<p>Take the time to go the colleges. If you are this confused, nothing will solidify your choice more than visiting the schools. BOTH of them. My kid got into 7 schools and we visited 6 of them. These tours were without question critical to our decision making. On paper UCLA looked great. After the tour and orientation, we knew that it was NOT a match and we marked it off our list. We had very little interest in Cal Poly Pomona and even less interest in Cal Poly San Luis Obispo when we started and after the tours and orientation, these school soared to number one and number two.</p>
<p>Ultimately we chose Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and turned down 5 UC offers including UCLA and UC San Diego. What happens on a tour is that you get a real feel for the school, the students, the teachers and the culture. You get to see the town and taste the food. You tour the dorms and you see everything both good and bad (if you do the tour right and ask the right questions).</p>
<p>Can you imagine going to Grinnell sight unseen and hating it?</p>