Next in my continuing series of public commentary on WYPR. You can listen here

As high school seniors and their parents enter the stressful college decision time, here is some advice. Relax.

Where you go to college matters a lot less than how you go to college. We have know this for years, but it is hard to accept. Surely being around all of those future titans of industry at Harvard has some advantage. Probably, but much of that seems to be correlation not causal: people who exercise also tend to eat better. 

What we do know is that college provides the most benefit when students are engaged in their own learning. Find a mentor. Do research. Spend the time to meet new people. Finding a person who believes in you and your potential matters far more than anything you will do in class. 

If you find a place where you seem to fit in and it feels right—that is probably the right place for you. But if you picked wrong, you will probably never know. Most students are pretty happy with where they have picked: in truth, any college feels way better than high school. 

What you do while you are in college—any college–really matters. Take advantage of the diversity of new people. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Go to exhibitions, events and talks you think you will hate.  Any one of them could change your life. So pick a school and then relax. But once you arrive make new friends and most importantly—go visit staff and faculty.