Book Club Summary

Our February 10th Zoom version of the book club was a great time for parents to talk not only about the book Dream School, but also to discuss the challenges of helping kids through the college application process. This included discussion surrounding the topic of the book: selecting a school based on fit rather than prestige. 

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As the book emphasizes, looking for “fit over prestage”, we discussed some factors that made that focus particularly challenging for Lane Tech students.  

• Parents noted that many students want a college larger than Lane, which eliminates a lot of small liberal arts colleges. Similarly, many students are also accustomed to a certain size of city and don’t want to live in smaller towns.  

• Because Lane Tech are by definition at a selective enrollment high school, they have often been accustomed at a young age to focusing on ranking rather than fit.

• While the book categorized some state flagships as alternatives to dream schools, many of the midwestern flagship programs are categorized as “ultra competitive” and no way “safety” schools.

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With those challenges in mind, one topic was about trying to have student visit colleges to identify a fit.  A few suggestions were:

• Trying to incorporate college visits into other travel plans to help kids figured out the size of campus and atmosphere that students like. They may also give a sense of which schools will actively be interested in your child.  

• However, with busy high school schedules or financial concerns, visiting colleges in the Chicago area is also a great way to identify some features students may like.

• Summer programs were another way to give kids a sense of the college experience.  

• There are also “accepted student” days for seniors to visit campuses to help them chose between schools.

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A few other notes:

• The average Lane student applies to 8.9 schools.

• While some colleges and universities require that you apply with a major, the #1 major in the nation remains “undecided.” Which programs require which is usually available on a school’s website and is another factor to consider in deciding where to apply.

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The group also had an open conversation about the role of money.  The author of the book has noted that “college is not affordable.”  Parents suggested that having an honest conversation about budget and resources is important, although they differed on when they had the conversation with their kids (before applying or after acceptances). 

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Additional Resources recommended were:

•  https://www.collegedata.com/

• Who Gets in and Why, also by Jeff Selingo

• The Price You Pay for College, by Ron Lieber

• Where You Go Is Not Who You'll Be - Frank Bruni

• Colleges that Change Lives - Loren Pope

We look forward to an in-person conversation in April!