<p>Also, if your D does not want to take a foreign language, she should contact the schools individually. There are some schools that require a foreign language for certain majors only, and some that allow for substitution (for example one school my son applied to allowed a cultural course taught in English to satisfy one semester, and then one semester of one foreign language was required. I know someone who satisfied that requirement by taking a 3 week mini session in a foreign language between semesters to end his pain).</p>
<p>And your d might want to consider taking a course different than the one she took in college. My d wants to take Italian. (She doesn't have a language requirement, but wants to study abroad in Italy.)</p>
<p>My DD did NOT want to study Spanish in college ; really hated her last year of spanish in high school (as a junior). Luckily, I persuaded her to try it in college, and she loved it and found a wonderful mentor in one of her Spanish profs. She ended up spending 5months in Chile, and is now fluent in Spanish, and currently working on learning a third language. Spanish is a very useful language, and college instruction can be much better than some HS language instruction...</p>
<p>DD had visited all schools before she applied at least one time. She had categories of things she wanted to consider: would she be able to continue to play her instrument (but not as a music major or serious musician), distance from home, campus location, appeal of the campus, her fit with other students, variety of majors (not ready to declare yet, wanted lots to choose from), reputation of school, and some other things I have forgotten. </p>
<p>When she heard where she was accepted, she chose to go to three events for accepted students. She was able to eliminate one, but it took until the day before she had to decide to finally make her choice. Generally, this is a kid who is pretty logical and analytical about things - but I think in this instance there was just a gut feeling that one school would be the best for her. </p>
<p>In the end, she chose what had been her first choice from the first campus tour. We were very lucky, she often said she would have been happy at every school she applied & what made the decision tough was walking away from so many other wonderful possibilities.</p>
<p>BTW - mathmom - our kids were probably at the same weekend at H and I felt much the way your son did. I really thought, however, that as an 18 year old DD was going to be swept away by the fact that it was Harvard. She said she really liked the kids she stayed with and everyone she met, but all the girls were working on physics until the wee hours on Saturday night. DD is not a wild & crazy kid - but she said she hoped in college she would have better things to do than work on physics on a Saturday night. </p>
<p>I had to agree</p>
<p>OK, I have the most interesting college choice story (with happy ending). Our D was accepted at 5 colleges by April. All were comparable, so she decided to go to a third tier school because of great location and best friend forever attending. Then we got a phone call from her one reach, CMU(which we hadn't heard from) requesting an interview ,on the other side of the country of course. We quickly arranged the flight and went to visit and interview. At the conclusion of the interview, the program director said she was in! It's the best program for her area of study in the country. She loved CMU, but had already told all her friends she was going to the other school. She agonized for 3 weeks, going back and forth. On the Friday before May 1, I told her she had to decide. She half-heartedly said CMU as she walked out the door. Then she called from school 2 hours later and said she wanted the other school. Monday I sent the acceptance to other school. She and BBF were so happy. The next day CMU sent a scholarship offer. I've never seen her so agonized. Finally she changed her mind and wanted CMU. I called both schools and made sure it was alright. She has been extremely happy at CMU, and will graduate next year with a 1st class education, but I think we were all ready for the looney bin by the time the acceptance drama was over.</p>
<p>D got into 6 schools of 7 apps, no one school was her perfect dream school, all but one was highly ranked in her sport (top 20) and all were well reputed academically.</p>
<p>She did not visit any until either acceptance or likely letter, she had schools in NY, VA, TX, CA, and Canada.</p>
<p>We also made a spreadsheet with any non-repayable/merit aid from the school stated Tuition & R&B and I factored in actual travel costs for her and for us on a realistic # of visits. </p>
<p>Two schools were eliminated financially right off the bat, one school was elminated when D decided to continue playing her sport, then she reviewed UCs and chose one to compare against the other main contender and truly she chose on location- D felt she ought to be closer to visit home and have visitors, that was more important to her than some other considerations. I guess it was going with her gut, as she was right. Easier to overlook some of the other non-match areas- though honestly the coach at the other school was a better match and that has been annoying at times, but she knows she made the choice for her reasons and has not whinged too much.</p>
<p>Finding out she earned a merit scholarship the day her decision was due was the final tipping point, but she did not decide until the last day, as she had no "dream" school</p>
<p>My D was accepted to 8 wonderful schools last spring and finally narrowed it down to 2 quite different schools, one smallish/small city & one medium sized/large city. She AGONIZED until the very last minute. She did pros & cons lists, prayed, talked to friends, visited, etc. In the end, she begged me to help her decide. I refused. I felt is was her decision to make. She finally picked the smaller school as May 1st loomed. </p>
<p>Fast forward to today. D likes the school she picked. She is active, enjoying classes, maturing by leaps & bounds. However ... with her newfound maturity has come new insight into what she wants to do in life. She has decided that the "other" school would really be best for her for some excellent reasons. She has thought it through & has begun the process of applying for a transfer. Her reasons are mature and well thought out. </p>
<p>Do I feel she made a mistake when she chose a school? NO! To be totally honest, I think the school she currently attends was the right place for her this year. She has had a chance to grow up & to really find out what she wants. Sometimes the path we travel isn't straight ... but that doesn't mean it isn't the right path!</p>
<p>
[quote]
Sometimes the path we travel isn't straight
[/quote]
Sometimes?? I've seen darned few paths that were straight; it's the curves that make it interesting!</p>
<p>Chedva: I wish I could always remember that.</p>
<p>DS: "That's the one I was waiting for," the day the acceptance packet came. This said it all. I have no idea how he decided.</p>
<p>DD: Was accepted at her ED school during the RD round. (She had been deferred and massively pulled up AP Calc grade.) She actually squealed. She had been so unhappy. It was the first day crocuses bloomed that year!</p>
<p>D1 visited the top two in April; made extensive pro/con lists; decided based on feel; Junior year: is very happy with choice.
D2 visited the top three in April, one of which offered a full ride; probably decided on feel and possible major (film): first year: pretty happy in spite of a touch of home sickness (which she won't admit)</p>
<p>My D quickly narrowed it to two....she put each name up on her bulletin board, she researched the classes, learned that one thing she didn't like about one school actually was pretty good - core curriculum-</p>
<p>and then one day, when someone asked her where she was going to college, instead of saying School A or School B, she said School B right off the bat, the decision had been made and she didn't even realize it</p>
<p>Housing was a BIG issue for us...she didn't do spread sheets, nothing formal, just kept checking out the schools websites to see what was going on, and it just clicked</p>
<p>If they have been smart in the application choices, then their choices later will be eaiser</p>
<p>My daughter was accepted to 7 colleges. I took one off the table as it was too expensive. D took 2 off the table as being "too familiar" (the two closest to home). That left 4. A offered her a great scholarship, but she didn't attend their scholarship recipient weekend, so I figured her interest in A wasn't that strong. B is a great college, but she really never mentioned it, so it was put to one side. That left C and D. Despite my pleading with her to keep days available in April to visit colleges, she instead made herself as busy as possible. Looking back, I think part of that was due to her feeling overwhelmed at the decision process. I went ahead and made arrangements for her to visit D, which I thought was the best fit for her. Grumbling about what she was missing, she went. And loved it. Bought the t-shirt. Then we went through some financial aid negotiation - if D didn't budge, then she would need to decide between B and C. Fortunately, D worked out and she is very happy with her choice.</p>