You’re right! That’s much faster than looking up the IPEDS!
Hmm, I’m not sure that works for us? 
We already have tickets going to WPI first – flying into Boston, driving rental to Worcester.
Then driving back to Boston, flying to Pitt.
Then flying back home from Pitt.
So if we add Wesleyan, I was going to just fly to Boston one day earlier and drive the rental car to Middletown. Then drive to WPI and resume the original plan.
I think because we’re flying out of Sacramento, there are no direct flights to Boston?
That would work. I make the drive back and forth to Boston all the time. I’d allow 2.5 hours for the trip from Wesleyan to Logan, maybe a little more in case there are traffic problems (3 hours?)
You have to pre-register for a tour + info session at Wesleyan. I suggest that you check their Admissions Office on their website to see if there is availability on the dates you’re coming East.
If you drive to Middletown after your tour at WPI, a good place to stay is The Inn at Middletown, right on Main Street with lots of restaurants nearby and just a few blocks from the Wesleyan campus.
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Historically, URochester placed above schools such as Penn and Duke and equivalent to Stanford when considered by standardized scoring profiles: LIFE - Google Books.
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What a cool look back in time! It was in the higher tuition group back then too. 
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Thank you for all the tips! I think she signed up for a tour but I’ll double check. Still waiting on her schedule to firm up so we know if we can even go. 
Also update: Waitlisted at Barnard. I was actually really intrigued by that possibility but relieved we don’t have to squeeze in another college tour. She was ready for a flat out rejection, so the waitlist was a softer blow as she feels at least they thought she was qualified to attend.
Thanks again for all your help!
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Of the schools you have narrowed to, one part that stands out at Pitt is that it offers big-time sports. Your daughter may not be a big sports fan, but the games are significant events and go beyond what is played on the field or court. Pitt doesn’t have its own football stadium, and the home games are played at Heinz Field, the Steelers Stadium. They close down the streets running through campus on home games and line up buses to the stadium. There is a lot of school pride and it certainly plays a role in the overall college experience
Wow that is amazing! I knew they did football, but didn’t realize the played on the Steelers’ field or did all that on campus! D is not at all a sports fan but I think could appreciate the school spirit even if she’s not one to go to a game. I wonder if that’s the sense I’m getting of school spirit/pride whenever I’m reading about Pitt, watching their webinars, etc. Feels like they have a real positive energy.
It’s interesting because I thought Oregon State would’ve felt similar since I thought football’s pretty big there too, but at least when we went it was a really subdued, quiet campus. D didn’t mind, so I have to check myself and not try to influence her decisions too much. Maybe I won’t bring one of those Pitt #1 foam fingers back home on the plane. 
Congratulations on your daughter’s acceptances; she certainly has some great options. Enjoy your visits; it’s an exciting and special time.
Thank you so much and thanks for all your advice! We’re excited to visit schools since we didn’t get to do them over the pandemic. Would’ve liked the whole family to go for fun but hasn’t worked for our schedules and most places only allow 1 parent, but it’s been really nice getting this special mother-daughter time during her last year at home. 
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Well all her decisions are in! Interestingly, she’s still on the waitlist for Case but they send students an anticipated merit award if she gets pulled from the list.
Schools are in order of her original preferences when she applied, so there’s already been some movement and will continue to shift as we visit, learn more about schools, get in to Honors College (or don’t), etc. Majors are listed if admitted by major.
I’ve added total cost of attendance minus scholarships, although some amounts are 2021-22 but should be close. We are so grateful she has so many amazing options and look forward to helping her sort through the possibilities!:
Admitted:
University of Rochester (appealing no merit) ($82k)
UC Santa Cruz (comp sci) ($39k)
Cal Poly SLO (software eng.)($31k)
WPI ($30k/year merit) ($46k)
Pitt (comp sci) (waitlisted Honors College) ($55k)
Wesleyan ($82k)
San Diego State (comp sci) ($32k)
San Jose State (software eng.) ($29k)
Oregon State (comp sci) ($15k/yr WUE scholarship, Honors College) ($37k)
Admitted but no longer considering:
UC Riverside (comp sci)
Cal Poly Pomona (comp sci)
Long Beach State (comp sci)
Sacramento State (comp sci)
Waitlisted:
Case Western (anticipated $19k/yr university scholarship) ($62k)
UCLA (comp sci)
Harvey Mudd
UC San Diego (comp sci)
Barnard
UC Irvine (comp sci)
UC Davis (comp sci)
Rejected:
MIT
Yale
UChicago
Pomona
Stanford
Brown
Tufts
UC Berkeley (comp sci)
UC Santa Barbara (comp sci)
We will surely have more updates and questions as we visit the schools and learn more, but just want to say thank you again to everyone who has helped us on this journey. We had so much amazing advice on school selection and strategy, and just general hand-holding for me as I’ve veered towards the abyss of over-research crazy-making! We are truly grateful for this knowledgeable and supportive community!
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Which of these falls into your affordable price limit?
Fortunately they all are affordable and we are willing to pay. But at the same we don’t want to throw money out if another school would be just as good a fit for her. I shared with her @eyemgh’s scenario of what she could do if we gave her some of the cost difference and invested it (sweet girl said she’d want to add to our retirement), or maybe she’d change her mind and want to go to law school or med school and could save it for that. She is prone to changing her mind after all. 
So I listed the costs as a factor in consideration, but not the deciding factor unless all else is comparable between schools in the final decision.
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I’m assuming she’s pursuing at least some of the WL schools? Fit is definitely important. That said, for CS I would think the Cali/ west coast options would be tough to beat. Lower cost and so many job opportunities. Good luck.
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Congratulations, Chrisntine!!! So happy that your daughter has so many excellent choices!
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Thanks for the update - I’ve been following the twists and turns of this thread with interest. Congratulations to your D22!
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Yes, she’ll stay on the waitlists for all those except UCD. But we really doubt she’d get in, so moving on. 
Yeah, if she was certain she wanted CS, I’d strongly encourage her to stay in California. But she really is not sure – she picked CS when she had to declare an intended major because it was the most difficult admit of all her current interests. Especially for the UC/CSU’s since we learned it would be hard/impossible to switch in to CS if that ended up being her thing.
If she could have, she would have picked Undeclared everywhere (and maybe had better admit results for the UCs?), but then would’ve unlikely been able to get into one of the majors she likes since so many are impacted. That’s why she loved schools like Rochester and Case, where they were strong in all the majors she was interested in but allowed the kids flexibility to try them out and change their minds. I think that’s why Wesleyan and Pitt are also up there on her list now too. although I’m not sure how easy that is at Pitt.
But not ruling out the west coast schools either. She’s trying to figure out how hard it is to switch in to other majors at those schools from CS (or from SE at SLO and SJSU). It seems it can be done, but I’m worried because a lot of the other majors she’s interested in are also impacted.
Thanks for all your help!
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Thank you both! You’ve been so encouraging and supportive!
And @LostInTheShuffle I totally get it. When I joined CC about this time last year, I was totally caught up in the kids’ stories and was so excited to see where they got in, where the went, etc. My husband thinks I"m crazy I’m so interested in kids of strangers but I"m totally rooting for them! 
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Don’t worry you are not alone there. I even checkout threads of schools that my daughter didn’t apply to. It talks so much stories, the hardwork, the appreciation, the disappointment and what not. CC is a strong community, loved to be part of it anyway. Good luck to your D Christine!!!
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This afternoon we were at a local Cal Poly event for admitted students, and one of the recent SLO grads on the panel said she switched majors from engineering after freshman year (once she figured out engineering wasn’t for her; she didn’t say which type it was exactly) to animal science and then ultimately to biology, and still managed to graduate in four years. I don’t know how impacted those other majors are compared to what your D decides she’s interested in? But the VP of student affairs (who was the main speaker) said around 30% of students at Cal Poly change their major, and even went so far as to say that the difficulty of changing majors at Cal Poly is a myth. Was it a bit of salesmanship? Maybe. 
Are you all attending the admitted student days later this week? Unfortunately we will miss those particular days, but will be visiting some time this month. Good luck to your D in making decisions, it is great to have options but still tough to narrow things down to one.
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