<p>I haven’t started college yet, but I did about two years of research and finally found my dream school. I visited and absolutely fell in love with it. Everything about it is perfect, and they gave me a solid merit award and I’ve found an awesome roommate. I’m definitely at the ‘positive’ end of the spectrum, as well. Hopefully I love it as much once I actually get there, but I’m sure I will!</p>
<p>Roger_Dooley, we also had some remorse and second guessing. As I’d mentioned on some other threads, DS’s first choice had to be taken out of the picture due to a FA package that made it impossible to go there. We were left with several good choices, but it took a long time for DS to realize that these were also schools that he had loved and APPLIED to! Final decision came down to two very different schools: a top LAC which is extremely small and in an extremely small town, but under a half a day drive away; and a top U, which is not huge, but will make it more difficult to be the “standout” student, plus it’s almost 1,000 miles away. </p>
<p>DS was leaning toward the LAC (feeling like he could definitely stand out there, and it was a “safe bet.”) However, we gave him one more night to sleep on it, and in the meantime he checked out a few other areas of interest (academic and EC) plus e-mailed some of the profs from both programs. In the end, he chose the U farther away - and admitted he was both excited and scared (and shed some tears!) I was also feeling bad - thinking maybe we had unduly influenced him toward the final choice. We made the choice yesterday.</p>
<p>Today, 3 mailings came from his chosen U (obviously mailed before they received his reply.) One was an invitation to audition for Marching band along with a video of the band (This had been one of the selling points of the U for him.) It made me sigh with relief - if he had chosen the other school and these had come, I would have promptly tossed them out! I’m hoping once he sees these, he’ll also feel better. (Ironically, he’s away on a HS Band trip right now!)</p>
<p>In any case, I think this feeling of “loss” for what might have been is completely normal for many of the students and parents - especially if there were no clear-cut favorites going in to the process. I’m just keep repeating to myself, over and over, that once he gets there in the fall, he’ll be so busy adjusting, meeting new people, getting involved, that he won’t even have a minute to ponder what might have been.</p>
<p>I am not really sure…I’m ending my freshman year and I really loved first semester but second semester has been terrible. I am coming back in the fall, but if I don’t like it, I am going to think about transferring.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>No. You will never know.</p>
<p>You don’t get to know that, but most kids are really pretty happy by Thanksgiving of their freshman year, and, in fact, since “dream” colleges rarely live up to their rep, a lot of times it’s the kid who went to choice 2 or 3 who are happier and settle in faster.</p>
<p>Expectations.</p>
<p>Why are people not explicit stating the schools? Is there some kind of security reason to saying “my daughter is choosing between a top public research institution and small top ranked liberal arts school” instead of saying “my daughter is choosing UNC-chapel hill over Dartmouth/Williams/Insert college name here” etc. I’m not criticizing… I sincerely want to know if people can find out exactly who your are because of the colleges you mentioned and are accepted to. For some of the stuff I understand…like not saying the name of a school in which someone would get a President’s Scholarship. But I don’t understand why it’s a problem to say your child or you got into Harvard…so did 2000 other students.</p>
<p>@amorestare: I know I didn’t say mine because I thought it wasn’t really important to the topic, necessarily. Also, no there is not a way to find out solely from college acceptance 
Maybe others are trying to be modest or they are embarrassed? No clue!</p>
<p>My school was GWU, though :P</p>
<p>I had a bit of anxiety (or is worrying the better word?) after I sent in my admissions deposit at University of Miami (chose it over University of Minnesota, and later got accepted to Northwestern), but I think it’s just because I’m an anxious person. (It’s probably like getting cold feet before your wedding.) Then I went outside (I live in the Chicago suburbs), started shivering, and all my anxiety went away. So glad I chose beautiful Miami over snowy Minnesota!</p>
<p>My decision was very labored. My only regret is not properly visiting all. I constantly wonder in the back of my mind if I’ve made the right decision of choosing Rice over Duke, GA Tech, Carnegie Mellon, and Johns Hopkins. I like to think that I have. However, if I haven’t, transferring is not out of the picture.</p>
<p>I’m having second thoughts about Washington U in St. Louis- I just realized how much I’ll miss my friends who are going to the local state university!</p>
<p>Haha, next year if I get into Oxford@Emory and Reed, I’m bound to second guess myself no matter where I choose…=P I hope I only get into one! Though I’ll likely get into neither…</p>
<p>“Why are people not explicit stating the schools? Is there some kind of security reason to saying “my daughter is choosing between a top public research institution and small top ranked liberal arts school” instead of saying “my daughter is choosing UNC-chapel hill over Dartmouth/Williams/Insert college name here” etc.”</p>
<p>amorestare: No security reason - when I read all the previous posts, and no one, at that point, had actually named schools, I felt like we were having a general discussion on the traits/characteristics of what may have made us have regrets - not specifically discussing the merit of one school over another. </p>
<p>CMU was the school we had to knock off for financial reasons, and in the end, DS chose U of Notre Dame over Colgate. I still love Colgate - hmm…maybe I’ll go back to school there myself! :-)</p>
<p>@poetgirl</p>
<p>Actually you’re right, there is no way to really know, but if our D is happy 1 1/2 years from now I guess what I was saying is that’s all that matters. She never had a dreamschool, just a top 3 out of 8 choices and feels she would be happy at any of her top 3.</p>
<p>@amorestare</p>
<p>I think the reason some folks are hesitant to reveal the names of their student’s schools is because of the potential of opening unwanted debate/opinions on which school was the better choice as some alumni or posters-in-the-know might not be able to help themselves. We’re so close to May 1st the last thing I want to read is posters playing “devil’s advocate,” with our D’s decision . . .</p>
<p>No regret for me. I ended up choosing Pomona, and am thrilled with my decision. However, I do feel a bit sad about having turned down Swarthmore ias I had an initial connection with that school and it had been my “dream” school. One thing I’ve learned though is that dreams can change and that’s okay…I had never anticipated getting into Pomona and applied on a whim, only to discover it had many of the things I loved about Swat, but in SoCal and with the benefits of the Claremont Consortium.</p>
<p>There is really no regret for me in choosing and loving Tufts! I EDIIed there, because I loved the campus, the academics are AMAZING, the admissions staff is SO friendly, and there are warm-vibes EVERYWHERE. My mom called me a “pilla eenugu” or little elephant in our Indian language affectionately ever since I was a toddler and now… COME ON, That SO means I was meant to be a Jumbo! 
For those of you who don’t know, the Tufts mascot is Jumbo, an elephant!! </p>
<p>Thanks Yale. By your refusal of me, I have found my real belonging – Tufts 2016!</p>
<p>I have slight remorse, choosing an accelerated BS/MD program with a much less prestigious undergrad than I could have gone to. But I’m mostly resolved, considering the guarantee is totally worth it.</p>
<p>^ Don’t feel regrets – The guaranteed program saves you $$$ and time, and besides, prestige of undergrad doesn’t count when you become a doctor – It’s where your residency is that counts. Enjoy the accelerated program!</p>
<p>@hsmom2dncrs omg I had to make a similar decision between CMU, Vanderbilt and Notre Dame. I chose Notre Dame because CMU gave me less $$ even though I absolutely love the campus&&people. Vandy&&ND both left me w/ $6000 but ND has more connections/endowment/closer to home.</p>
<p>It took me a while to decide between University of Chicago, Vassar and Wesleyan. I have always imagined myself going to a small and beautiful LAC on the east coast, but I ended up picking UChicago afte visiting. At this point I don’t regret my decision because I think I’ll love UChicago, but I do have a twinge of longing whenever I see something Vassar or Wesleyan related because I know I would have probably fit as well at those schools and they would probably be less academically restrictive and rigorous as UChicago. But I am excited to start school and love the school I picked.</p>
<p>I got into three of my reach schools, which originally terrified me, because I’m soooo indecisive haha. Thankfully (although it rather upset me at the time), one of them (Chicago) gave me horrible financial aid and rejected my appeal, so that was eliminated. Then I visited the two remaining schools (Amherst and Columbia), had a better experience at Columbia, AND got better aid there, so it was sort of a no-brainer. I do sometimes wonder if I should have chosen a liberal arts college for undergrad, but by the same token… Columbia is awesome. So no, no regrets here.</p>
<p>@JuniorMel - Congratulations! You had some wonderful schools from which to choose. Perhaps you and my DS will meet up on campus. Good luck with the rest of your senior year!</p>