<p>I know many factors (financial aid, college reputation, small, big, sports, and so on) could affect a student's decision on which college he/she wants to go, what is the single most important factor that your children and you family rely on to make the decision? when your children decide to choose colleges and majors, do you consider their future career opportunities as a factor?</p>
<p>Well, for us, our D decided where she wanted to go. She’s stubborn and independent and we didn’t expect to be able to influence her final decision, once she recieved her acceptances. She had a “feeling” about a certain school from the very first visit, and once she had her acceptances, we visited the ones she was still interested in one more time and her original feeling remained in tact. She’s been happy there, for the most part, and it’s been pretty much what she thought it would be…The school she chose was not the highest ranked she was accepted to, nor was it the one which offered her the biggest academic scholarship… It was just the one she liked the best and felt most at home at. I actually expect she’ll be staying in that city when she graduates. fwiw.</p>
<p>I could give you a long explanation for each of my kids, but basically, they went to places that felt right to them and were at an appropriate level of admissions competitiveness. They were not candidates for financial aid, and money was not really a consideration (but as it happened, one chose a relatively inexpensive college, while the other didn’t). Their choices worked out fine for both, and the colleges (one state flagship and one Ivy-League-but-not-top-of-the-Ivy-League) are respected ones that are good choices in terms of on-campus job recruiting. </p>
<p>As for majors, they picked what they liked. One chose a more career-oriented field than the other. As it happens, the one with the career-oriented major didn’t go to work right after graduation; he’s in a Ph.D. program. The one with the less career-oriented major hasn’t graduated yet but has found interesting internships for three summers in a row – including this coming summer – so we’ll see what happens.</p>
<p>Poetgrl,</p>
<p>Yes she is very independent, which is good. I imagine she can handle most difficulties without panic.</p>
<p>I made my decisions completely based on cost and whether or not the school was located in the northeastern part of the country. (Gotta love the snow :))</p>
<p>I think my children chose their college (subject to change of course) based on their conversations with their friends and their older cousins. They are too young yet, (middle school) to think about money issue. But one of them is so certain where she wants to go which is very strange.</p>
<p>My children essentially had their college chosen for them, since each was accepted to only one college in the top half of his or her list. Luckily, it was a place that reflected their (and their parents’) values almost perfectly, so everyone was pretty happy. They might have had to make a tough decision in that regard, but the admissions departments at other colleges didn’t give them the chance.</p>
<p>Money was a small factor in the first child’s decision, since everything under serious consideration cost about the same, and the top choice was actually the least expensive (relatively). Money loomed much larger in the second child’s decision process, since he was faced with a choice between expensive dream school and a significant merit scholarship at a great university that wasn’t perfect. He chose the dream, and we let him. It was probably the “wrong” choice, but that’s water under the bridge, and he is ecstatically happy there for all the right reasons.</p>
<p>All kinds of things went into the basic preference list that determined where to apply and how they ranked prior to acceptance – prestige, location, size, recommendations from teachers and peers, look-and-feel. Specific jobs and career paths not so much, except the the extent all of that stuff is vaguely loaded into prestige.</p>
<p>Money was the primary factor: Our EFC is more than twice what we can pay. This meant that Happykid could choose between our local community college, or one in a nearby county that she could commute to, or she would have to get merit aid from a 4-year school that would bring the cost down to what our community college costs. Happykid is a solid student but she is not the kind of academic star that colleges and universities throw lots of money at, which means that the big scholarship option is out. Fortunately, our local community college does offer her major, and has an excellent transfer record. If our finances don’t change, we will consider student and parent loans to meet the difference between what we can afford out of pocket and the cost of attendance for the last two years of college. But, at least we don’t have to think about that for a while.</p>
<p>One thing that surprised me though, is that Happykid doesn’t feel that she’s “settling for less”. When the fat envelope from her CC arrived in the mail last week, she opened it with as much joy as other students open the letters from Harvard. She’s truly excited with the classes that she is planning to take - in many cases with pals from her HS who are also headed there. It really, truly, is a good match for her - not merely the only affordable option.</p>
<p>For my oldest it was all about the major. He turned down a college higher on the overall prestige scale for a college known to be tops in his field. Since this is a kid who has been fixated on this field since he was seven, it was the right decision for him. But most kids change their major more than once in college, so picking a college for just one major is not always wise. </p>
<p>I have no idea what my younger one is going to do. So far he’s into a reach he hasn’t visited. He may decide it is too academic, too far away or too urban. He’s also into his safety - he really liked it and loved the idea of easy access to DC internships. We also have family in DC. His other schools all have pluses and minuses too.</p>
<p>Happymom-- I’m glad your daughter is happy with her choice. I really believe that for the core classes, CC educations are the best value out there, and the fact that she has friends who are going there, as well, and will get to live at home all sound good to me. I’m a little envious. I miss my college freshman a lot. :(</p>
<p>My first picked on fit. It was not the highest “ranked” school on his list of acceptances but he just “clicked.” It’s been a good three years for him so far. S2 is moving in that same direction, picking the school he feels the most “click” and not the most highly ranked. Both kids applied at schools they liked and schools we could afford and schools that had a major that interested them and schools they had a high probability of acceptance (S2 has a reachy one we haven’t heard from so he might end of 5 for 6) so once that work was done it was more about which one.</p>
<p>1.Daughter decided what her likely field of study would be.
2.Helped her find the schools with the program.
3.Narrowed choices by cost, location and chance of acceptance.
4.Visited the schools.
5.Second visit to school she wants (and has been accepted) is planned for spring break.</p>
<p>Daughter also has a slight strategy of going to a non name brand school whose program has grown tremendously in recent years with the idea of being on a wave of their success and contributing to it as well. Rather than “you went to XYZ famous school” she would prefer to have “That school produced so and so”( insert her name).
Hoping that doesn’t sound like an over-inflated ego but rather that she will enhance the school and vice versa.</p>
<p><<for my=“” oldest=“” it=“” was=“” all=“” about=“” the=“” major.=“” he=“” turned=“” down=“” a=“” college=“” higher=“” on=“” overall=“” prestige=“” scale=“” for=“” known=“” to=“” be=“” tops=“” in=“” his=“” field.=“”>></for></p>
<p>mathmom -that is essentially what DS#1 did. Also - he insisted on a school with a good marching band!</p>
<p>I think we’ll be stuck with this same dilemma. Now that acceptances are filtering out, my son is 2-ofor-2. How will he decide which is "the best one’ for him? Seeing how he selected colleges for his list in the first place makes me worried it all about prestige. He’s visited a number of the schools, but I do not think he really knows those college until he’d living there. Those tours and info sessions are loaded with more PR than I need and not about the nitty gritty.</p>
<p>He knows his major (bio/chem) and the focus (to get into medical school), but how does he get a feel for what it’s really like at each college? Stay overnight? (is that enough?) Study their course catalog? Talk to a professor? Sit in on a class? I think the best may be shadowing a student, but I don’t think many colleges offer that. How else?</p>
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<p>What proportion of students who “know” those things in March of 12th grade ever attend medical school? Half? Less? A lot less? I really have no idea, except to think that “half” would test the limits of optimism. Does the answer vary based on which college a student attends? Doubtless, but you will never find reliable statistics on that anywhere, and the range of variation may be 40%-55%, i.e., not so much.</p>
<p>You might get a sense of it if you talked at length to 4-5 premeds at a college who didn’t know one another. Short of that, you’re not going to learn much that’s relevant. And really you should talk to 4-5 ex-premeds as well, to get a sense of whether there’s a net if you fall (or jump) off the tightrope.</p>
<p>My D. picked a school based on size (small), location (northeast but not too “north”) and classes in her chosen major. Her campus visit sealed the deal. She felt “at home” on campus.</p>
<p>Son blew me away the other day. He said he chose Wake Forest because he thought he’d get the best education there. :eek:</p>
<p>He really had me fooled. All this time I thought he was only looking at local weather/closest ski mountain/mascots/girls/dorms/etc.</p>
<p>That’s teenager, you never know what they are thinking. Like my son, he does not want to talk to me anything in the school even I ask him, he thinks I am too nosy.</p>
<p>From the OP:
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<p>There was no SINGLE most important factor for either of my kids. Both of them decided on their own that cost was important to them. My son wants to graduate with money in the bank and zero loans so he can have maximum freedom in job choice, including working for himself sooner rather than later; my daughter wants to go to vet school and decided to keep as much of the accumulated savings as possible for that purpose. </p>
<p>However, an equally important consideration was finding a program that offered the kind of undergraduate opportunities that would help them find appropriate internships and further their long-term career goals. Son made very sure research opportunities would be available and he would be granted freedom to move into graduate coursework; daughter has chosen a school with numerous pre-vet tracks, including some minors that greatly interest her, and a vet school on campus. </p>
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<p>They both chose their own majors, just as they both developed their own interests throughout childhood. I would be fibbing if I didn’t admit both parents are happy that they have chosen majors that have decent job prospects. (Son is a computer science and math major, daughter’s primary pre-vet major will be animal science with some less practical minors thrown into the mix.)</p>
<p>My D wanted to be a doctor. Then, she decided she didn’t want to be a doctor. Fortunately, she really liked the campus, the kids, the area, the weather, the activities and all the other classes, as well. </p>
<p>I really do wonder what percentage of kids who think they want to go to med school change thier mind in the first few years of college, and what percent of kids who have no intention of going to med school end up deciding to go once they’ve been in school for a while? </p>
<p>Is there a stat on that?</p>
<p>Wildwood, probably if your kid isn’t talking about it, they have a feeling about it. I feel the only time parental input on these things becomes incredibly essential is when there are real financial constraints, and even then, the amount available should simply be stated, and the kid should figure out how to make it work in those circumstances. Of course, that’s my opinion and is worth every penny you paid for it. ;)</p>