<p>Well, it is down to the wire and DD is still having difficulty making a decision! The list has been narrowed down to three schools: Harvard, Stanford, and Yale. I have put on my supportive hat, and helped her compile an objective list of criteria for making a decision. She has given each factor a score (from 1-10), all of the points have been tallied, and still no decision! I have the feeling that the school received the highest number of points is not where she wants to go! I am trying to be as encouraging as I can and I have not told her that I prefer one school over the other (I really do not have a preference at this point). I have told her that I am sure that she will do well wherever she goes and that it is her decision.
I would appreciate any advice from fellow CCers regarding how to help her come to a decision.</p>
<p>Did she visit all three schools while they were in session?</p>
<p>Yes, she did. And each one had different "feel" (which is one of the factors that she graded on her list).</p>
<p>There wasn't one which had a better "feel" for her than the others? </p>
<p>I have seen other threads on this issue where it was suggested that the indecisive student should toss a coin or pick from a hat, and if they have a negative gut reaction to the result they got by chance, it will answer the question as to where they really would like to go.</p>
<p>I'm with MotherOfTwo. She will probably know, as she is drawing the paper out of the hat, which one she hopes it will be! Or if she looks at it and suggests a redraw, it's time to eliminate that school.</p>
<p>In terms of "feel", the three were within one point of each other on her objective matrix. We may try the hat exercise tomorrow, but I hope that it does not come down to a random choice.</p>
<p>The point is that it isn't really random. The idea is that the person's reaction (positive or negative) to their random choice will show them what their actual preference is.</p>
<p>That would be a no-brainer in our house. Only one has acceptable weather!</p>
<p>I have a negative reaction no matter what the final result is when I choose randomly! :)</p>
<p>But it is a good idea. Try it, and see. It may not be as effective if you explain to your daughter that it would be a good way to see her gut reaction, though. </p>
<p>If the school with the highest number of points didn't automatically win, then you're probably right that she has another school in mind. Take it off the list. She probably has some secret feeling of desire lurking within her; you just need to try to lure it out! She can't go wrong, though. She'll have a different experience at each school, but if she goes in with a positive attitude I'm sure she'll do just as well at any of them.</p>
<p>Tough decision - I like Boston (a lot), but I'm not sure about Harvard. Do they really do a good job supporting undergrads? The impression I got, many years ago as a prospective applicant, was that it didn't matter much to them if I applied or not - they didn't need me. That one negative experience really crossed H completely off my list in my mind. Was that sensible? Maybe not, but I'm sure it was the right decision for me. I ended up applying anyway (because my dad didn't give me any choice), but I told my interviewer H was not my 1st choice and was waitlisted. Still, I'd think it would be a great place to be FROM. And hopefully current students will comment on what it's really like to be a student there, since one person in admissions (20+ years ago, at that) should not be considered representative of the institution as a whole.</p>
<p>I guess what I'm trying to say is that it really comes down to which school feels right. After visiting the schools I was interested in, I knew which were my top choices. It was much more a subjective rather than an objective process. If you feel she has a place in mind that she wants to go to, she probably does. I wonder what's keeping her from stating which one it is. It's not like any of her schools would be a bad choice.</p>
<p>I am not trying to second-guess MSMDAD's daughter's thought process, but my son had to choose between Harvard, Stanford, and MIT in 2002 and it was very, very difficult. In the end, he chose Stanford, and it was the best choice for him in many ways, but it was very hard for him to turn down Harvard, especially since we are from the East Coast.</p>
<p>You gotta give us more info.</p>
<p>Likes urban? Suburban?</p>
<p>Likes science? Humanities?</p>
<p>Laid back/highly strung/hard-bitten?</p>
<p>Plus there's no wrong choice on hard factors, so go with the soft factors...</p>
<p>MotherOfTwo, How did your son decide? Was it based on "feel"?</p>
<p>Ask D to picture herself at each school....her daily life, what would she see, hear, sense.....the type of students around her....and also check out princeton review to see how each rates for happiest students.....that says alot usually....Some great schools have miserable students. Who wants that?! Good luck and please continue to improve the gene pool! America needs more smart people.</p>
<p>Alumother, In so far as urban/suburban, DD says that it does not matter to her. She adores San Francisco, and liked Boston. DD plans on majoring in the humanities (literature/history, but that may change) and wants to go to a school where she can volunteer in a program that helps underprivileged kids.<br>
She is very laid back - spent most of her life in a rural area/small town. DD has an aversion to "preps" (not sure what that means now days!). One of the factors in her matrix is strength of study abroad programs, and all three have good programs.</p>
<p>
[quote]
plans on majoring in the humanities (literature/history, but that may change) and wants to go to a school where she can volunteer in a program that helps underprivileged kids.
She is very laid back - spent most of her life in a rural area/small town. DD has an aversion to "preps"
[/quote]
</p>
<p>She should choose Yale. :)</p>
<p>
[quote]
wants to go to a school where she can volunteer in a program that helps underprivileged kids
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Well, just on the off chance that she doesn't already know, there is:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.csvinc.org/%5B/url%5D">http://www.csvinc.org/</a></p>
<p>I, too, love SF. But it's not on Stanford's doorstep, as Boston/Cambridge are for Harvard.
I don't know about literature, but I think Stanford and Harvard are probably as strong as each other in history. For community service, Harvard is probably unmatched, but I'm assuming there are are lots of opportunities in East Palo Alto.
The biggest difference has got to be the weather. S turned down Stanford because of it.
EDIT:
Cambrige School Volunteers is one organization through which Harvard and MIT students can volunteer in Cambridge Public schools (they do SAT tutoring, help with academic ECs such as the high school Science Team, and so forth). For Harvard students, there is Phillips Brooks House which also organizes, among other things, tutoring students in inner city Boston schools, especially ESL students.</p>
<p>Yale has great volunteer opportunities to worik with underprivileged kids within the Yale community (Dwight Hall) , it's More artsy/less preppy than the other two and has, arguably, the best undergrad humanities program in the country, imho. They actually have a major called "humanities" for those who want an interdisciplinary approach.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.dwighthall.org/%5B/url%5D">http://www.dwighthall.org/</a></p>
<p>My daughter enjoyed her work as a docent in the Peabody museum, giving tours and demonstrations to local elementary school children during her undergrad years.</p>
<p>Harvard--because the urban environment would be the biggest challenge and stretch for her, because Boston is the creme de la creme of student cities, because Paul Farmer teaches at Harvard Med School and he has a shot at bettering the lives of the world's poor, because his organization, Partners in Health is based in Boston. <a href="http://www.hms.harvard.edu/dsm/WorkFiles/html/people/faculty/PaulFarmer.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.hms.harvard.edu/dsm/WorkFiles/html/people/faculty/PaulFarmer.html</a></p>