What is your statement that Kenyon would be higher stress than Lafayette based on?
My daughter is not confident, so she doesnāt feel comfortable in party scenes or with people she feels are way more intelligent than her. Not sure why she lacks such confidence, since Iāve always tried to be supportive of her. Sheās athletic, but doesnāt do any sports. Sheās smart, but not particularly academic. Sheās fairly good at everything she does or tries, but itās more like a ājack of all trades, master of noneā. I am fairly confident that once she gets to college, she will find her group of friends and have a great time. But at the moment, she is literally bawling about the decision she has to make. Itās hard watching her agonize over this decision, but as I said, sheās an anxious kid in general.
Iām only basing my statement that Kenyon would be higher stress on the fact that it is seemingly more selective. That said, the Forbes list seems to be way different than the U.S. News & World Report list. I keep telling her that itās not about the ranking, itās about how and what you do at the college youāre at over the 4 years that makes the experience. But what do I know?!? Iām only her mom. Yet, all she knows is what sheās hearing from her classmates (ranking, selectivity, etc.) rather than someone who has more years of life experience than her.
Which school is most like the top 2 choices she didnāt get into? Perhaps that could help offer some clarity
For her areas of study (not engineering or STEM), the pressure between Kenyon and Lafayette should be equal.
Is it worth one more drive out to Kenyon to double check? You have a couple more days to decide.
I would make the effort if she is truly that conflicted. I would also alert Admissions that she is coming back out, explain her difficult choice, and see what they can offer to help distinguish the two options.
No bad choice hereāAT ALL. That needs to be brought home to your daughter, and she should be proud of these two admissions!
Our daughter was accepted at Lafayette two years ago. It is a lovely school aesthically, the culture there is very supportive of their students. It is division 1 for athletics and there is a Greek presence. The students seem happy.
I have no knowledge about Kenyon.
Best wishes to your daughter and your family.
She was hoping for Hamilton or Colgate, both small LACs. I am a single mom, so itās been difficult for me to get us to the various schools for visits. Kenyon is an 8-hour drive, so weād have to fly except that weāre flying out this Friday/Saturday to a wait list school (not Hamilton or Colgate) which we havenāt seen yet just in case she gets off the wait list. And itās not like Iāve been procrastinating. She was so undecided about her choices that we had to visit 4-5 schools this month!
Kenyon is more like Hamilton and Lafayette more like Colgate. I would probably advise her to go with the school closer to home, which would be Lafayette
I wish she wasnāt so focused spending time and money on visiting a waitlist school. Iām not sure what school it is but the chances of getting off waitlists is very slim. Have you looked at the common data sets to see how many people get off waitlists at this specific school?
it sounds like she is stressing out. She needs to stop focusing so much on perceived prestige and rankings. People turn down higher ranked schools all the time. One of my kids turned down a top 5 school for one in the 20s-30s at the time.
The good news is she has 2 great choices and either choice is a good outcome.
On the wl front -it does depend on the school and their strategy for using the wl. At some schools, 10%+ of the incoming class can come from the wl.
Fyi- wl have started to move. Read on some other threads today that Bucknell, Va tech and Northeastern have moved and U Chicago moved weeks ago
Just another random internet poster, but we have visited Kenyon a lot (5-6 times, over 2 kidsā college process), and my guess is that Lafayette might suit a ājack of all tradesā kind of kid better. Kenyon kids seem to have their āthingā that they are totally into, whether it is writing, or music, or theater or something else. I am guessing that Lafayette might be more giving when it comes to a range of interests. And, for what itās worth, we know a family friendās kid who was not STEM who had a great experience at Lafayette, got a great job in NYC, and is happily launched. It really is splitting hairs to try to distinguish between those two choices, so I would suggest going with the one which seems easier to manage and at least now, that sounds like Lafayette.
Ugh, one more thing to do asap is get the LOCI out. I normally wouldnāt go see a wait list school, but for the fact that if she somehow moves off the wait list, she wonāt know whether to go because sheās never seen the school. On the other hand, I donāt know whether sheās the type of kid who simply canāt make a decision because itās a 4-year commitment (assuming she canāt transfer). As I said, Iām sure sheāll enjoy wherever she is once she gets there and makes new friends. Yes, Lafayette would be much easier for me to manage at this time and it might give her peace of mind to know that she can get home or I can visit fairly easily if she needs.
Adding on to my own post #29 about wl. GW has also moved
Wow! I need to get my D moving on her LOCIs ASAP!
@Panderosa What did your D decide?
@Panderosa So is your D a Leopard or a Lady?
Reassurance and rehashing does not help anxiety. It only reinforces ambivalence and indecision. Probably a moot point now, but she needs to make a decision. What did she choose?