volunteering in the community and are a requirement of a student’s coursework. For example, a psychology major may be required to volunteer at a nearby psychiatric facility.

8. Writing in the disciplines is where colleges make the writing process a priority at all levels of instruction and across the curriculum. This is an expensive proposition for colleges, but critical for graduates in any field to be able to communicate with the written word.

No college has everything, but it certainly should have 80% of your Requirements List. I recommend that you will add some or all of these eight programs to your Requirements List.
The blog is based on a recent article in the US News & World Report Magazine describing the research of Robert Morse, Director of Data Research for US News & World Report Magazine. If you wish to learn more about the methodologies behind America’s Best Colleges visit US News site and search for his blog entitled Morse Code.