Not making a decision until April 30 is actually pretty common, especially for students who are generally cautious about rushing into big decisions – a good thing for the most part!
May 1 is, after all, “National College Decision Day.” (Not that that even means a whole lot: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/blog/its_national_college_decision.php.)
As that wise old sage Yogi Berra so famously said, “It ain’t over 'til it’s over.” 
There doesn’t appear to be a 3.0-3.3 thread for the class of 2017 yet so I guess I will put this here.
My junior son has a unweighted 3.4 and currently a 24 on the ACT, higher if the school super scores but only one on his list right now does. Some AP and Honors but not all, but a fairly solid mix (Jr yr is 2 AP’s and then one college in the classroom UW math class…right now those classes are at 2 A’s and one C+ which kind of sums up his transcript).
Very heavy on music and theater EC’s and a ridiculous amount of community service. Basically a good solid student but a fairly miserable test taker all aournd. Interested in Environmental Engineering / Environmental Science. We’d like to tour a couple of places over spring break to spread things out so are trying to get an initial list going and I’d love input! He doesn’t want to stray too far from home (PNW) but doesn’t want to be at home (so no CC or UW Bothell).
He would like a college town, wants the outdoors and not too far from a metro area but not necessarily right in a bigger city. Super anti Southern California and is not crazy about considering Northern CA but Humboldt seems like a decent enough fit to make him look at. Part of this may be to avoid comparison with older sib at Cal Poly. Not sure.
He is not crazy about going to a huge state school, and is very drawn to the liberal arts feel (bleeding heart liberal and a big music/theater kid). So far zero interest in NM or AZ. Money is a concern as he won’t qualify for any aid so certainly state and WUE are good but a private where there was a chance at some money would be worth considering. Right now on the list to consider (we think) are: UW, Western WA, Oregon State, Humboldt State, Montana State, Montana Tech, Colorado State, Portland State and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. What are we missing that he should maybe take a peek at? We limited it to either programs in his specific area of interest (BS Environmental Science or BS Environmental Engineering, or Civil Engineering programs that had an Environmental Emphasis available. UW is a stretch to be sure. We are hoping to bump up a bit on the ACT, his practice tests have been quite a bit higher (26-28). He’ll give it one more shot in June but that is probably all I will get out of him, he’s definitely driving that one. At present do not plan to take the SAT. I’d love to have one or 2 privates on the list but I can’t seem to find anything that really fits what he wants to even be considered.
Thanks for any input and ideas! In general a lot of the reccs on here seem to be pretty heavy on the south and eastern locations but am hoping there are some west coasters here with ideas. He’s definitely open to suggestions so it could be elsewhere but it would have to be a compelling story both on the school and location.
My D is currently deciding between two schools (she only applied to, and admitted to three) and although she seems to prefer one - it’s the only one where she gets excited to get mail from them - she insists on not deciding until she visits both schools AGAIN over spring break, the last week of March.
They will both cost about the same, so that’s not a deciding factor.
One is twice as far away but both are within half a day’s drive.
I’m hoping she’ll decide by April.
And yes, she’s very cautious about major decisions like this in general, so not surprised she’s still thinking about it…
We are in the same boat, S got his final acceptance letter last weekend from the EA deferral, and had received acceptances from the other two in early and mid-November. But he doesn’t seem to have any interest in making a decision until after admitted student visits, which are in early to mid-April. I think he has a top choice, but guess he wants to keep his options open? I’m not sure how it will impact his housing options, but all 3 guarantee housing for freshman so he’ll have somewhere to live on campus, I guess :).
Is it recommended (or even possible) to submit a housing choice before making a decision? S is also on hold; he’ll decide after visiting in March / April. (And comparing FA packages, though merit is coming out neck-and-neck so far.) We haven’t been able to visit any of the places he’s applied to yet (due to distance / cost, so thank goodness for internet!); it made more sense for us to plan to visit only after he heard where he’s in. He’s psyched about every single place, but they have some really big differences, so I don’t really have a sense of how the decision will go. He wants to visit and then have the rest of April to mull and ponder. But, hmmm, hadn’t thought of the housing thing … I know they all guarantee housing for first years, but still, maybe he should get those in to get dorm choices? (But then, well, that’d be internet research, too …)
@eandesmom, have you checked out Evergreen State? Fiske Guide named them a “best buy” at one time:
@LucieTheLakie While Evergreeen is of great interest to my son from a environment/culture/lcoation standpoint, the reality is job wise post college he will be far better served elsewhere. Locally it is very much viewed as a transition school for kids who went the CC route and as it’s a “create your own major” kind of program, it will not make him competitive at all in his current chosen area of interest. He would be happy there I am quite sure, and everyone gets in, but he wouldn’t be challenged at all and he does best with a bit of a challenge. Given the transfer heavy nature of the school, I’m not sure it would be the best freshman experience either. We will likely visit but it’s far down at the bottom of my list and has moved down on his.
It is a great value but for the money, Western WA is similar and a much better fit I think.
Good to get feedback on the school, @eandesmom. I’ve always read great things about it, but I’ve never talked to anyone whose student actually goes there.
I know they have a famous professor there, Stephanie Coontz, who is frequently interviewed as an expert on the family. That’s where I first heard about the college.
@LucieTheLakie it’s a good school, and I do know kids that have gone there and been quite happy. I think in his case, he has better choices. It’s definitely on the alternative scale but for a tree hugging liberal kid that wants a really flexible program I think it’s a great fit. He had a pre-calc assignment over winter break where they had to figure out how they were going to pay for college, using all real data and he used Evergreen as his example. It was good for both of us as we learned a lot more about it.
Kudos to that HS math teacher, @eandesmom! 
@LucieTheLakie He’s the bomb. I pray we get him for AP Calc. It was pretty intense and personal and while I can’t really see how it was a pre-calc exercise it was a very very good one for him to have. It really kind of forced him to decide how much skin he had in the game, that the older 2 didn’t have at this point. I also hope he’s good enough (the teacher lol) that my son passes the pre-calc final as it’s 5 credits at the U of WA if he does. Current grades would indicate he should but he’s a miserable test taker.
I’ve heard several times in the last month that boys might have an admissions advantage at LACs with a gender imbalance, and so I’ve started looking for those schools. Does anyone know of a list of such schools, or could suggest places to look for my 3.3 GPA son who wants to run track? (PSATs 690 CR, 630 M, on the new PSAT). He isn’t taking much in the way of honors courses…mostly straight college prep.
I think most of the LACs have a gender imbalance, from my research.
Two that really stuck out for me were Goucher College in Maryland and Arcadia in Philadelphia. But there are many, many others.
@mdcmom I know that locally Seattle Pacific University has a gender imbalance, and a track program. Not sure how good the track program is but it’s a great school for a B student, oldest just graduated from there last spring and was admitted with much lower grades and test scores than their data might suggest (lower than your sons) with a similar courseload. I believe part of it was gender and the other, his major. They actively recruited him.
Liberal arts colleges with even gender distributions are really the exception to the rule. Typically the more selective, the more likely they are to be 50:50. The one thing that will tip the scales is an engineering program, because they typically attract more men than women.
@mdcmom, I’d take a look at LACs US News ranked around 40 and above:
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges/data/page+2
@eandesmom What a fantastic math project! It really would be a great learning experience if that project was mandatory for all high school juniors.
laurrodes, I appreciate your acceptance story but if you are paying full tuition it is only part of the story. The problem is that many “middle of the road” students described in this thread certainly can’t afford the whole bill, and merit aid is not available (or skewed in relation to tuition costs). Many parents, myself included, can contribute some to college costs for our kids, but not nearly enough. My guess is that the retirement planning for many Gen X parents is going to be extremely strained by contributing to their kid’s college educations. They have already been doomed by a stagnant economy and bad timing in the housing market. Many may not even yet realize it.
@oldbrookie agreed. If my HS Freshman doesn’t get this teacher next year for pre-calc, I may make him do it on his own. He had them dig deep, explore what loans they’d qualify for, their parents, account for inflation etc. It also gave the kids a good feel for their current “cost of life”. Cell phone, gas, insurance, clothes, entertainment, etc…many things parents pay for now that kids don’t account for when considering a college budget (if the kids consider the budget at all) and when considering how quickly and realistically they could actually repay college loans.
Our older 2 are my stepkids (one recent college grad and one a college sophmore). Oh how I wish they’d had this exercise…
@eandesmom look at University of Northern Colorado. It has a top-notch Musical Theater program. Smaller than the other well-known state schools (CU and CSU) and cheaper too. My dd, most likely, will be going there and is so excited. Although she’s not into musical theater, they are the type of kids she gravitates towards as friends. Quite a few amazingly talented kids from her HS have gone there for their Jazz program. Check it out! www.unco.edu.
@anelmi he’s not looking for a musical theater program for his degree, but having one that had such a program would be perfect for exactly the reason you describe. Unfortunately there isn’t a program match there for him. He wants Enviromental Science/Environmental Engineering. Or at least right now that’s his plan lol.