<p>Some have criteria, some go by gut instinct.</p>
<p>It seems to follow the pattern of other decisions the family makes.</p>
<p>We are an arty family. A spreadsheet would never occur to us in the decision making process, though we all know how to make one.</p>
<p>Our experience with F/A was different. All schools were pretty much the same.</p>
<p>Kids just picked by gut. I think that distance played a factor. It seems that neither wanted to be too far from home. They each also chose the most academically challenging of the schools within a certain radius. They sometimes gripe about that, but all-in-all both are very happy their their choices.</p>
<p>At this point I can't even begin to initiate a conversation about making a choice.</p>
<p>My S would never engage in a discussion about specific schools before receiving the acceptance/rejection. Specific criteria....perhaps, except that there is a danger that those would lead him to more strongly identify top choices, which I think puts one in danger of amplifying potential disappointment. </p>
<p>He applied to several schools that he did not have the opportunity to visit. He may have to do some visiting, even if he only gets into one school. If he is rejected everywhere, then it's back to the drawing board, of course.</p>
<p>My D did a lot of the decision-making before she applied. She wants a division 3 school. She wants rural, etc, etc. So she narrowed it down and applied. Now we're waiting for the acceptances, but I really feel that she'll be happy at ANY of the schools. We visited all of them, she liked all of them, albeit there are a couple she didn't like 'as much' (and there was one school we visited that she didn't apply to because she didn't like it). I also took her to visit a city school, thinking she'd either say 'I was right, this isn't for me', or she'd say 'WOW, this is GREAT'. She stuck with 'this isn't for me'. All the schools she applied to fall within a fairly narrow framework in terms of 'atmosphere'. So I think she really knew what she wanted. </p>
<p>The decision-making I think will mainly come down to two factors: cost and location. She didn't apply to any schools in our state (and I loved curmudgeons post about his childs decision), so transporation will be an issue. </p>
<p>My ultimate hope is that she gets in to three schools. I think deciding between three is doable. More than that, and it will get complicated. jmmom does have an excellent point with the 'forced decision' aspect, and I may play that with D when the time comes.</p>
<p>A sweet old academic who took the time to share his knowledge of his department and the university sealed the deal for my daughter, I'm hoping my son's criteria won't be the quality of pizza.</p>
<p>Well, D wanted "options" so she applied to 2 small LACs (one East Coast; one Western; three big public universities (in-state, one Northwest; one Midwest) and 5 mid-sized national universities all very far away from home...</p>
<p>So far she has acceptances (and money) from some in each category--small, medium and big.</p>
<p>And since she is going to be away on a senior project field trip (supposedly geology, but in reality rock climbing) for three weeks starting April 13th and ending May 4th AFTER enrollment contracts are due and she will not be anyplace where she might actually have cell phone service, I told she would have to sign all her contracts before she left and I would pick one at random and send it in so she could have a BIG surprise when she got home...</p>
<p>I think she figured out finally I was only teasing...</p>
<p>Truthfully, D chose carefully and would be happy at any of the schools she's applied to. I have no idea what her final choice will be--</p>
<p>This philosophy worked well for us. DS ended up with three solid academic choices. We visited all three in April, and were pleasantly surprised by his choice. He claims he ultimately made his decision based on grass and concrete, though I suspect there were subconscious intangibles that his right-brained conscious mind couldn't articulate.</p>
<p>Each kid had four schools on the table and then it became five because they got off a wait list. Both rejected wait list school out of hand. </p>
<p>So four schools.</p>
<p>For DD one was her ED school that had deferred her. No brainer. She was elated.</p>
<p>All four S chose were fabulous fits for him, albeit in different ways. He would be growing tremendously at all of them, and the money was comparable. He had a clear favorite. I didn't. I thought there were all wonderful. He really feels he chose well.</p>