Excellent point.
Oh, wait. We know it because a deadline has passed, not because they are announcing it on other threads besides this one, right?
Correctā¦OPās child had to decide by 5/1 deadline.
The OP is indeed under no obligation to post a follow up. However, my opinion is that if poeple have volunteered their time to help someone who asked for the help in the first place, the proper thing to do is return, at least to offer appreciation and hopefuly share what they wish to share. Personally, I donāt think sharing what college oneās child will attend is any more private than whatever else has been shared voluntarily. It is an anonymous forum. The OP only mentioned being from a small city in a landlocked state which describes millions of Americans. It is just my opinion, and not a rule or obligation. However, I feel less inclined to assist someone on such a forum if after lots of voluntarily help, the person who asked for the advice never returns.
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I rarely place conditions on my aid, online or the real world. I certainly wouldnāt want to demand someone share information they were uncomfortable sharing.
Sometimes, simply helping someone is its own reward.
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@EconPopā¦I donāt place conditions when I offer help to someone either. Iāve been on CC for 19 years and have voluntarily offered assistance over those years in thousands of posts. I donāt expect anything in return for doing so. I like to help people. That said, I think proper courtesy is for someone who started a thread asking for help, and received lots of it, is to return and show appreciation or some sort of follow up. They donāt have to. I donāt volunteer looking for that. But when there are long threads like this one and the OP never returns, it makes me ponder putting in the time. Yes, helping is its own reward, and so that is why I keep doing it. But I am not the only one on CC who has questioned long threads where someone asks for advice and gets lots of it and the OP never returns to say anything. I havenāt started threads that much myself, but whenever I have, I have acknowledged the responses. I just find it a common courtesy, especially when people are volunteering their time to help me.
I just want to clarify this is not the same as ādemanding someone share information they were uncomfortable sharing.ā It is hoping they will return to the thread in some capacity after lots of offers of help.
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There may be reason we donāt know about.
Understood.
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Hello!! Iām OPās daughter (you can look at my only thread on here and tell the similarities when I asked for some advice if you need āproofā it is me, which was made before this thread). I knew my mom made a thread but I didnāt know she didnāt tell you which school I decided on!! I decided to peek at it today to see what people had said about what school I should attend.
Anywayā¦
I picked Amherst!
Hamilton did seem very nice and I almost picked it and I also almost picked Columbia. I thought that Amherst was a good compromise, plus I have already made a good friend at Amherst who Iām excited to meet in the Fall! Part of me is sad over not picking the Ivy I was accepted to and I knew I could probably be happy and thrive there, but Iāve thought about it and I like the more intimate environment of Amherst. Thereās still a part of me nagging myself saying āwhy didnāt you take this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?!?ā But realized that going to Hamilton, Amherst, Wellesley or any other of my options would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity too 
Also in my free-time, Iām a bit of a paleontology nerd (not interested in it for a professional career), so the exhibit at Amherst was so cool to me!! Though all schools seem to have some sort of artifact museum, the Amherst one was so cool to me.
I also really like the five college system, I really wanted to attend Smith because my alumna interviewer was my favorite interview I had, but I didnāt enjoy the environment of Smith as much, so I thought if I could be nearby and attend classes then thatād fulfill that need as well.
Of course I contemplated extracurriculars, academics, etc. The strictness of the STEM majors at Amherst almost made me not pick it, but I talked to a kind lady who works at Amherst on the phone for awhile and she informed me that I could probably make an interdisciplinary major that suited my niche in neuroscience better (because I vastly preferred the neuroscience major at Hamilton). And the absence of minors at Amherst is worrying for me too, because I wanted to minor or double-major in Japanese (/East Asian Studies). But if Iām only able to get a certification or a fluency exam, I will be able to live with that. My STEM major is my biggest passion 
Thanks so much for all the help on this thread and helping me dismiss all the cognitive dissonance I was having over these schools. I didnāt decide until like two hours before the due time, haha. I dearly love all the schools I got into, and I feel sad about rejecting the ones I did already (especially Columbia, my admissions officer wrote the kindest letter to me, and Hamilton because of how above and beyond they went for my inquiries). Iām glad I was finally able to make a decision though and will do my best!!
Also, THANKS MOM I LOVE YOU!! 
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Congratulations! Hope you love it.
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Congrats! I hope you have a wonderful experience.
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Thank you so much for updating us and providing details (very useful to future readers).
and CONGRATULATIONS! 
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Btw, Amherst is a once in a lifetime opportunity. A very good one at that.
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Congratulations! Amherst is a wonderful school in a quintessential college town with Northampton nearby and having the biggest arts & music scene in New England outside of Boston. Iām sure youāll have a great 4 years there. Frankly, Amherst is every bit as Ivy as Columbia. Just smaller. And better.
You had an incredible array of choices, which reflects so well on all youāve accomplished. Analyzing the differences really was a matter of splitting hairs - as Iām sure it was for you too. Truly a wealth of riches. If I remember correctly, your mom is from Massachusetts. So, Iām sure that sheāll enjoy going back to her roots while visiting you. All the best!
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Best of luck to you!
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For a paleontology nerd, living in Amherst offers the opportunity to visit Peabody Museum at Yale, one of the best natural history museums in the world. It would be an all day excursion, but thereās direct Amtrak rail service between Northampton and New Haven. With time for connections on either end, itās probably 3 hours each way. Just bring plenty to read on the train and itās not a bad way to spend a Saturday.
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Congratulations! Wishing you the absolute best. I believe you will go far.
this whole thread was a very interesting read and iām glad you actually came and announced this decision <33 good luck at amherst bestie !!
edit: spelling
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Congratulations on your decision!
This is a pet peeve of mine. The Ivy League is a Div I athletic conference. Amherst is belongs to the NESCAC Div III conference. These conferences and athletics in general at the 2 schools are completely different. Being a smaller college, a much larger portion of students at Amherst are athletes. However, being Div III with a larger potion of students athletes, it is much easier to join teams. For example, walk ons are quite common at Amherst, but extremely uncommon at Columbia. In any case, congratulations to the OP. Amherst is a great school.