Often, while instructing my teenaged students, I have found myself spontaneously playing the role of college admissions counselor. In that capacity, I have noticed a distinct trend: my students, by and large, only consider Virginia’s larger and/or more well-known schools. Ask one of my typical students which colleges they are considering, and you will hear a rather predictable answer: “George Mason.” “UVA.” “VCU.” “William and Mary.”

Granted, these schools all have excellent programs; I myself attended the College of William and Mary for the final two years of my undergraduate education and quite enjoyed myself. And there is also something to be said for the power of name recognition once you hit the employment market. But I believe students should be made aware of the disadvantages of attending “brand name” schools – and the advantages of attending a school that is a little out of the mainstream.

Back in the mid nineties – the dinosaur age for my students – I was a college-bound Virginia high school student with strong test scores, a nine-out-of-ten passing rate on my AP exams, and a B to B+ grade point average. I was also a student who had checked that little box on the PSAT form that granted permission for colleges of all sorts to send me information, which means that I had, in my bedroom, a box full of colorful college brochures from places as far flung as New England, New York, and California. And I thank God for that box of mail, because it broadened my perspective on college admissions most considerably. Indeed, when it finally came time for me to start applying to college, two Massachusetts schools made it onto my master list: Harvard, my reach school, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, a little engineering school (enrollment roughly 2000) in central Massachusetts that I had visited with my mother and adored.

I was rejected by Harvard, which I had expected, and admitted to WPI. And ultimately, I decided to enroll at WPI. There was much about WPI’s program that appealed to me. First, the class sizes were manageable. Second, the professors were accessible. Third, the curriculum was project based; in fact, all WPI students were, at the time, required to complete three research projects in order to earn a bachelor’s degree. Bottom line, WPI, like many smaller schools, was more equipped to cater especially to undergraduates and more able to provide a curriculum outside of the standard.

When I told people at school where I was going, the response was usually the same: “Where the heck is that?” I suppose that even in the dinosaur age, Virginia students were staying in Virginia. But I don’t regret the choice I made back then, even though I ultimately changed my major and transferred to William and Mary to complete my BS. The student culture at WPI is something I will always remember fondly – and thanks to the individual attention I received during my first two years of college, I believe my science and math education in particular is world class.

Because of the positive experience I had at a small school, I try to inform my students of those out-of-the-way opportunities that seem to escape the average young Virginian’s imagination. Just the other day, actually, I encouraged one student to consider Sweet Briar College, a private school for women that, yes, is located in Virginia. And that moment got me thinking: now that I have a platform – i.e., this blog – on which I can share my thoughts about education and college admissions, why not take advantage of it?

Thus, in the future, I will be featuring small area schools like Sweet Briar on this blog in the hopes that Virginia students like mine will expand their college search. Consider that a sort of mission statement.