Choosing the Right College: 49 Questions to Ask Current Students

From a student Q&A panelist

Photo by Matt Ragland on Unsplash

I was recently invited to be part of a student Q&A panel to help admitted students decide whether they wanted to attend my university. During the panel, I realized that the families coming to visit didn’t even know what the best questions to ask would be.

You can get statistics about how many people in the major get a job right after college from the admissions department, and asking a current student wouldn’t get you an accurate answer. However, questions about student life and access to resources or when you learn certain skills in the curriculum are something a current student would know more about than anyone on staff. So, since I was in those shoes once, I thought I’d give my two cents on how to best make use of the opportunity that Q&A panels with current students provide.

My experience is with Electrical and Computer Engineering, so I do give some specific questions specific to that area in the beginning, but most of the questions should be applicable generally.

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ECE Specific Questions

1. How does your college handle the separation between Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, and Computer Science? Are people restricted from taking classes in any of these areas?
2. What classes have been the most important in your search for jobs, internships and research?
3. Would a student be able to get into specific ideas like Computer Security or Digital Signals right away, or are there restrictions on accessing more specific classes?
4. What skills can a freshman expect to gain that will allow them to get internships during the summer?
5. Do you feel that students gain a good understanding of what different industries in the ECE space are like?
6. At what point does a student need to decide between focusing on hardware or software? Does this decision come with restrictions?
7. ECE is a quickly changing and growing field- do your classes reflect the latest and greatest in the industry?

Academics

1. How soon can students take classes in the major they are interested in?
2. Where can students go for help? Are they restricted to office hours organized by the course, or are there other places they can go for academic support?
3. Is lab equipment reliable? Are instructors able to provide support on understanding how to use it?
4. For large introductory classes, how big are the discussion sections? Are they taught by professors, grad students, or undergraduates who were successful in the class before?(Typically, for classes with a lecture with more than 50 students, there will be a lab or discussion section to go with the lecture that has a smaller instructor to student ratio)
5. How feasible is it for students to take specific classes in other fields, outside of the general education requirements?
6. Is the academic atmosphere collaborative or more competitive?
7. How often do students get the chance to independently apply concepts they have learned? Is this baked into the curriculum or do they need to look towards extracurriculars like research or student organizations for this experience? (Often, independent projects are what are most interesting to recruiters for jobs, or interviewers for research positions. In my experience, the more often students get the chance to do something unique with their skills, the sooner they can use those skills to get them places.)
8. Where do people typically study? As a follow up question, how common would it be to not be able to find somewhere to work?
9. How soon/ How often do students get experience with industry tools?
10. What classes or opportunities in the major are unique to this school?
11. What are the rules around pursuing a minor?
12. What are the rules around declaring a sub-discipline? How can a student demonstrate an interest in a specific area of their major?
13. How many classes can I expect to be in-person? Are there virtual attendance options?
14. How does the curriculum balance being a well-rounded student with gaining expertise in the specific major? Do you feel that the general education requirements were restrictive?
15. Do you develop good relationships with professors and faculty, or are there too many students to expect that?

Student Life

1. If you have dietary restrictions or specific preferences, how accommodating is the dining scene to those?
2. As a student, how often do you find yourself skipping meals or missing sleep to finish schoolwork?
3. What do you think makes this campus unique in terms of student life?
4. What surprised you about this school or the location?
5. Is it easy to get a doctor’s appointment in the area if you need one? What about specific services like dental or eye work?
6. What fun traditions can I look forward to as a student here?
7. Do you feel that there is adequate mental health support for students?
8. What is the housing situation like? Do students typically stay in dorms or do they find alternate housing plans? What kind of accommodations can be expected? Is there enough housing for everyone?
9. When you have free time, what do you do? What are your options here?
10. Is there a strong campus community?

Transportation

1. How do people get around town? Is a car a necessity on this campus?
2. Is there enough parking for the cars?
3. How do out of state/ international students get to the airport? (Remember, in the US you typically cannot practically rent a car until you’re 21. Sure, your parents probably just drove in a rental but what will you do?)

Career Planning

1. Does the university have any special relationships with certain employers?
2. What companies regularly visit career fairs or provide other student engagement opportunities on campus?
3. Can students take a semester off to work in a co-op program? How common is this, and can student still expect to graduate in the typical time?
4. Do students receive any help on resume creation, interview prep, or offer negotiation? How accessible are these resources (will they have to attend pre-scheduled workshops or is walk-in help provided?) In your experience, how helpful/ relevant was the advice they provided?
5. If a student is interested in grad school what resources can they consult? How do people get recommendation letters?
6. Can undergraduates work on research in the field they are interested in? How easy is it to get involved in research on a specific topic?
7. Can students get hands-on experience? Is it baked into their classes or do they have to seek it out independently?
8. Where can students go for help about big-picture career direction questions? Will they have a chance to foster a relationship with a mentor?

Other

1. Do I need a special laptop or other technology as a part of the major I was accepted for?
2. What kind of student organizations are there? (If there’s something specific you are interested in, like underwater robot building or aquaponic horticulture or fostering dogs, ask about that!)
3. How often do students interact with people outside of their major/ department?
4. What are some unique resources this campus offers to its students (makerspaces, special skill workshops, free museum tickets)?
5. Do you get connections to alumni while on campus? Are they helpful?
6. What do you brag about when describing your college to others?

In conclusion, while advising staff and tour guides can tell you whether something exists or how to do something like a transfer of major, current students can tell you about the quality and availability of those resources. (Notoriously, at my college, the tour guides love to boast about a specific, impressive looking lab, but there’s only one class in the department has access to it.)

Things that people take as a given when heading off to undergrad, like being provided a dorm or absolutely needing to pull all-nighters, might actually be different at the specific college you are visiting, and current students are your best resource for figuring out surprising things like that.

All the best with your decision process!