Last minute Merit scholarship yesterday has us undecided at the 11th hour. Deadline is tomorrow.

“College B: we are honored by the merit award particualrly since finances are a critical element in our college selection. Would it be possible to extend the offer for 7-10 days so we can make time to visit the school?”

I’m rooting for B.

Thank you all, very much. Your responses and advice are very helpful. I’m going to go and grab my son to read them. He is really upset and just doesn’t know what to do. It really seems that this late in the game change, has brought up some things that have been bothering him throughout his trying to pick a “the one”.

And he did make us laugh a few minutes ago when he announced that sweatshirt isn’t a good fit either. The one that cost $70 to overnight ship today for tomorrow’s 'Decision Day" and photo op at his high school. Ah, we needed the chuckle. And it’s true, the shirt is humungous.

I think you’re right about College B possibly holding the offer for a visit. And about College A not extending their offer.

Great points about not having to connect with Admissions and so forth, but if the attitude is institution wide, it could extend to Housing, Study Abroad, etc. But I don’t know if that’s the case and it’s probably fine. Our experience with Financial Aid during Accepted Students Days was pretty bad. In 10 years interacting with colleges, I was shocked and we left the campus with a bit of a bad impression overall. Sure they were tired, but still.

Thanks so much.

@CapeCodLady8, I remember we chatted about architecture programs a few months back. Are both A & B BArch or BS Architecture programs?

Although I tend to be a stickler for fit, I would put undergraduate architecture in a separate category as the departments tend to be insular. You might ask about the relative strength of the departments on College Confidential Architecture Careers board. Or PM me if you don’t want to name names.

Both the programs are 5 year BArch programs and we’re pretty familiar with the lists of top ranked schools. I think if I posted the names it would seem obvious to choose College A, but to note, College B is a higher ranked academic school and we’re pretty confident by the size of their program and the opportunities their students receive, it would be a good undergraduate /BArch school, as well.

I wish the “getting in” excitement was carrying through the decision process. I’m sure things will feel better by 5pm tomorrow!

You may want to find out how much school ranking in major matters for BArch program graduates seeking employment. Is it more like law (where a JD from a non-top law school is almost worthless for finding a law job these days) or engineering (where one’s school ranking is much less of an exclusion factor, particularly after experience), or somewhere in between?

Thanks, ucalumnus. We’ve tried to sort out the answer to that question for many months now. In some reviews from architect journals and reputable sources, the answer is quite varied. We’ve been asking a lot of questions about jobs after graduation and pretty much we’ve gotten positive responses from most of the places we’ve visited. Sadly, the other day I bumped into someone in our town and they said they knew someone who graduated from College A and they were working at Enterprise Car Rental because they couldn’t find a job after graduation and had over 100K in student loan debt. They must have represented the one student who wasn’t working after graduation when we asked at the school!! They do have renowned career placement services.

The $100,000 of student loan debt was a really bad idea in any case.

Parts of the architecture field have suffered a lot in recent years. If it’s tough to find a job when your S graduates, the merit $$ may be a wise move if it means he’s not under crushing debt.

I would join the chorus of folks who say that if the BArch is the only reason he’d attend School A, that is a red flag he should think about. It would mean a transfer elsewhere (and with generally poorer FA packaging) if there’s nothing else at the school that interests him.

I have a recollection of a CCer a few years ago whose D went to a BArch program, decided to leave the program (it was extremely intense), and the school was pretty specialized in other areas in which she was not interested. IIRC, she wound up transferring.

Definitely call School B to see if S can get enough time to make a visit.

^^^ totally agree!

My observation is that it’s the ranking and reputation of the BArch program, not the university as a whole, that is the key factor when making architecture comparisons.

Not that ranking is the be all and end all. I would also consider location vis a vis where your son is likely to end up living and practicing. Some architecture schools have country-wide (or even global) reputations, some are more local. You might also look at which firms recruit on campus, where students get summer internships and which MArch programs they tend to gravitate toward.

The ranking, fit and intellectual rigor of the overall university may become more significant if it turns out that your son doesn’t stick with architecture, but I just don’t know if you can juggle that many “what ifs.”

On its own merits, is there anything specific about College B that your son doesn’t like? It seems to me that the upsides of College B – less expensive, better architecture ranking – might outweigh the disadvantages of not having visited. If you can get an extension that enables your son to visit, the most you will lose is your deposit on College A. On the other hand a visit may just reinforce that College A was the right decision all along.

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My son said if it were not for the program at school A he would never have considered it otherwise.

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What are the negatives on College A? The strength of the architecture program may outweigh the university’s overall negatives, or may not.

Although following a BArch with an MArch isn’t required, it’s quite common nowadays, especially for architects aspiring toward top paying jobs and/or prestigious firms, and the money saved at College B might help fund an MArch.

Have you considered putting down a deposit at both schools and visit one last time if they won’t grant an extension ? I was surprised to read somewhere that some kids do that. Just a thought.

While it may indeed be true that “some kids do that,” when you submit your FAFSA form it states that you agree not to put down a deposit at more than one school. Doing so may be grounds for financial aid packages being invalidated. Much better to notify the schools in question and ask for an extension.

$16.5 K TOTAL or per year? If it is less than $5K per year, then if a big different in reputation, would probably stick with A. Sounds like he is getting Financial Aid at School A. Will that change due to another kid graduating? Otherwise, assuming your EFC doesn’t change, should keep up with increasing cost of tuition.

Ask for extensions and explain why, certainly at School B. I believe you can deposit at A (if they won’t give an extentsion) and then go and visit B and if the aid package if that good and he loves it, unenroll at A and enroll at B without bending any of the only one deposit Rules.

It would help if you would name the schools. You would probably get some more specific advice.

It’s impossible to judge without knowing the schools. I got the impression that the scholarship at college B is 16.5K per year. Keep us posted! My D also got a financial aid package at the last minute (yesterday!!). Ugh!

I hope you have been able to contact School B today and ask for an extension. @mom2and has a great suggestion in post#33 that keeps your options open without actually double depositing.

From what you are posting, it seems that College B has a lot of great positives, and might even be preferred by your son? Except for the fact that he hasn’t visited it, that is a realistic concern. The only positive I am sensing from you for College A is that it must be a highly ranked, prestige school. Others looking in on your situation might have reactions of “how could you turn down College A ?”

Please consider what is best for your son’s college experience, and ignore the prestige labels. Good luck to you!

To clarify, College A gave only need-based FA grants and no merit aid. College B gave 16.5 in merit total, which would remain constant. I’m hesitant to name the schools, sorry. Feel free to pm me if you want.

My son is wanting to contact B and see if they will hold his offer until we can visit. He doesn’t want to shut the door on a school we didn’t visit due to financial reasons, which now have been lifted due to the change in his package.

I will call today to see if that is possible, and also have to deposit at A.

While I know this will work itself out, it really feels like such a mess. Commitment Day and my son headed off to school so unhappy and frankly embarrassed it seems not having a clear choice. Last night a dear friend made him a mock up, iron on transfer for a t-shirt that was awesome (given the sweatshirt debacle), so that really made me smile finding it in my mailbox this morning, even if the situation hasn’t really resolved yet!

You guys rock, thanks for your advice and understanding.

@CapeCodLady8 good luck, positive thoughts and prayers coming your way! We had a similar situation with my D, we got in her dream school, with no merit money or HC, and also got in one of her safeties with two scholarships and acceptance in to the HC there. Both schools have great programs for what she wants to study but the overall reputations vary greatly. I told her not to worry about the money but it really was the safety school that won her over. We were lucky in that she was able to visit both schools numerous times. The decision was easy for her but I am having a hard time letting the dream school go!

How important are visits to him? I.e. what did he find out about various other schools when he visited them, and how important were such things in how desirable each school was to him? What would he be looking for on a visit?

Visits seem to be heavily emphasized on these forums, but it is likely that a large percentage of students do not visit their colleges before they arrive for registration and classes. Also, many parents have reported here that students can be influenced by superficial impressions on a visit, while not getting too much useful information.

“Both the programs are 5 year BArch programs and we’re pretty familiar with the lists of top ranked schools. I think if I posted the names it would seem obvious to choose College A, but to note, College B is a higher ranked academic school”

Without knowing the exact schools, it seems to me that typically posters lean toward the higher ranked academic school in general unless there is a significant difference in the rankings within the major program.