All high school students know they’ve got to go to a “good” college in order to succeed, after all, that’s what everyone tells them. But what is a “good” college anyway? How is it different from a “bad” college? Who makes these judgments, and what are these schools really like?
We understand that there is a lot of anxiety in finding the right college for you, and we hope with this article to unpack some of what is meant by good and bad colleges and explore what makes for a good school. When it comes time to make your admissions decisions, we want you to be able to do so with confidence. Let’s jump in!
The Problem With Defining “Good” Colleges
We must begin, as all philosophers and other academics are wont, with definitions. This is indeed central to the entire question, as what we decide good means determines which colleges are then good or bad, or on some gradient in between. The problem then comes from the fact that everyone defines this differently.
This can be seen most clearly in the assorted college rankings, as each lists different schools in different orders, though there are some common trends. So then, what do we think makes a school good? Here are the criteria we use when advising students on finding the best school for them:
- Academic vibrancy. This does not mean research alone, but the educational aspect of the university. Students go to college to learn and experience new things at the forefront of academic exploration, so all good schools must have academic vibrancy.
- Affordability. This means different things to different people, but the stress of college expenses is something we’ve covered on this blog before. For a school to be right for you, it should be within your price range.
- Community. A school is not classes alone, but all that occurs around them. This is the most subjective requirement, but a strong community is necessary for a good school, though what makes a community good for a particular student will differ greatly.
Now we’ll go through each of these points in more detail, to explain how each contributes to creating a good college.
Academics
The problem with defining an academically good school is that academics refer to two different areas: research and instruction. Just because a person is good at one does not mean they are good at the other, and it is a rare few who are truly excellent at both. Colleges want professors who are quite good at both, though some do sacrifice instruction for the sake of research.
Strong researchers bring universities prestige through publications and discoveries, raising their profile among their fellows. They further bring the university funding directly through grants to pursue their studies further. Thus universities like to land and keep strong researchers, and producing quality research is necessary for professors to receive tenure.
Instruction is the actual teaching of material to students, and at many colleges is increasingly a task being done by adjunct faculty or grad students, while an ever smaller cadre of full professors performs research in the background. While adjuncts and grad students are fully capable of teaching excellent classes, there is something to be said from learning from a professor at the forefront of their field.
Thus a school we deem academically good must place equal weight to research and the instruction of undergrads. All of the great publications in the world won’t help you learn the material in your classes after all.
Affordability
College is a good investment overall; we’ve addressed this before. This does not make all investments equal however, and some colleges will provide a better return on your investment than others. This is regardless of what you major in; a good college should have networking and career support options for all students, and do not just guarantee success to some.
College has gotten increasingly expensive, and we have many articles relating to financial aid, scholarships, and other ways to fund your education. This is a common concern for students, and the best schools have taken steps to ensure affordability.
Unfortunately, not all schools have sufficient funding to ensure this. A school can be strong in other areas, but still rely heavily on tuition funding in order to balance their books. Thus schools with larger endowments, who are better able to offer financial aid, are usually classed as better.
That said, each student’s needs are unique, and what makes a good college for you is one that meets you where you are, and offers the level of financial support you need. What this looks like differs greatly from person to person.
Community
Communities exist wherever people gather, as they are an emergent feature of groups of humans. What makes for a good community is even more debated than what makes a good college, but all good colleges have strong communities.
This does not mean communities are the same across all good colleges; indeed, each college has a distinct community and quirks, and what makes one a good fit for you may be completely wrong for another student. That said, all good college communities have a few traits in common. These are:
- Camaraderie. There should be some kind of collective sense of enjoyment from being part of the community. This is not the same as school spirit, but can overlap. Instead students should take pride in the shared experience they have at the school.
- Collaboration. Some friendly competition can be healthy, but as a whole students should be willing to work towards common ends, either in their classes or outside of them.
- Collective effervescence. There should be times, not often, but on occasion, when the individual is subsumed within the larger whole; be it in the crowd at a football game or while participating in cherished traditions. This strengthens the bonds of the community as a community, and allows for the creation of a group identity.
- Empathy. Not every student must be empathic, but the community as a whole should care about each other, and want to see each other succeed.
This is not an exhaustive list; there are myriad traits which are good for healthy communities to display, but these are some key ones to look for in colleges, which will help students to grow and develop. The best colleges help students mature into adults, and that requires support and growth both in and outside the classroom.
So, Which Colleges are Good?
If you ask any random high school student to name a good college, they will likely have one of a few answers. Harvard and Yale, Stanford and MIT, the name brand schools are first to be listed, usually with some bias towards proximity. When asked why those colleges are good, they usually respond with the fact that everyone knows they are, and here we arrive at the core of the issue.
The truth is that much of what causes a school to be considered good is the fact that everyone already knows it’s a good school. This principal is how college rankings were born; when they started, the only metric used was reputation. While other factors have since been added, a school’s reputation with its peers is still a key component of the rankings.
The schools that everyone knows are good are these most famous ones, with long and storied reputation. In a self-fulfilling process, the best students in the country all apply to these schools, ensuring they always have a highly intelligent, passionate, and motivated student body, and that their graduates go on to do great things.
We should point out that a college can be quite good without being famous, and that just because a school has a prestigious name doesn’t mean it’s right for you. Brown and MIT are both good schools, but each suits a different sort of student, and offers different benefits from attending. You may excel while at one, and be overwhelmed by the other.
Thus, underwhelmingly, we aren’t going to conclude this article with a list of the best colleges, or purport to be able to create an all-encompassing judgment of which colleges are good. While there are traits all good schools have in common, what makes a school good depends on the student, and what you need from a college. Any general list is likely to steer you wrong as it is to guide you correctly.
We hope that the principles outlined here can instead guide your own investigation of colleges, and help you build a college list that well suits your needs. If you want a place to begin your research, check out our college fact sheets.
Final Thoughts
Applying to college is stressful, not least because of how much your time in college will impact your future. This creates enormous pressure for students to find the right college, and leads to the question we have tried to answer today.
We hope that this article has given you a place to begin your searching, and guidelines to evaluate any schools on your list. Of course, if you would like help with this process, we have a great deal of experience connecting students with the colleges that will best support their goals. Schedule a free consultation today to learn how we can help you on your college journey.
