<p>I don't see why anyone is posting their various choices--doesn't a US NEWS know just as much about them and their personalities as we do?</p>
<p>What I really need is just simple advice on how to go about choosing a school. I applied to 9 schools, 7 of which I believed myself to have about a 30% chance of getting into. As I sit today, extraordinary something has given me 8 acceptances, with 1 letter yet to come (Wesleyan.) </p>
<p>I've made a bracket system, but I don't know where to turn next. Last night a friend of mine in a similar situation and I went to Borders, like we did almost a year ago to decide where to apply. When reading between Macalester and Grinnell, I doubt I would have been able to tell the difference in location had they not been named. Books don't seem to be able to cut it. Should I just use coins?</p>
<p>2K4S</p>
<p>Narrowing them down to 2 or 3 or 4 is best done with the head. Making the final choice is best done with the heart.</p>
<p>Merely visiting them will shrink your list quickly. If everything else is sort of equal, just go with the one that makes your heart go pitter-pat.</p>
<p>You can always use the coin-toss trick to guage your feelings: say, "heads Grinnell and tails Macalaster." If it comes up heads, and you feel a sudden pain and want to go for 2-out-of-3, then you know you probably really like Mac better.</p>
<p>Go online and buy a T-shirt from each college you are considering. Take a jog around the block wearing each shirt. Which one makes you feel proudest and feels "right"?</p>
<p>Stand in front of a mirror and pretend you are 30 years old and are a passenger on an airliner. Have a family member stand off to the side pretending to be another passenger. The family member says, "So where did you go to college?" Watch your face as you say, "I went to Grinnell" and "I went to Macalaster." You will get a different feeling from each sentence. Which one feels best?</p>
<p>I like a lot of TourGuide's suggestions, and I especially agree with visiting. When all else is equal, I think that just the look of the campus is something that's usually overlooked but hugely important.</p>
<p>Some interesting ideas I will try out, certainly. </p>
<p>As for visiting--living 120 miles away from the closest and something like 1800 miles away from the furthest, it isn't very easy. The money lost would of course be worth it, and the school time lost irrelevent... ah, if only they didn't want me to decide during AP season.</p>