<p>My D will have multiple colleges to select from (2 so far) since she only applied to match or safety schools. If your child did not have an ultimate favorite how did they decide? Did they just follow a gut feeling, did they use some kind of check list, base it on cost or have some other basis for the final decision ?</p>
<p>I think my D is the check list type (based on all the lists on her desk) but there is a lot to be said for gut feelings. If you used a check list what did it include? I told her leave cost out except in the extreme, which in that case value should be taken into account. What would the difference in cost get her educationally or otherwise.</p>
<p>My d chose by feeling. She did overnights at the three top schools following acceptance, met the kids, sat in on classes. She chose the one at which she felt most comfortable; being a social kid, she selected the one where the students felt "most like me." (We also told d that cost should be only a tie-breaker, not a deciding factor. We're lucky that she got merit aid at the school she ultimately chose.)</p>
<p>Our D visited all the schools she was interested in BEFORE applying and then went back to all of the schools she was accepted by to see them more indepth. Once you are accepted, they seem to 'roll out the red carpet'. One school gave us our own private guide. One took her around to the classes she wanted to attend in a car with the university logo on the side! They buy your food, set up any kind of meeting you desire, etc. She really looked at the campus, paid attention to the dynamic of the classes she was attending (student participation, student collaberation, etc.), she checked out housing, she ate the food, she talked to students everywhere - in the classes, in the dorms, in the lunch line, walking on campus, etc. Even doing that over a couple day period of time only gives you a glimpse into a school, but it is better than nothing. In the end she picked the one that just seemed to grab her and didn't look back. It was a school that only gave her a very small merit scholarship for NMF - she turned down the many four year free rides - sigh!</p>
<p>We used money in the establishing the pool. She knew she was applying to schools she could not go to if the merit money was not sufficient. And several that accepted her ended up out of contention for that reason. So once the base line financial schools were established, she visited them in April, overnights, for her major also had lessons in the studio. We let her make the final decision based on which one "felt right". And yes, sigh, it was not the one where she would have had almost a free ride. But she is ecstatic where she is. BTW - it was not her first choice until the very end.</p>
<p>Son had 5 schools that we were okay with in respect to paying the bill. He got into 5 others, but they were not financially feasible. We had a few minutes of discussion about our contacting financial aid if he still really wanted to attend one of those. My son was fine with putting those acceptances aside, bc he had 5 others which gave much better offers. I took my son out to lunch and we discussed those 5 schools. He was quickly able to eliminate 3 of them for personal reasons (ie: religious make-up, food preference, and school location). He was torn between two schools. He sat down alone and wrote a pro and con list. After about 90 minutes of sitting with that list, his choice easily emerged, and he has no regrets.</p>
<p>My son had visited several schools spring junior year, but managed to get accepted at the four schools he had barely seen. (He'd seen Harvard at a couple of reunions - hardly a good view of student life.) He went to all the accepted student's event for the schools he got into, including the two safeties. My kid knew he wanted to do computer science. Carnegie Mellon had a sleeping bag weekend - he stayed with three drama students and one computer science kid. The cs kid didn't play video games with them because he was still doing homework. Since CMU has a whole school of computer science instead of just a department - they gave a much more comprehensive presentation - both one on Sunday and a tour of the facilities on Monday. Both presentations included talks by professors and students. They were first rate. He also went to a class on Monday. Harvard also had a weekend event that spilled into Monday. He found the game playing club and spent quite a bit of time with them. On Monday he met with the department, but there was no fancy presentation. Basically their spiel was - we're good enough and besides you're getting the rest of Harvard. He pondered for another two weeks and the day before he had to decide he decided to go to CMU. For him it was all about the department.</p>
<p>Although schools that issue early acceptances will try to encourage your D to let them know if she'll be attending before the traditional May 1st deadline, don't do it! Wait until she's heard from every school in April, then have her make the pro/con list and have her revisit the ones at the top. Then have her sit down with someone she's close with, but totally objective (like a good family friend), to discuss her pro/con list. This is what my D did last year...she picked the school H & I thought least likely and is now incredibly happy with her decision. We also observed that so much changed with what she wanted between the time she got her first acceptances last year in October and when she made her decision the third week in April. By the way, why didn't your D apply to any reach schools? There's still time and at the end of the day, she may be glad to have a few more to choose from.</p>
<p>I essentially chose by money. I was mainly deciding between two colleges, but one of them offered me $10,000 / year in merit aid. My parents would have paid if I had really wanted to go to the other school, but it was obvious which school they wanted me to choose. I was nervous about the college I ultimately chose for a number of reasons, including the fact that I really didn't enjoy my accepted student weekend/overnight. Anyway, I chose the school that gave me the scholarship, and I am very happy about my decision.</p>
<p>2for- D will wait until May to decide. Can you give me some ideas on what the pro/con list included. For example was it so detailed to include an analysis of required classes. My D hopes to avoid mandatory language classes. I would hate for her to eliminate a college because she had a sub par HS Spanish teacher and now claims to hate foreign language.</p>
<p>In true Gilmore Girls style, my D made a pro-con list in early April. On it went such factors as academics, cost (including scholarships and Fin. Aid.), size, type of location (i.e. rural, small town, city, etc. depending on her preference), distance from home and campus aesthetics. She rated the factors on a scale of 1 to 10. In the end, it was between our flagship state u. and my alma mater. Since she still had my alma mater to re-visit, she reserved her final decision until after that weekend in late April. In the end, our flagship state u. won out (it got the most points anyway!)</p>
<p>I really agree with the don't decide until the deadline advice. After all financial aid packages were in S eliminated two schools based on $$. With three choices left he did visits, and one school had their top scholarship interview weekend the weekend before May 1st (BTW I believe this is cruel!)
With less than a week before May 1 deadline he was informed of receiving the "big bucks". The other school where he recieved full tuition had informed him in Feb! He had read everything of theirs and was very well versed in what he would be getting. Having two more good offers at the very end of the journey was incredibly stressful and to top it off his beloved Grandma who we care for died that same week and he was heading off to a national competition across the country.
He did make a list - "feeling" of the school, varsity sport fit, majors I might be interested in, rigor, location/weather, and a few other aspects. He ranked these in order of his preference and then scored each school in each area on a scale of 1 - 5. The two schools with the big $$ tied and he chose the one he felt was most rigourous, and a better overall fit for him. He's very happy, but it will always be remembered as an amazingly stressful time. AND I still think about talking to them about having their scholarship competition so late in the ball game......
He also was able to identify a distinct sticking point he felt he needed more information about (the religious faith community and feel of the schools) and e-mailed current students with his questions. Those responses were very telling about the intellectual flavor of the places and had a large impact on his decision.
He's loving where he is.</p>
<p>Her list of pros and cons should soley be based on what is important to her. Her priorities were quality of professors, profs instead of TA's teaching, courses offered, recruitment for elite grad programs, $$$, cuteness of guys and dorm rooms. Her desire to be in a major city that had been her number one priority, fell off the list by mid-April...my how things change!!!</p>
<p>I agree again with 2forcollege. If you think that something is unimportant, I think that you can express your feelings, but ultimately, if she wants to stay away from schools that have sororities, or go to a school that offers ultimate frisbee, it really should be her list.</p>
<p>In addition to all the great ideas already suggested, get the current course catalog. Have your D. figure out what she would take for her first year. This is sometimes helpful in really understanding what courses are offered.</p>
<p>CHECKLIST: S-2 was passionate for a particular major, so only applied to schools that offered that major with enthusiasm. After acceptances, he had time to research that aspect more carefully, for example, he looked at how many courses were offered, how many were permanent versus adjunct faculty, and studied each professor's credentials in their field for that department. He also found a better selection of other courses (not his major) that just sounded more interesting with their titles, so guessed he'd like the non-major classes that much more. He wasn't able to visit anywhere. Like your D, he was resistant to having a Math requirement at his choice, but got over it when we talked to him about not letting one course rule an entire decision; just be logical. BTW, in college now he likes Math much better than in h.s. </p>
<p>BY THE GUT: S-1 had a more across-the-board interest in all the liberal arts departments, so he recalled how he FELT during the visits to the 4 places that accepted him (had visited all). He almost re-visited one, but then reviewed his notes and phoned a few people, I'm not even sure who, and said he didn't need the revisit after all. He chose the place where he felt the other students were the most interesting people and he had truly enjoyed the engaged conversations with current students on campus. In other words, he assumed he could learn from the professors at all 4 schools, but the clincher was the place where the other students extended the learning by talking about their courses over dinner a lot.</p>
<p>LA-LA, SHE's SO HAPPY: D had a strong first choice so applied ED; hers was a no-brainer easy decision.</p>