@LBowie: I rather like that kid’s answer. Whether or not I’d eat at Chipotle, the kid found one more (this part is key) reason to know there was a way to find “home”. I think the admissions officers need to infuse some life into their slant on who kids are if that answer absolutely rubbed them the wrong way.
There was a guy off-campus at a wildly busy deli shop near UCBerkeley who so impressed my son that he made it into the essay. We’d separated so my son could do the tour, and I was in a tizzy at the cost of parking and the lack thereof at the same time. I went to eat at a little deli about 1 1/2 hours before expecting to see my son again. After the tour was over he could not find me, and he walked into this place and started to ask the guy behind the counter if he had seen a woman fitting my description. The guy looked at my son and said, “Yeah, I remember her - you look just like her. She sat right there (pointed). Sit there and wait, maybe she’ll come back.” He ordered, and waited. Indeed, I did return.
My son wrote that the people in the area are exceptionally friendly, astute and kind. Especially the people at — deli. He was accepted at UCBerkeley.
On the other hand, your daughter may have anxiety (like mine does). She may be able to handle it in the familiar environment of school, with classmates she knows and parental support. Although she probably needs to get that independence, it may good to think about her not being too far from home so she gets that support. Also talk to her Ped about anxiety…best to get any mental health issues taken care of ahead of time. Go over on the “college life” subforum and you can read about kids who have anxiety but are coming home part way through the semester.
My daughter is on meds and is at a college an hour away. It is perfect for her. I can always go over there if necessary. Her older sister was 3.5 hours away and that was perfect for her.
I also made sure that there was a good orientation program…her smallish state school has a welcome week where they do many activities with their dorm floormates so they have a good chance to feel comfortable with the campus and make friends.
Bopper, Thank you. She does have anxiety, has had 2 panic attacks. If she stays home, there are not many options here that please her. She wants to major in Geology and there are a couple of schools around that have it but I really think the best option is for her to be away. She needs to get away from people in our house and they need her to get away from them. The closest school is 4 hours away that she likes. I have talked to my pediatrician about her anxiety, took her to a few therapy sessions, probably have to get back to that. I just hope that since school is less than a year away she will be less fearful and able to be away from home.
@GirlChild the school in question was BU which is in a city wth a lot of other colleges and universitiies. I am not sure if your son’s response would have made the admissions counselor happy in this situation either. They get the answer “because I want to be in Boston” to this question a lot and what BU wants to know is why BU specifically and why not one of the other dozen schools here? Chipotle is everywhere, so even worse than “I want to be in Boston!” So I guess the lesson here is know your audience. (I have been to another admissions event at BU a couple of years ago, so this is not the first time I am hearing how important this question is to them and how they do and do not want it answered.)