<p>DS began his search early by looking at schools with strong programs in his intended majors. He visited, talked to profs, peers from some of the ECs/programs he has participated in, etc. He and friends shared college visit reports. Wound up with eight schools by the spring of junior year, and that list remained consistent over many months. He liked all of them and felt that each school could convince him to attend any one of them over the others. Prestige was not a factor. He has tinkered with the list a little bit recently. </p>
<p>ECs were done solely based on his interests – and it paid off for him because a) he was happy and passionate about the things he did; b) that enthusiasm carried over to his essays; and c) the long-standing interest in his ECs reaped awards and other goodies. He took classes that interested him, not that would get him the easy grades. (That paid off, too.) He did not focus heavily on the test scores, but paid enough attention so that his scores would make him competitive anywhere he chose to apply.</p>
<p>He has a couple of schools that stand out in his mind. However, the goal has never been “to get into X.” The goal has been to find schools that meet his personal criteria for academics, personal development, etc. The result may be that he gets into School X, but that was not established as the goal or the be-all, end-all.</p>
<p>We have tried to temper expectations about financial aid, the admissions process, etc. over the past four years so that we were all on the same page.</p>