Let’s Pick a Restaurant 👩🏽🍳
A Metaphor for Relevant College Search Criteria
Remember the College Board criteria list? It's often what school counselors and independent counselors start off asking about, yet the criteria barely connect to factors that correlate with positive college graduation outcomes. Let's be real. It's a random list of criteria.
Imagine if I asked you where you wanted to go for dinner and offered you the following criteria:
What color walls would you like the restaurant to have?
Would you like chairs or benches? Round tables or rectangles?
Would you like the restaurant to be big or small?
Would you like noodles/pasta/rice/sandwiches/bread?
Would you feel confident about searching for a restaurant with these criteria? Probably not, unless you're very adaptable and open to adventure. Why are these criteria ineffective? Let's dive in…
What color walls would you like the restaurant to have? Certainly, the colors of the walls help create a particular aesthetic. First, the color of the walls is not entirely linked to enjoying the food or the overall atmosphere. I would never think that black walls would be appealing… until I went to a restaurant with black walls that was beautifully decorated. Sometimes what we think we want and what we actually enjoy are different. A better question might look like: "What kind of aesthetic or 'vibe' are you looking for?"
Would you like chairs or benches? Round tables or rectangles? Asked in isolation, we may all have a preference for what is comfortable. But are we willing to eliminate a restaurant because of their furniture? What if the combination of food, atmosphere, and service makes up for the second-choice furniture? A better question might look like: "Are there specific accessibility needs?"
Would you like the restaurant to be big or small? Have you ever been in a small restaurant that was packed with people—elbows everywhere and no room to move? Have you ever been in a huge restaurant that felt cold and impersonal rather than spacious and inviting? A better question might look like: "How much noise feels okay to you in a restaurant?"
Would you like noodles/pasta/rice/sandwiches/bread? Most cuisines have some kind of dish that looks like noodles/pasta/rice/sandwiches/bread. From a taco bowl to curried rice to risotto—I can experience three different cuisines and have a dish with rice as its base! A better question might look like: "Do you have any cuisine preferences? Or do you have any allergies?"
These questions are just not solid questions. More information is not the same as good information. In fact, a basic lesson in research methodology tells you that random information is not the same as relevant information.
So, how should we pick a restaurant? That depends on context:
Are we meeting someone from far away? Let's use distance and location to find a place.
Are there specific allergies or dietary restrictions? Let's use cuisine to find safe food options.
Are there accessibility needs? Let's make sure we have an accessible space.
We have to know our context in order to find meaningful criteria.
The same is true for college prep. As an alternative to the random criteria that College Board and other well-intended adults offer teens, here are some of my favorite questions that help teens apply the art and science of introspection to their college criteria:
What is your learning style? (Most teens don't know how to answer this, so I include the following questions as a follow-up):
What teacher motivates/inspires/frustrates you and why?
What kind of homework assignments excite/bore you and why?
What are your (least) favorite ways to study for a test?
What do you love thinking/reading/learning about and why?
What social media accounts do you spend time looking at and why?
How would you spend your time if you had no obligations or responsibilities?
These questions help me learn more about the types of opportunities that will help this student shine both inside and outside of the classroom.
An effective college is not just a fun college in a great location; an effective college will translate interests into opportunities for learning and career growth, even if the location is a bit of a compromise! When you can see how and why the college is a good fit for your growth, the size and location are just not as big a priority.
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