Our world is shrinking. Cell phones and Internet access in Sub-Saharan Africa have revolutionized that part of the world, expanding development opportunities and education. American corporations continue to open branches all over the globe. Outsourcing is no longer reserved for call centers; it's increasingly common for professional functions from engineering to marketing. Such shifts make it very unlikely that today's college students will work in one place from college graduation through retirement. Chances are they will be called upon to reinvent themselves--repeatedly--during their careers.

First-year college students ignore the implications of these changes at their peril. How then, should high school seniors evaluate their college acceptances, going beyond the practical evaluations typically involved when choosing a college?

While there are many factors that contribute to a strong undergraduate education, here are five outcomes that your college of choice should emphasize:

1. Writing Well. Look for colleges that offer first-year writing seminars in small classes of less than 20 students, ideally taught by full-time professors. Students typically choose the seminar topic from a long list of interesting options. Recent seminars at various colleges range from a cognitive science seminar called "The Science and Fiction of the Mind" to a politically-focused one called "Making Sense of Opinion Makers and Making Up Your Own Mind." The seminar should be the beginning of a four-year engagement with writing. Writing in college should be viewed as a substantive action that is required across all your academic courses. It's not a series of steps, but a way for you to communicate your thinking in a clear and effective manner. Look for writing centers, preferably staffed by professionals instead of peer tutors.

2. Effective Speaking Skills. In addition to being able to write clearly, you also need to be able to present your ideas orally. A 2009 Association of American Colleges and Universities survey found that 89% of employers want more emphasis on the ability to effectively communicate orally and in writing. Some colleges, such as U. Penn, are beginning to designate academic courses that offer opportunities for significant speaking. If speaking makes you fearful, look for colleges that provide support for speaking advising and assist with rehearsals for course presentations.

3. Thinking from a Creative, Analytical and Practical Perspective. An educated person should be able to understand the nuances in texts as well as the underlying concepts and have the ability to apply learning to new situations. Ask your prospective colleges how their curricula and philosophy support the development of these kinds of critical thinking skills. One feature to look for is if the college offers the opportunity to complete an honors thesis or independent research. The College of Wooster requires an independent project from all seniors with recent projects on topics such as One Hundred Years at the National Museum: A Cross-Time Comparison of the Smithsonian Institution; The Effect of Prenatal Lead Exposure on Alcohol Preference in Rats; and Cognition in Foreign Policy Crisis Decision-making: Computer Analysis of Public Statements by John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter and George H. W. Bush.  

4. Mastery of a Foreign Language and Knowledge of Cultures. There is a very good chance that you will have a job that takes you overseas or, at the very least, has you interacting with those based in other countries. For this reason, look for a college that encourages mastering a language, which will help you stand out in the work world and be an asset if you plan to apply to graduate school. Many colleges offer residential houses that focus on language learning. Further, your college of choice should put an emphasis on international and cultural understanding through course work and study abroad offerings. Look at the college mission statement to see how they emphasize global understanding the way Goucher College does in this excerpt from their statement: "An international outlook extending liberal arts education beyond Western cultures to encompass the perspectives and achievements of other members of the world community."

5. Building Ethical Thinking. College should be a time when students build maturity and shift from thinking primarily of themselves and their own achievements to directing their knowledge toward a common good. Colleges can help students balance their own interests and needs and aspire to lead ethical professional lives through strong mentoring programs, course work connected to service such as the way Tulane University has supported the rebuilding of New Orleans, a commitment to diversity of all kinds on campus, and setting an example of ethical behavior from the President's office and the athletic coaches on down.

When evaluating your college options, by all means check out the athletic facilities, the quality of the food, and whether they have strong offerings in your majors of interest, but don't forget to look at the quality of the overall educational offerings--and how they will prepare you for a new world.  

When I receive a request for a recommendation, the first thing I do is to think about the student who is asking for it. What are this student's strengths? Can I give specific examples of how the student demonstrated these strengths? How did this student do in my class in terms of grades and effort? What might this student contribute to the school or program he or she is applying to?

As you might gather from these questions, writing letters of recommendation can be a complex task. Here are some tips to help you get the best possible recommendations from your teachers.

Decide Which Teachers You Should Ask. Recommendations for college serve several purposes. Besides giving the reader a sense of you as a person, they also help supply some specific information on your academic strengths and abilities. When deciding which teachers to ask for recommendations, don't just think about the grades you received. Instead, you should consider the amount of effort you put into your classes and the sort of interactions you had with your teachers. For instance, if you received an "A" in a history class but you never spoke up or talked with your history instructor, he or she may not be able to give a lot of detail about your strengths as a student.

Ask Early. Depending on the time of year, teachers can get dozens of requests for recommendations. It is in everyone's best interest if you put in your requests early. For college recommendations, now until the end of May is the perfect time for juniors to touch base with their teachers and put in their requests. 

Prepare Pertinent Information. While you don't want to overload your recommenders, some basic information can be helpful when they are crafting the letter. At the very least, you should offer to provide an up-to-date copy of your resume as well as a copy of a paper or test that you feel offers an accurate snapshot of your work in the class. If you felt like you improved a great deal or that you learned something particularly valuable, you might want to write a paragraph reflecting on the experience. For recommendations related to a specific program or internship, you should also provide information on the program. This will allow your recommender to review the program's specifications and to speak to your strengths in relation to these details.   

Bill, a former student I had several years ago, recently asked me to write a recommendation for an internship. As part of his email to me, he mentioned how the class he had with me had prepared him for this particular internship and how the experience made him feel capable of teaching for the first time. This comment helped remind me of Bill's performance in the class and gave me more information to include in his recommendation.

Choose the Right Time and Place. Asking your teacher to write you a recommendation as you are running out the door to your next class and he or she is frantically preparing to teach next period is not an ideal situation. Instead, you should visit your teachers before or after school or during their office hours and ask them if they would be able to write a recommendation for you. Besides giving them time to process your request, approaching them when they aren't surrounded by other students can also allow for your teachers to tell you about their preferred procedures when it comes to writing recommendations (some teachers have very specific protocols they want students to follow) or to voice any concerns or questions they might have.

Waive Your Right to Review. I am always surprised by the number of students I get who choose not to waive their right to review the recommendation. This choice raises several flags. Besides potentially carrying less weight with the admissions committee, not waiving the right signals to me (perhaps incorrectly) that the student doesn't trust me to write the best and most honest recommendation possible. If you are really concerned with what a teacher is going to say about you, perhaps you shouldn't ask that teacher for a recommendation.

Offer a Follow-Up Meeting. While the resume and other documents are helpful to refer to when writing a recommendation, a follow-up meeting can be even more valuable. It gives you the opportunity to elaborate on details that aren't included in the resume, and it allows the recommender to ask any clarifying questions he or she may have after reviewing your documents. I recently met with Jenny, a student who was hoping to get into a program that serves inner-city high school students. While I know Jenny fairly well, this meeting helped me gain a better understanding of her interest in this particular program and allowed me to see (and share) her enthusiasm for working with these students. Rather than just writing about Jenny's academic achievements in the classroom, I was also able to include why I thought Jenny would be a strong candidate.

Remember to Say "Thank You." When you've received your application decisions, be certain to send your recommenders a note that thanks them for their help and gives them some idea of the outcomes and your future plans. Teachers get almost as excited as you do when it comes to acceptance letters.

*To get more do's and don'ts on asking for recommendations, check out this blog post.

If there is one thing that I drill into my undergraduate students (who are also teachers in training), it's that they need to be careful of what they post online and how they interact with their students via social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Since the news seems filled with horror stories about how inappropriate content and interactions on the Internet can derail teacher-student relationships (and sometimes cause teachers to lose their jobs), I've always taken the "better safe than sorry" approach.

However, a recent article from The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that college students view professors more credibly if the professors post personal updates, like activities and interests, rather than just academic-related updates. On one hand, this makes some sense. The study goes on to suggest that students "find a professor who tweets personal items to be more caring." That said, the article also cautions that there are caveats and limitations to sharing information. As one student notes, professors shouldn't share too much, since "It's just creepy to get any closer than that superficial level."

What do you think? Would "impersonal personal" tweets and Facebook updates make a professor more credible to you? Feel free to weigh in on our Facebook page or on our blog.