I am very excited to have two important guests visiting me soon. Dr. Amanda Sterk and her 11th grade daughter are doing college visits. And, they are coming to take a look at the University of Massachusetts Amherst! I want to help them make a more informed decision about whether or not UMass Amherst is right for them. So, I asked myself what I really wanted my guests to learn about my college. I have some understanding of who Amanda’s daughter is and what she might be looking for in a college. So, I researched UMass Amherst to find information in each one of the 6 Keys of College Fit that would help her, and her parents, assess whether or not UMass Amherst would be a good fit.

This is what I came up with. I forced myself to limit my brags about UMass Amherst to only 4 factual data points in each of the 6 Keys (See 6 Keys of College Fit for UMass-Amherst infographic).

Dr. Sterk note: When my daughter and I did the College Fit Priorities Card Sort Activity, she listed her top keys were Personal Match and Career Match and my top keys were Financial Match and Student Outcomes. We are using this as a great starting point for our discussions about each school we are visiting and what about each college is important to us. Based on this, we will be using the College Visit Questions Activity (p. 76 in the College UnMazed workbook) to deepen our questions once on campus.

Now, when I pick up my guests at Bradley International Airport - which is only 45 miles from campus and currently ranked as the 6th best airport in the United States, so easy and user friendly to get flights to both national and international locations – my “elevator” speech to Amanda and her daughter as to the fit between UMass Amherst and them will hopefully sound something like this:

Students at UMass Amherst are highly successful and satisfied both on campus and after they graduate. Your academic background and goals make the Honors College an option that should be seriously explored. It is a small learning and friendship community inside a major university that has all the academic, social, athletic, and recreational opportunities you like. The new residence halls and classrooms are right next to the recreation center. UMass Amherst has top ranked academic programs to choose from across all the major disciplines. Given your high school transcript and test scores, you are likely to be competitive for merit-based scholarships. And, did I say that the food has been ranked the very best in the United States five years running? Oh, and one more thing, graduates spread out to work across the United States and in lots of different countries. Amanda, I know your daughter has her eye on working internationally after graduating! 

Now, here is my challenge to you. Young people and their families will understand every college better if they research them from each of our 6 Keys of College Fit. When you leave out any one of these keys, you lose vital information. Let’s flip the college decision-making odds in their favor!

Try it out for yourself and send me examples of what you find. Let’s get a conversation started. With your permission, I’ll share some of what is sent to me. If you want me to look into a particular college you, or your students, are interested in, let me know, and I’ll take a look. You can reach me at rlapan@collegeunmazed.com.