<p>We've had similar threads, but most have focused on our feelings , or where we'd want to go. What schools are out there that your kids just can't/won't get their arms around but you still wish they would give a fair shot even as branding time draws ever more near?</p>
<p>Darling daughter has shut down. Doesn't open mail from schools not on the "list". Continuously rolls her eyes if I mention a factoid about a school she has opted not to consider.</p>
<p>I have a couple of schools that I really want to recognize with Honorable Mention , or "The If I had Another Kid I'd Start with You" Award.</p>
<p>The first is Grinnell. What a classy bunch. Great everything. Great need based, plus generous merit. Just an exceptional, wonderful school in every criteria I can name as important.</p>
<p>The second would be Bard. Their new science initiative coupled with their new science scholarships and their unique scholarship for top 10 students (you pay your flagship state school's rates, how cool is that?) makes Bard incredibly attractive. Location that makes NYC possible some weekends, and what appears to be a beautiful if eclectic campus (from the website).</p>
<p>I have a few more but these two tug at me the hardest. If these schools have any adcoms floating around the board, I just wanted to say that I appreciate the steps you are taking to keep premier colleges affordable to (some, admittedly high achieving) middle class kids. The opportunities you afford to that niche of super high achiever/no or little financial aid kid from a family who can't afford their calculated EFC did not go unappreciated by me. Kudos to both of your schools.</p>
<p>I was very impressed with Colorado State U in Ft. Collins. We were there last summer during a vacation. Ft. Collins is really neat- "the new Boulder" and the school had some amazing resources and a good honors college. S liked what he saw, but he's WAY too good for a place like that (Mom rolls eyes).<br>
Also- S won't even consider Rice, his sister's college. I can't really blame him, because the weather isn't favorable for his sport. It would have been SO easy, though.</p>
<p>Curmudgeon, is Hendrix still on your D's list? You've mentioned before how impressed you have been with it, but as I recall your D thought it was just too close to home.</p>
<p>I wish S liked Swarthmore more. Not that I have been there or anything:) but the posts here just make it sound like such a wonderful place. And S is in his heart such a quirky intellectual if he wasn't under the spell of being cool and ironic and a "regular" guy.. When he asked me where I thought he should go, "just give me your first reaction Mom," he then told me that since Swarthmore had cancelled their football program to foster a more intellectual atmosphere it was the kind of place he would least like to go to.</p>
<p><em>mom sighs</em></p>
<p>However, there is some comfort. Since Swarthmore is nearly impossible to get into, no harm done if he doesn't like it anyway. Next time perhaps I will use reverse psychology and suggest Notre Dame or Oklahoma State where football is held in its correct esteem.</p>
<p>Alumother, don't feel that badly about son not liking Swarthmore. It's definitely not for everyone, as it is smaller than many High Schools. My friend was very upset when her D chose to go there, and now, 2 years later, the D is finding it slightly constricting.</p>
<p>At this point I have no schools that I wish my daughter liked better. There is a piece of me that wishes she would at least visit our state flagship U, but she has no interest (hates the town, doesn't like the size, just doesn't want to go there), so I'm not pushing it.</p>
<p>1) Williams - why she didn't like it is one of those teenage things, she's going to Dartmouth, really, how different are they?</p>
<p>2) Univ of Chicago - Couldn't even get her to look</p>
<p>3) Rice - see #2, she actually did have one concrete reason, the weather, we live in Houston-type weather, she wanted a change</p>
<p>4) Any home state U - probably have some of the same reasons as Thumper, boy we could have used the money</p>
<p>5) W&M and UVa - see #2 above. After a few visits it was clear she preferred smaller schools, so I was less overdone by UVa, but I think her Dad and I had always sort of pictured her at W&M - possibly it was having her photo taken on the steps of the Wren Building when she was 6 weeks old?</p>
<p>Oh, and Curmudge, daughter did exactly the same thing, about this time last year - once that list is made, that's it! Be ready for that ED decision, it is coming soon. Strong personalities, unshakeable convictions, that's my girl.</p>
<p>The scary thing is that after the initial getting in excitement wore off, she has seemed very let down by her choice (she's probably reading in, but that's OK), happily though now that she has a dorm assignment and roommate name, she seems much happier and more excited. We 'rents know there will be some bad patches first term/semester, they need some joy in their choice, excitement in the adventure, in order to get them through the bad patches - that's really why we are wasting our time here.</p>
<p>Gosh, I went through that too, until I realized it just wasn't helping and probably driving the nail into the coffin of those schools I was "subltly" pushing her to continue to consider. In the end, if they make a decent, appropriate choice, then their gut feelings ~ even if unfounded or irrational ~ ought to be respected. It would color the entire experience there.</p>
<p>And are we much better? Often there is little to distinguish...pick your own example... say, one new automobile from another. But we like the look and feel of it, think it says something about us. Nonsense of course - marketing - but it colors our entire experience with the car.</p>
<p>BTW, not to offend anyone, but I too was high (er, so to speak) on Bard until our visits there. I even had my daughter go back a second time after she was accepted and realized that I too felt that - in person - it lacked much.</p>
<p>These kids who make up their minds so solidly and then seem less than excited later may be narrowing their choices to avoid ambiguity and then absorbing the reality later. But hey, who's to say that's not a good strategy given the randomness of life and the multiple good options for how to get an education?</p>
<p>Our D has been in denial all summer that she was leaving. Didn't want to think about it. Nor did her mother, really. Now that we are buying suitcases and hiking socks (Princeton has something called Outdoor Action they do the week before school starts if they want) and picking up packing boxes, it's become real.</p>
<p>Here's what has helped get her over her denial. 1. Dorm assignments. 2. FACEBOOK! Anyone have a Facebook obsessed kid in their house? </p>
<p>I like the campus, the fun, the students and the huge amount of different classes. And it's 45 minutes away. It's our local public. Tuition is $4340. He knows tons of people there, ie. undergrads, grads. post-docs, med school profs. Imagine college being so comfortable and FUN. And close to family, well, ME.</p>
<p>All the reasons I LOVE it. And all the reasons he doesn't want to attend.</p>
<p>He said he will apply, but he is not liking it.</p>
<p>Notre Dame. One turned down an acceptance, the other didn't even apply. Gorgeous campus, great undergrad experience, a truly special atmosphere... but local :(.</p>
<p>Alumother, your daughter found me on facebook before I even really looked for her! No where's waldo for me, but I think a sex and the city marathon is in the works :p</p>
<p>Dartmouth. Great school. Its the seze he wanted. had an engineering school, all the outdoor activities he loves, etc etc. But, he didn't like it. I 've talked about this in other threads before, including the variables that I think turned him off. Oh well. No matter. He LOVES his selected undergrad, and it is an easy planeride away... Oh, and the HS senior class jerk (you know-- the one that always asks you what grade you got on a test so he can tell you he did better) wound up at Dartmouth. All the more reason not to like it.</p>
<p>Both my kids toured at Yale and got turned off. After the infor session, my d. wouldn't even go on the tour (this was 5 yrs. ago)...dad took her back, and they toured together. My son visited with an open mind, and came from the tour feeling less than at home with his impression of the students he met. I never was quite sure why...everything I've heard about Yale--at least in the last couple of years, would have made me think they'd love it.</p>
<p>Curmudgeon, it could be that your DD already did some investigation and your idea of a possible good financial deal doesn't mesh with her interests. I have no information on Grinnell, but I have visitied Bard. It is in the middle of nowhere with absolutely nothing around for many miles. "Eclectic" is an overly kind description of the campus. It is really pretty gross especially the dorms. It is not close enough for reasonable weekend trips to NYC. There is a reason Bard is supporting science major applicants. There are very minimal facilities. Then there are drugs and sex parties to consider. Although these occur everywhere, they are blatant and pervasive at Bard. If you have any doubts you can visit - read the campus newspaper and be sure to visit the old gym. One glance will give you a pretty good idea of what occurs there on the weekends.</p>
<p>Iderochi, D still thinks Hendrix is too close to home, but what a good school. And very reasonable on the purse,too. Gee, I could make a fine list from these schools.</p>
<p>I don't want anyone to hear me incorrectly. D doesn't have a school on her list that I don't like. It's just there are different schools that I would have chosen for her to consider more fully. Looking on the bright side, I guess this is one way to be sure I didn't railroad her into choosing which schools to apply to ,huh?</p>