<p>Assuming you have done your research, they have several major options, size and location work, etc. sometimes it just comes down to feeling like it is the right place. Sometimes you can’t even express why it’s the right place, it just is. Most likely when all is said an done there will be one or 2 clear choices, which helps the process. I think the most important thing is to go into whatever school with the attitude that is IS the right choice and make the best of it. Doing that, it will work out.</p>
<p>I would visit their career center and comb through their placement rate for both employment and graduate school. Most people are so excited about getting into a college that they do not think about life after college.</p>
<p>Check out the graduation rate. If it takes students 4+ years to graduate then dig into further as to why. </p>
<p>I am not a believer of over night visit. It could give you a good sense of the school if you get a typical student to host (or someone just like your kid), but I would think not that many typical students would want to host someone they don’t know. A perfect good “fit” school could turn into a nightmare. If your kid knows someone at the school, I would ask if he/she mind hosting, otherwise I would skip it all together. D1 crossed out her top choice after she did an over night because she was taken to a poetry reading, choir concert, then was left in the dorm room because her host had an exam next day. If she had gone to the school she probably would have met some people more like her.</p>
<p>It is good to have options, not every student has it at the end.</p>
<p>To answer your gluten free question - most schools have easy availability and if they don’t they can arrange it with a little information. Celiac is more and more common, there are a great many schools that accommodate for it. There was a thread here a few years ago if you can search for it.</p>
<p>Regarding the other areas, just make sure the school is what it says it is. For example, our daughter was admitted to all 7 schools to which she applied, but it was easy to eliminate all but three after attending the admitted student days. We found that two that were supposed to be creative and loose with requirements were actually very competitive and high pressure - not a good thing for my daughter. Two others were consortiums and the two majors my daughter is looking at became unavailable because of large donations to two of the other schools in the consortium recently received very large grants so all the other schools dropped their focus because the kids could take better classes elsewhere. My daughter felt she wanted to attend one school, not five. This feeling carried over to the other consortium schools as well.</p>
<p>It’s a combination of academics and fit. Every school has it’s “attitude” and that should match your child. In the end, it usually becomes pretty obvious and narrowed down to 2 or 3. </p>
<p>Oh, I do agree with location only because my younger daughter is 3 hours from an airport which makes it a pain, my older daughter is in Chicago, very easy commute.</p>
<p>I agree with Oldfort about the overnight visits. Much like your opinion of a school can be skewed by the tour guide, imagine the influence an overnight host could have that could very well have nothing to do with the experience your child would have at the school. </p>
<p>A better indicator for my son was sitting in on a class in his major, eating in the cafeteria, and re-touring with more personal guides who actually showed them their dorm room.</p>
<p>^^^I think the single most helpful thing I have found on visits was eating in the cafeteria. You see how happy or unhappy the kids are, how much interaction there is between students, etc. One school we visited not only had a very cool looking cafeteria but it really seemed like kids sat just anywhere and would strike up conversations with whomever they sat with. I noticed on the tour that most kids said hi, welcome, etc. to us while on the tour and even profs in the hallways, etc. made sure to say hi. We were milling around outside of one office and a woman came out, asked all the kids their names, where they were from, had something to say about each state they were from–even KNEW someone we knew from our state. I loved that school :D.</p>
<p>Another school we visited the kids sat down, maybe in groups of 2 or 3 in the cafeteria, mostly pulled out cell phones or laptops, started texting or working on their computers, etc. Very little interaction with each other. No one really said anything to us while on the tour, etc. Just didn’t get a good feeling for that school, which, on paper was the best overall match for both the kids. Didn’t apply there.</p>
<p>Even sitting in on classes hasn’t been all that helpful. The kids in that one class may or may not be engaged in that one class but all of the rest of their classes may be totally different. I think overall if the kids are engaged with each other outside of class, more often than not they will be in most of their classes. I know when I was in college there were some classes that lent themselves to being more interactive than others. I assume it’s the same for every college.</p>
<p>Overnight visits were very important for S’s decision.</p>
<p>One thing about gluten, you just may have to stock up her dorm room with food she can eat. Most schools have a kitchen in each dorm, many on each floor. She may have to do some cooking for herself. It is what it is. I would check into how they handle the meal plan or what the options are. At D’s school all first semester freshman are required to take the largest meal plan. It is one way they can help monitor if students are assimilating into the college process. After that they can change their plan to see what works best for them. With her allergy, they may consider adapting that rule, for one example.</p>
<p>Assuming that the two college/unis are “equal” in consideration, I would ask the kids if they’ve looked at the classes that are required for their major. I’d ask if they have looked closely at what the kids do for fun on the weekends, I’d ask if they had done any research on where the kids ‘come from’…are they all regional or local or if they come from all over. I’d ask them if they discovered if there was grocery shopping, restaurants, etc close or if they would need to know someone with a car or use public transportation. As far as me, the mom, I’d be pricing transportation back and forth.</p>
<p>D can’t eat gluten, but hasn’t had problems with cross contamination. I’d look at the willingness of the dining hall to accommodate. After her diagnosis, when she went to lunch, she’d go get the chef and he would take her around and tell her what she could eat. Sometimes, he would make something for her. Will they be willing to order and provide gluten free items not on the menu, like bread, even if the student will need to ask for it when ordering a sandwich. Then, because sometimes there may be no desirable options, are there kitchen facilities available in the residence halls? </p>
<p>Otherwise, for us, what we looked at was money. Assuming the child still likes all the schools at this point, it comes down to affordability. I want them through without debt.</p>
<p>For a kiddo with major food intolerance, I’d be wanting to know if they can move off campus sophomore year to avoid the dining hall issues. My oldest has some minor issues and while we had to pay a ton for dining his freshman year he rarely ate in the cafeterias so being able to move off campus sophomore year was a big choice factor for him. </p>
<p>He was never Mr. College rah rah anyway (and was never Mr. High School either) and his non-class time, non-study time was done doing things that interested him off campus so that might be a consideration. He loved his college town and surrounding area more than he “loved” the college campus. He did graduate in four years despite not being a campus joiner and he’s still living and working in the region. Choosing that college was more about getting himself to a place he loves to live more than anything and since most hiring is regional, it worked for him.</p>
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<p>It mostly speaks volumes about the selectivity of the school. It is very likely that the admissions safety will have lower retention and graduation rates than the admissions reach simply because of the students who enroll there. But your student’s chance of graduation at either school is likely to be mostly due to his/her own ability, motivation, and preparation.</p>
<p>Here is a calculator that may be of interest. Please note that it is mainly for estimating graduation rates at schools, though you can get some idea of where a student stands by putting in a hypothetical school filled with students just like the student in question. But it does not necessarily account for other factors that you may know from personal knowledge of the student (hard worker versus slacker, etc.).</p>
<p>[Higher</a> Education Research Institute (HERI)](<a href=“http://www.heri.ucla.edu/GradRateCalculator.php]Higher”>Higher Education Research Institute)</p>
<p>The school your kid wants the most is the one that should get a lot of consideration because many times the success of a student has a lot to do with how happy that student is. When things go wrong, and it is likely that something will go wrong, it’s too easy to blame, parents, the fates, the school, the fit, everything especially when a kid feels railroaded into a school. I’ve known adults still resentful about not being permitted to go to the school of choice. If it’s a reason over which one does not have control, like finances, it’s one thing, but when it’s because mom and dad are forcing their opinion, it can be an issue.</p>
<p>Unless she has already been accepted at several places, I would personally just sit tight for the time being and wait, no matter how hard it is to do that. I think that thinking it all out too early could potentially lead to disappointment if she does not get in at some places. I would just wait until all the cards are on the table.</p>
<p>Thanks. Fit will definitely be a key consideration and, once finances are considered, she will have full say on where she wants to go without undo pressures from mom or me. We just want to make sure we’re asking the right questions and focusing on helpful things when we talk about these schools.</p>
<p>I understand how potentially misleading an overnight visit might be but I’d have a hard time with her not doing one before deciding where to go. (As someone else mentioned, we did attempt to eat in the dining halls of every school we visited to get a sense of the way students interacted.)</p>
<p>sylvan8798 - I always ask about “advising” because it was lacking in my own college experience but it’s very hard to to discern whether one school has better support than others. She’s looking at all small LACs but mine was too. I love what I’ve heard about these freshman year seminars having advisors associated with them. Any suggested questions to ask about advising beyond how many students the average advisor has?</p>
<p>Oldfort mentioned career services. What questions would you ask? How do you evaluate their services?</p>
<p>Many of you mentioned moving off campus to accomodate her celiacs. I think this is unlikely. We’re looking at all small LACs, none of them in cities, where the experience is tied to campus living. That said, this is clearly a big issue and we’ll make it a point to have conversations with the chefs at all the schools she’s considering – and consider whether she should be listed with disability services. She’s dealing with flare-ups and a lot of pain now, even at home, and she’s in a two-toaster household that takes her condition very seriously. She’s back to the doctor in Feb. for another endoscopy to see what’s going on. As a child, she was treated for ulcerative colitis but that switched to a celiacs diagnosis her junior year.</p>
<p>She lives now in the northeast. Most schools on her list are in close proximity to transportation or within a few hours of home. There are two schools on her list that would be transportation-challenged. Both are in her top four. One is way off the grid – in rural Ohio, an hour from the Columbus airport with no public transportation. They offer shuttle transportation during breaks but, I’m guessing, she’d need to take a car service for any other times. The other is about 30 minutes from an airport with no easy way to the airport (assuming she’d have to do a car service) but they do have a great shuttle service during breaks that goes directly to Hartford which would be convenient – [url=<a href=“http://www.breakshuttle.com/]CampusConnector[/url”>http://www.breakshuttle.com/]CampusConnector[/url</a>].</p>
<p>One additional question: Is it worth considering how schools support study abroad? If it’s financially feasible, she’d like to do this. All of the schools she’s applied to say they’re big proponents. Is this something you just figure out once you’ve decided on a school or is the support different enough that you need to consider before making a college selection.</p>
<p>LBowie - Fair enough. We’re not counting chickens that haven’t hatched yet – or at least we’re not with her. But, she has received a couple of early action admits and we wanted to make sure we were thinking about the right things.</p>
<p>It’s very unlikely that she’ll get into all the schools in her top four and, if by some means she does, I suppose there are worse things. :)</p>
<p>I would encourage you to visit each school’s career center, ask them what they do to assist students in job placement, what’s the percentage of students getting their jobs through on campus recruiting, which company recruits on campus, percentage of students are employed after graduation. many schools have such stats online. If your kid wants to go to graduate school, whats their placement rate for her intended major.</p>
<p>A school like U Chicago may not have as good of job placement rate, but most of their students tend to go to graduate schools after graduation, another school maybe lower ranking, but they may be very focused on getting their students into medical schools.</p>
<p>Fit and COA.</p>
<p>As to study abroad-if it’s something very important to your D, then definitely ask questions about the process. D2 and D3 are at a school where scholarship money continues during the time you are abroad. But other schools we looked at didn’t offer that. Their school puts a big emphasis on studying abroad, and a majority of their friends have done so, whether for just a summer,semester or a year.</p>
<p>kelbee - study abroad is a huge consideration for D2 and we have learned that each school does it differently…some have traditional, some have short term, full semester, full year, abroad internships, some have programs where you are on your own while others have professor lead experiences. IF study abroad is a consideration, I would suggest that you look into it in more detail.</p>
<p>Another thing to look at with study abroad is whether student are able to get credit in their majors if they don’t go to school sponsored programs. My son wanted to spend a whole year in an Arabic speaking country, but his major (International Relations!!!) won’t give him any credit. He only gets distribution credits which he doesn’t really need. I think it’s all going to work out, but he may take a heavier load as a senior than he really wanted to.</p>