Originally published on May 27, 2015 (Episode 17)
Introduction
In Crazy U: One Dad’s Crash Course in Getting His Kid into College, Andrew Ferguson quipped that admissions combine “our vanities, our social ambitions and class insecurities, and most profoundly our love and hopes for our children.” True enough—and summer campus tours only magnify the resulting stress.
Mark Salisbury joins me to offer some practical advice that you unfortunately can’t get from very many places. We work backwards from where graduates actually end up, rather than where glossy brochures imagine they’ll go. Along the way we take apart the U.S. News & World Report rankings, discuss a survey you’ve probably never heard of (with a name that sounds suspiciously like “Nessie”), and explain how to ask better questions when visiting a campus.
This episode is a genuine public service: news you can use.
About the Guest
Mark Salisbury is co-founder and CEO of TuitionFit—when this conversation was recorded he was Assistant Dean and Director of Assessment and Institutional Research at Augustana College. For 25 years in higher education, his work focused on outcomes-based evaluation and student engagement.
For Further Investigation
David Chambliss and Christopher G. Takacs, How College Works (Harvard, 2018)
Tim Clydesdale, The First Year Out: Understanding American Teens After High School (Chicago, 2008)
Andrew Ferguson, Crazy U: One Dad’s Crash Course in Getting His Son into College (Simon and Schuster, 2011)
💬 Listen & Discuss
What questions should parents and students really ask when evaluating colleges? Have you ever been misled by rankings or reputation? Share your experience in the comments, and send this episode to a family planning college visits this summer.
