What Makes a School 'Good'?

Go ahead and answer that. I'll wait.

If you're like most of the students I work with, something just happened. You started to answer and then stalled. Because "good" felt completely obvious right up until someone asked you to define it.

So let's try again. What does good actually mean here? High rankings? Hard to get into? Everyone's heard of it? A name that sounds impressive at the dinner table?

Trace that answer back. Where did it come from? Because I'd be willing to bet it didn't come from you sitting down one afternoon and carefully evaluating the landscape of American higher education. It came from your friends, your school hallways, your social media feed, maybe the quiet pressure of a hundred small conversations you barely remember having. Someone handed you a definition of a "good" school a long time ago and you never really had a reason to question it. Until now.

I often have students who grumble about researching colleges I suggest to them that they had not previously heard of. They say they want to be able to feel proud when they tell their friends where they’re going, and that won’t happen if no one’s heard of that school. And I love watching it land when I say to them: “once you get there, everyone will have heard of it!” I know this firsthand; I had an incredible four years at a school nobody in my high school had gone to or heard of. But I had a great college counselor!😉

Here's the thing about selectivity, and this is the part that should genuinely give you pause: it’s pretty hollow. Northeastern University, not that long ago, admitted close to 50% of its applicants. Today that number is in the single digits. Same professors. Same classrooms. Same university. What changed? They hired better enrollment managers. They got really, really good at getting more people to apply so they could reject more of them!

So, do you think the education at Northeastern is fundamentally better than it was twenty years ago?

Prestige lives at a distance. It's what other people think, from the outside, looking at a name. The actual four years are entirely local. The moment you move into that dorm room, it essentially vanishes. Nobody hands you a better class discussion, a closer relationship with a professor, or a stronger sense of belonging because of where US News ranked your school. All of that has to be found, built, earned.

So, then, what is a good school? Well, good for whom? The sprawling research university that feels electric and full of possibility to one student feels completely anonymous and overwhelming to another. The small liberal arts college that feels like an intellectual community to one student feels suffocatingly small to another. Neither student is wrong. The school didn't change. The student did.

Which means "good school" isn't just a meaningless phrase; it's the wrong frame entirely.

So instead of asking, “is this a good school?", try asking things like: “Will I have access to professors who know my name? Is there a community here where I can see myself? Does the size, culture, and pace of this place fit the way I actually learn and live?”

Those are harder questions. They require you to know something about yourself, which is a lot to ask of a 17 year old. But they're the questions with real answers!

So, there is such a thing as a good school and you get to decide what that means for you!