How to choose just ONE?

College Search & Selection
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<p>So, for all the seniors out there, how do you choose "THE" college?</p>

<p>Now that all the applications are in, a few acceptances in hand, and even more to come within the month, how do you choose just one? Alot of my friends have had favorite, so called dream schools, and once accepted into those, their decision is made. Me: I applied to TEN, yes 10, schools. I'd like a decent private school but am not able to afford the sticker price. My fafsa says I can so I'm waiting on scholarship info from all my schools... I don't have a dream school or even a favorite. So, as I'm planning my school visits and revisits, I'm wondering how I'm going to start eliminating schools.</p>

<p>Here's what I've got so far...</p>

<p>University of South Carolina- accepted, waiting til the 18th for financial info. If I get ANY scholarship, I get instate tuition which is like really cheap. Okay school, don't really like the campus, too big, IMO.</p>

<p>Northeastern- accepted, waiting on scholarship stuff. At the current price, I have no desire to go here. Too big, too cold... BUT, at the right price, I'd go simply because of its great co-op program and its a fairly good school.</p>

<p>University of Miami- accepted, got just under $10K a year in merit money... a decent amount, puts the school in the running. I LOVE the weather, I love the campus, but I'm not sure how good their engineering program. </p>

<p>Embry Riddle- Got $7K a year off the tuition of like $20K... neat school, not too traditional, have friends who are already going there, but the location isn't too ideal.</p>

<p>I still am waiting to hear on Delaware, Maryland, Lehigh, Lafayette, Smith, and Syracuse. </p>

<p>I guess I'm just lost as to what I should do. I know that when April 15th comes and I have all my decisions in hand, I'm going to be just as lost except I'm going to have to make a decision within like two weeks. My flights to some of these schools are already booked as my weekends from here out are going to be about college shopping. </p>

<p>Anyone else in my position? I'm sure there are so I guess share some of your tips... How are you dealing? Ths isn't really a post about my individual situation but the whole process and how brutal and stressful it is. </p>

<p>Well, good luck to all!</p>

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<p>Great post. I think it's very difficult to decide on just one school. This is why about half the schools I applied to are reaches...so if I do get into one, the decision will be easy.</p>

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<p>My S decided after his overnight visit. Pick your few major favorites and go to a class and spend an evening to get a better feel. My S a freshman at Pomona told his sister a senior in high school to not go to a school unless she spent a night there and saw behind the scenes. Good luck, here's hoping for lots of good choices!</p>

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<p>Absoutely visit. I don't think I would've fallen in love with my #1 school and the school I'm heading to next year, Washington and Lee University, if I never visited.</p>

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<p>I think that 90 percent of the decision can be made in your living room by reading everything you can get your hands on about the schools and thinking carefully about what you want and need. Learn about strengths in your specific field of study. Ignore the size of the sticker price and the size of the scholarships and grants. Focus on the expected family contribution EFC. Parent loans are available to meet EFC costs at very low rates and excellent repayment terms. Look at the rankings in US News and read other guidebooks as part of your decision-making process. Send emails to the admissions office if you have questions. Examine your own learning style and needs so you can make a good match based on facts and information and an accurate self-examination. Look at the photos in viewbooks and on the internet. Look at the catalog and examine the credentials of the faculty. Get opinions from teachers and counselors. I think the campus visit is overrated as a decision-making tool. You get just a brief snapshot of the campus putting its best foot forward. I think architecture and tress are relatively unimportant (but could be a consideration if other things like academic quality are equivalent, which they usually are not). I would choose Lehigh if I got in there, and Syracuse next. But, it depends on your major and personal tastes. I think a lot of high school seniors feel ready to go far from home but soon realize that fairly-close-to-home has advantages. Good luck!</p>

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<p>I'll echo the advice about visiting, for an overnite visit if possible. Most schools can host applicants with a volunteer host in the dorms, and are especially solicitious of admitted students. If you read the new book "Blink" by New Yorker author Malcolm Gladwell you'll find that there's lots of things we know without necessarily being able to say why we know, and sensing a fit for a college can be one of those areas.</p>

<p>Another technique I'd recommend is the "send-a-letter" method. When you're down to your few choices and made your decision, fill out the acceptance form, write the check, seal the letter, put on the stamp, and then don't mail it. Go to sleep on it. If you wake up the next day happy the whole drama is over, it was a good choice. If you wake up with a horrible feeling in the pit of your stomach, that tells you something too.</p>

<p>Lastly I want to pass on some advice I got when I was graduating college about how to pick the right job. I asked a seasoned prof for tips on how to choose the best offer figuring that he'd seen seniors make this decision before, and I still remember what he said. It seems to be an American expectation that there is a right choice, where "right" is singular. What if you considered it possible that there are several right choices? Maybe choice A is a bit stronger in area 1 and a bit weaker in area 2 then choice B, and so on, which means several choices are better than the rest but there's no way to choose a single best from the finalists. Or maybe the merits of the top few choices are simply indistinguishable, at least without being able to accurately predict what the future holds. And I find a lot of comfort and value in that. </p>

<p>When you say you're lost, maybe it just means you've reached the limits of where analysis can take you and past this point its gut feeling and chance to choose from several equally attractive offers. Or to put it more colloquially, "its all good" :-)</p>

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<p>anovice, great question and I love your advice mikemac, I will have to check out the book Blink, sounds interesting.</p>

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<p>If aerospace/aeronautical engineering is your goal, then I would say U Maryland - College Park would be the best bet. It has one of the best aerospace programs in the country according to US News. (I saw Embry-Riddle on your list, which made me think you wanted aerospace.)</p>

<p>The college visit should be more like a tie-breaker than a deal-maker. It should not be a critical factor because the visit is a haphazard and small sampling of the college experience. It is good for exploring the surrounding community to make sure the college is in a good neighborhood and to make sure the campus is in good repair and not depressing. The few students you meet might not represent the entire campus. Selectivity tells a lot about what the students are like. You can get a fairly accurate impression of college "culture" from reading about the college.</p>

<p>US News has ranked undergraduate engineering programs. The colleges on your list are ranked as follows:</p>

<p>colleges offering PhD as well as undergrad degrees in eng:
22nd U of Maryland
47th Lehigh
56th U of Delaware
60th Northeastern
74th Syracuse
99th U of Miami
111th U South Carolina</p>

<p>The above ranking corresponds closely to selectivity. Personally, I would go to the most selective college that accepts me. Colleges will help you find a way to pay for college once they accept you. </p>

<p>primarily undergrad, not PhD:
10th Embry Riddle - top aero engineering specialty undergrad school (very different)
10th Lafayette (tie)</p>

<p>I don't think Smith has engineering. Did you apply here more another reason?</p>

<p>If you prefer a smaller campus, Lehigh and Lafayette may appeal to you. You have a wide range of choices/chances in your list, which is good. I think Northeastern is mostly an urban campus. The publics tend to have large campuses. </p>

<p>I hope this helps.</p>

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<p>Smith has a top rate engineering school. It is new, but they sent folks to virtually every top-rated engineering grad. school in the country in their first graduating class, and now has an exchange program with Princeton.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S10/49/37K00/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S10/49/37K00/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Having said that - you really should visit your top choices (once accepted). Engineering is generally speaking a very intensive major, and you'll want to do it in a place where you feel the rest of your social and educational life is well-supported, and conducive to your doing well.</p>

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<p>Collegehelp- thanks for the info but I'm actually looking at civil engineering... Your concept of choosing the highest ranked school that you can get into just doesn't sit well with me. I guess it's a personal thing... </p>

<p>I feel very comfortable at smaller schools(ie Smith, Lafayette, Embry Riddle) but am not so sure that it is the RIGHT environment for me. Isn't college supposed to be about broadening your experiences, views, etc? Like you said, I applied to a wide range of schools(in terms of size and location) because I don't know what's right for me. I know that the finances of it all will play a large part in it but I won't know that info until early April. I think I can find my niche at any school...</p>

<p>Mini--- I'm planning on visiting my top schools but won't know if I've gotten in to them until early April... that leaves me very few weekends for visits! </p>

<p>Thanks</p>

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<p>You should have such problems! ;) (For what it's worth, a lot of the admit days aren't on weekends. We managed to run around quite a bit - you also don't have to go during admit days - you can visit like any other applicant. But you'll be surprised how much difference that can make, or at least it did for my d.)</p>

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<p>Well, to add to the confusion I was accepted at Maryland with Honors. I really wasn't expecting to get into the Honors program so that is kind of a bump in my road... Regardless, thanks everyone.</p>