<p>Thank you to all the smart, thoughtful people who have posted, and thanks to m.s. for starting it.</p>
<p>This thread has articulated the problem I had making a draft reach-match-safety list for my son to consider. My offspring would not commit on any preference criterion (big/small, warm/cold, east/west) except to say that the quality of academics in his area was the ONLY concern–nothing else mattered to him. So, I took him at his word and investigated the top ranking schools.</p>
<p>Ok, I had a list of reaches then. And any of several schools in our state could be his safeties, including the state flagship.</p>
<p>My enduring problem was deciding on matches. Many of them had price tags at or close to the reaches. I had trouble seeing any of them as fundamentally different from our own state flagship. So what then?</p>
<p>Thanks, Skyhook, I think you articulated the fundamental issue very well. And for those of us who have to be concerned with value (i.e., the middle class), this is a dilemma that can’t be glossed over by simply saying, “Send your kid to the school that’s the best fit, period.”</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>But OP. skyhook’s kid did exactly that. He looked at issues of fit and decided what was important- quality of academics outweighs everything else. For him that was “fit”. His team (he and his parents) then sourced out the best way to meet that “fit” within their budget.</p>
<p>For others (like my kid) there were other factors she wanted considered. She considered them and then as a team we sourced out the best way to make that happen within our budget. </p>
<p>This isn’t rocket surgery and one size don’t fit all. ;)</p>
<p>I suppose I used a pretty loose definition of fit there, more like “wherever kid will be happiest, without regard for my money”.</p>
<p>By the way, if you know of a college that offers a major in rocket surgery, please let me know!</p>
<p>I’m racing to be first with this…</p>
<p>
Well, that would be magical thinking. That’s something we don’t do in my house. I don’t think THAT many families on CC have zero regard for cost. (Although there are some, and some certainly have less concern than others.) Had money been of no concern, I know my D’s list would have been radically different. (Of the 17 schools, maybe 6 would have made the list.)</p>
<p>And money plays a part in acceptances as well.</p>
<p>We did our college search without regard to money. Do we have a ton? NO. She applied to schools that were a good fit for her desired programs. We were advised by many admissions officers to apply without worrying about the cost. Their theory was if she was accepted and we didn’t like the financial offer, she would just say no thanks. When all the dust settled, she was choosing between between Berkeley at about 26K or Stanford for 7k. What a great situation to be in. She chose Stanford, thank goodness. So what I am saying is, he should apply wherever he wants. You can look at the financial end of it when you have the offer letters in your hand.</p>
<p>I agree with emgamac, with the caveat that one financial safety school should still be in the mix, a school that we have no doubt we can afford, just in case none of the others comes through.</p>