Just a note of thanks...

<p>Thank you to all on CC. I have learned so much from this board and feel that I can be of great service to my S and others with the wealth of information I have received. I am a hygienist and it amazes me the kids that are seniors who are just starting to apply to colleges. I have mentioned CC to many moms and HS students. Thank you everyone for your input on every college, SAT tests, safeties, etc. My DS is only a sophomore but he knows where he wants to go thanks to CC.</p>

<p>What a very nice note! </p>

<p>I hope you don’t mind if I offer some fee advice! My DD KNEW where she wanted to apply to college as a sophomore also. HOWEVER, by the time application time came at the start of her senior year, THAT school was totally out of the picture. A lot can change between sophomore and senior years, and even between application time and May 1st when college needs to be chosen!</p>

<p>I never mind free advice, especially from here. When my son started HS he only wanted to go to NSCU. After 2 college fairs and reading CC his list has changed. He now has a list of 4 colleges he would like to apply to and one safety. His list is UA (roll tide), USC-Columbia, NCSU, UT and his safety is UNC-Charlotte, in that order. </p>

<p>what thumper said…Goskids now laugh at/can’t believe what was under consideration early on…</p>

<p>Wait for the bill. Thumper said it is a FEE advice. ;)</p>

<p>Haha! :)) </p>

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<p>I had the same reaction as others. D1 would have said international relations when she was a sophomore. Senior year – her interests switched to domestic politics and political science, partly based on a senior service project she completed. And her college list changed because of it…</p>

<p>When my D2 was a sophomore she was sure she wanted a biology major, with eventually going on to a Bio PhD. junior year she joined Robotics, and senior year she took Physics and joined programming club, and the picture (and the college list) changed. </p>

<p>My suggestion is to visit a range of schools, and keep options and thoughts open until fall of senior year. You can’t know what will happen with test scores, his interests, GPA, EC accomplishment, family situation (financial, health, etc.). So it is great that you have gotten an early start and are thinking about it. But things can and likely will change. CC will still be there when they do. :)</p>

<p>Also… don’t let your son get too hooked on one school. The “dream school” idea causes far more problems than it is worth. Encourage him to find a range of schools (safety or two, matches, and a couple of reaches) that he could be happy at instead of fixating on one school. I encouraged my kids to not make a choice until after accepted student visits, which worked really well for them. They had to narrow to top 3… but final choice for both turned out to be something different than they expected.</p>

<p>Yep, just three years ago, D would have said public health (epidemiology) at Johns Hopkins was her dream. Both the major and the favorite school have changed more thane once…or twice…or even three times since then. </p>