<p>I'm curious re: everyone who's made their final college decision in the last couple of days....was it agonizing till the end, or did a lightning bolt come from the heavens to shed light on the right school. And, what decisions were they?</p>
<p>Bethievt--I was glad to see your entry in the "Final Decisions" thread...I'm sure you must be relieved! Your S will thrive at Grinell.</p>
<p>D made her decision for UMD-College Park just over 2 weeks ago, just after H left for a 2 1/2 week scuba diving trip with a couple of his buds. I had emailed him and told him that she'd decided (it was the choice I was pretty sure she'd go with)....his response was...I thought she was going to wait until I got home (4/28)--I thought we were going to talk about it....didn't she have until May 1 to decide??? If he'd been here when I got that email, I would have smacked him. He has no clue what calm settled over the house once that decision was made. She became a whole new kid. Jeez. Men.</p>
<p>Sheesh, Astromom--If he wanted to be there for it, he might have considered scheduling scuba diving in May! He's lucky if you didn't smack him when he got home.</p>
<p>:) LOL garland, naw, this was the only time that he could get 4 people's schedules coordinated. He missed D's 18th b-day and prom too. He took D out to dinner before he left at a really nice restaurant, and pre-arranged star treatment for her, so he was "excused"...besides, D was gone w/ her bf for most of her b-day anyway. Now, he's going to miss D2's dance recital in May because of a nephew's graduation (he's taking his disabled mother to go see it), but D2 and I fully know THAT was on purpose!! Oh well, we make him sit and watch the DVD afterwards. Multiple times.</p>
<p>OK, back to the thread---I want to hear what I missed on for having a D who didn't wait until the last minute to decide....</p>
<p>My daughter decided last week and mailed everything off on Friday, and it was pretty tough. Although there are many things she loves about Connecticut College, her early favorite, Dickinson, won out in the end with a slightly better financial package and one of the best study abroad programs available anywhere. Brandeis was the other very strong contender, but the study abroad programs that she could choose from for her language (Russian) are not run by Brandeis, and they are only conditionally approved by the school. That was enough to make her not settle on that choice, but I think it was hard for her to give up the idea of Boston.</p>
<p>Yes, Renee, my daughter really struggled with the idea of giving up Boston. She didn't get accepted at MIT, and Boston U didn't give her any merit money---which we'd discussed early on would have been the only reasonable way for her to go there. We could have somehow, someway, justified spending that kind of cash on MIT, but couldn't for Boston U. I wouldn't be surprised if she heads up that way for Grad school...</p>
<p>btw, Dickinson seems like a manageable school---I'm sure you know, but many people do not, that they have one of the top-ranked college libraries (surpassing all the "big boys"). D went there for one of the summers that she went to CTY.</p>
<p>My D was stressed out more than I thought humanly possible last week! She was trying to decide between Furman & Vanderbilt all the way until Wednesday afternoon. It was a truly difficult decision. They are very different schools in many ways, and trying to figure out where she would be happiest was tough. I kept my mouth glued shut ... very difficult for me! ... until she insisted I tell her where I "could see" her. I told her that I could see her at both, but if I had to pick the one I most often "daydreamed" her in, it was Furman. It was like a weight was lifted from her! She had felt the same, but the "name" of Vandy is hard to turn down (as are its very excellent opportunities academically). She needed affirmation that it was okay not to go for the one everyone recognizes. She's growing up already!</p>
<p>BTW, my cousin's daughter is a freshman at Dickinson and LOVES it.</p>
<p>Now that your H is back home...has he taken the position that his D has really grown up, able to make informed decisions, and is extremely proud of her? My guess is he spoke his mind at the time, and then let it go....each one of us parents were feeling the anxiety from our children as they made their selection-myself included. I was surprised by D's decision-H on the other hand was not surprised--but the stress level in the house went down off a cliff after she typed in her acceptance!</p>
<p>We had a one and a half hour discussion last night. My d made tables and assigned values to 14 different categories and calculated it three different ways; it's still a virtual tie between Ohio State and Virginia Tech. I will be so happy when the stress is lifted from our shoulders. Tonight the decision will be made--one way or the other!</p>
<p>I'm wondering if, in general, boys have an easier time deciding than girls. It seems like most of the agonizing-over-school-choice threads seem to be about daughters. I can definitely see my D doing that, a few years from now. My S is a junior, and he decided his list of potential schools in about 5 seconds. Pretty much refuses to consider any others. Somehow I don't think he's going to agonize over his choice this time next year - but I might be surprised.</p>
<p>Our household has been incredibly stressed for the last few weeks but we have watched our son mature in ways beyond our imagination as he has struggled to choose a school. He has developed a self-awareness and an ability to express himself that seems to have been necessary for him to order his priorities. </p>
<p>His top choice school was Vassar: excellent academics, excellent music, perfect fit. He was waitlisted. So he's been choosing between Wesleyan (excellent academics, pretty good music, good fit), Bard (pretty good academics, excellent music, good fit), and Brandeis (good academics, good music, good fit). </p>
<p>In the end, he figured that he could make the music and the fit work at any of these schools and decided to go for the most rigorous and exciting academics. We were floored! He's smart and talented (of course!) but has looked for the easy way out of a lot of his schoolwork over the years. He came away from his college visits so charged up about the classes he sat in on -- the subject matter, the professors, and the engagement of the students -- that he says he can hardly wait to get started in the fall. For the first time, he seems really excited about learning.</p>
<p>We couldn't be happier. Or more relieved that it's over.</p>
<p>Yes, APOL, he's perfectly OK with D's decisions. D2 is in her final month of practice driving before she gets her license. So we're being slapped with the "both our babies are growing up" issue. It's been really fun to look through the list of all the classes D can take at UMD, and wonder about which dorm she'll be in, and we've already talked about how/when we'll move her up there. It probably will be one of us (H or me) driving up w/ D and all her stuff, and the other one flying up for the weekend....I can't imagine D2 not going up, and high school will have already re-started then.... </p>
<p>But, back to topic, it was like the entire house breathed a sigh of relief once the college decision was made.</p>
<p>Is anyone else feeling melancholic rather than relieved? While I looked forward to the this with anticipation, a year ago I would have NEVER believed she would apply, let alone decide to attend, her final choice. Now that it's all over, I'm feeling a bit of sadness, rather than loads of relief. I guess it's hit me that she's really leaving; or maybe I'm sad to see my $$ leaving!</p>
<p>It is amazing how calm settled over the house once the decision was made. </p>
<p>We put the acceptance and check in the mail Saturday for William & Mary. S had narrowed it down to Hopkins, Chicago and W&M after all the overnight visits, but seemed to be leaning towards Chicago. He decided in the end that he liked all three, liked Chicago a bit more, and would probably have some regrets no matter which path he chose. He factored in that we have enough money in the bank to pay for W&M (in state), and that he and we would have to take some loans for the other 2, and decided they were not worth approximately $132,000 more over 4 years (no aid at all, and only $1,000 a year for NMF at Chicago). He had already crossed his other options off the list immediately after visits.</p>
<p>He seems fine with the decision, and really enjoyed talking with the professors he met at W&M during his visit. I think I am having the harder time, since wife and I both went to , and I somehow feel like I let him down not being about to make money a non-issue. I had scholarships and worked my way through Hopkins, but it does not seem to me at current costs that any student can do that nowadays.</p>
<p>Mathson finally decided on Carnegie Mellon. They made a good impression at the Candidates weekend. Harvard never really tried to make a better case than "but we're Harvard".</p>
<p>Yea mathmom - a decision finally! I've been wondering what mathson would decide. CMU has an excellent reputation in Computer Science.</p>
<p>SpringfieldMom - Yes, I've been feeling melancholic as well, ever since the decision and deposit. He retreated to his room (getting ready for all those AP's) and stopped asking for my advice. I realized it was just a few weeks before he leaves the nest for a summer program. But then tonight, when I was driving him home from his HS awards ceremony, he started asking questions about majors and minors and what electives to take next year. So the next phase begins....</p>
<p>mathmom: Good choice for your S. My son also had a few of the "We're so and so " attitude that helped to narrow his choices. He is still getting the "You turned down who?!...." from others , but he seems comfortable with his choice. He finally had enough of the trying to weigh options and of making decision matrices and made the choice over two weeks ago, but did not tell anybody until a week later. He wanted to get on with the ton of things he had to finish before graduating. It was a long but intersesting admissions journey. He enjoyed prom last weekend.</p>
<p>My D made a final decision for Cornell after a whirlwind visit to JHU this past Tuesday. We got home to the West Coast on Thursday at 4 AM! I had a meeting in Rockville the day after the open house, so she went back to Baltimore and saw more of the campus, and had lunch with a girl who graduated from her high school. I posted on a different thread asking opinions about the two schools, and several people seemed to endorse the "go with your gut" notion. My D's "gut" was with Cornell, and probably decided when we visited, earlier this month, but we both thought it was good to look at Hopkins, if only because she wants to do science, and her stepdad went there. The Cornell visit went a lot better, and she could see herself there, so Cornell it was. Yes, I, too, feel a little melancholy, after this huge project is now over. My D is taking a gap year (she hopes---if the school says yes), so the separation anxiety (on my part) gets postponed a year.</p>
<p>Mathmom,
The best to your S with CS program at CMU. I remember how impressive this program was when we visited. I believe they accept only 76 students each year (or is that predicted yeild?). Still, as a H alum, it must have been hard to see your S not matriculate there.</p>
<p>No money wasn't an issue at all. It was all about the program. He's been interested in Computer Science since he was in 2nd grade. CMU's department (well actually school) is much bigger than Harvard's and has a lower student faculty ratio as well. It's also seems to be more pre-profressional. I think 76 is class size not acceptances.</p>