Whether you are a soon-to-be high school senior hunting for prospective colleges or a soon-to-be high school graduate weighing different college offers, be sure to consider the alumni factor in your decision-making.

Many college alum like to give back to their institution not only through financial support but also through personal connection with undergraduates. This connection can be a valuable resource for students in several ways:

1. Mentorship. Alumni can serve as advisors about career paths during and after the college years.

2. Summer Internships. Alumni may offer internships or open doors to internships within their own or related organizations.

3. Employment Post-Graduation. Alumni can play a helpful role in employment at their organizations by flagging your resume and/or facilitating interviews and hiring decisions. They may also be able to provide contacts at other organizations of interest.

How do you evaluate the strength of the alumni network?

Many research groups have attempted to assess the relative strengths of college and university alumni networks by considering an array of factors including:

alumni donations as a proxy of alumni satisfaction and willingness to help.
number of high-earning alumni as an indicator of the "power" of the alumni connection.
size of the college or university as a measure of networking opportunities. (The idea is that a larger alumni pool will offer greater networking opportunities and, more specifically, a greater number of contacts in your geographic area.)

See The 50 Most Powerful Alumni Networks, www.bestcollegevalues.org/top-alumni-networks/; Best Alumni Network, www.princetonreview.com; www.Alumnifactor.com; 25 Colleges with alumni who will jump-start your career, www.businessinsider.com; Payscale.com/college-salary-report/alumni-earnings-bachelors-only-versus-all-grads

How accessible is the alumni network?

This is a question worth asking the college or university. Some schools provide undergraduates with direct access to the alumni database. Other institutions restrict student access to the database but provide school sponsored student-alumni networking events as well as providing undergraduates with linked in groups that allow students to connect with alumni online. Still other institutions may not provide any opportunities for undergraduate-alumni contact.