<p>Grinell is a great school, but a lot of people are turned off by it's "middle of nowhere location" (it's in a corner of a cornfield in iowa). One of my best friends is going there. You gotta love the t-shirts: "Where the hell is Grinell? Who the hell cares?"</p>
<p>Our local and surrounding area state schools - D was completely adverse to applying to any of them. She's only interested in being in a big city cosmo atmosphere, so it really isn't her kind of scene. It certainly would have helped in the "safety-match" department.</p>
<p>Any great LAC. We live in a town of 20,000, so D wants a city or at least suburban campus of 10,000 or more. To be fair, she is also pursuing a major that is very rare at a LAC, but I think I have a good sense of how the quality of interaction varies between small campus and large university. On the other hand, she's considered the dating prospects as well. If you're open to meeting a significant other, I guess the odds take a big hit when there are < 1000 in the pool.</p>
<p>I'm lucky that my parents have been very open to my college choice and "just want me to be happy." Some of that may come from the fact that I kind of picked up the pieces and they knew I would be obsessive enough to find out everything I needed to know about schools! haha
There may have been a slight push towards SMU, as they both went there and it is 10 mins down the road, but most of it seems like a joke anyways because I always roll my eyes.
I think they will be VERY happy if I decide to go to UT-Austin (and make that smart financial decision) and will only be 2.5 hrs away.</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd. Pomona's on S's list--physics/math major--but not Harvey Mudd. HM gives merit aid, Pomona doesn't. :(</p>
<p>All the Claremonts. Why do kids just dismiss them? Great schools, great weather, variety, none of my friends kids (local) are considering them.</p>
<p>You know....DD didn't like the Claremont Colleges...but neither did we. No regrets from us!!</p>
<p>Well, this list is interesting - some of the colleges that you other parents like are colleges that my daughter was interested in, but I encouraged her to drop from her list.</p>
<p>But first - the colleges I wish my daughter would take more seriously:</p>
<p>1 Bryn Mawr
2. Wellesley
3. Emory
4. UNC- Chapel Hill
5. University of Washington</p>
<p>She wouldn't even consider Emory or UNC -- could be a bias against the south, though she was interested in both Rice & Washington U.</p>
<p>Colleges that others have named, that I didn't like for my daughter:</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon: somehow my daughter got the idea early on that this would be good for her, but I was pretty sure after a little research that it was a poor match. They didn't really offer any of the majors she was interested; we had been misled early on by the strength of a particular graduate program there, but can see now that it doesn't extend to the undergrad level. </p>
<p>Bard: An early "for sure" on my daughter's list- she was even planning to fly out from California for their Immediate Decision days.... and I was enthused at first - but somehow couldn't "see" my daughter as being happy there. Too remote, too small. </p>
<p>Grinnell: Way too remote. I want my kid within spitting distance of a major airport - the kind with a few dozen daily flights back & forth from home.</p>
<p>My D applied to Bard, and it was a strong choice for her, and she was admitted--but when Reed said yes, she didn't hesitate to go to Reed. Why? Bard was just too remote. "Seriously, Mom, Portland vs. Annandale-on-Hudson? No-brainer!"</p>
<p>U Chicago, because I'd rather visit Chicago than Oberlin, Ohio.
And Cornell, because then I'd have an excuse to visit my old stomping grounds.</p>
<p>Who cares what she wants...</p>
<p>I wish D liked Smith and quirky Northampton . </p>
<p>I really wish she liked William & Mary.</p>
<p>And I'd be wildly delirious if she would even consider our state u.</p>
<p>University of Michigan...yes, I know it's only an hour or so away, and in my heart of hearts, I know that's too close. But in-state tuition would sure be nice.</p>
<p>Actually, anything in the midwest would be nice. She has several Ohio schools on her list, including her safety, but I have no doubt that if acceptances (with enough $$) come from her eastern or mid-Atlantic picks, that's where she'll be headed.</p>
<p>I wish my daughter had taken a closer look at St. Olaf, Kenyon and Whitman. But, I have to admit that the schools on her final list are all probably better fits for her. Still, I find myself secretly wondering if there isn't a school out there that she might have liked BETTER if we had only found it. :)</p>
<p>Schools I wish my D liked more:
Trinity U in Texas
Willamette
ASU Barretts (they still have her on the list as going there and wrote her a letter asking to meet with her and get her on track for the Truman, their mentoring is top notch)
The price was right at all these schools but her heart was set on CA.
She is very excited however with her choice so that is what is important!</p>
<p>Miraculously, my son, my husband and I all agreed yea or nay on all of the schools that he visited so the problem wasnt his short list or his ED choice. The potential of dispute would have come up had he not been accepted at his #1: His #2 was Wesleyan, mine was Swarthmore and my husbands was Brown. (We all liked Yale, a lot, but didnt feel he was right for it.) </p>
<p>Of course this is pure speculation and who knows if he would even have gotten in, but it does pose a theoretical question since all three of these schools are so different from Williams. Knowing what he and we do now, Hamilton or Kenyon would have been better #2s even though they werent as selective as the others.</p>
<p>Cangel, I think the Hour of Letdown is a combination of buyers remorse and now what? So much tension goes into the application process that even when its wildly successful, the kids get a kind of a what else is out there? feeling. These few weeks leading up to the big event are among the most poignant in anyones life enjoy them!</p>
<p>carolyn, if theres a college you didn't consider sufficiently, I would be amazed!!</p>
<p>We just got back from visiting, and can I, like, just go there myself as a well-past-her-sell-by-date alternative student?</p>
<p>I didn't want to leave.</p>
<p>Sigh.</p>
<p>Went through it- my mother wished that I had liked Smith and "quirky" Northampton more. I tried but didn't quite fit. Smith and nothing else.</p>
<p>Dad- no pressure, no regrets, didn't care as long I was happy. Knew that Smith and Colgate were great schools.</p>
<p>However, I think if fit wasn't an issue, they'd preferred that I had gone to URochester or SUNY Geneseo for the money.</p>
<p>Definitely happy that I didn't wind up at American University, Skidmore, and Hobart/William Smith.</p>
<p>Lawrence U. I loved the school, the campus, the location, and everyone we came in contact with on the 3 different visits over the past 5 years that I made with 2 daughters. I was probably too enthusiastic with D#1, and it just isn't a good match for D#2.</p>
<p>Princeton. I thought it was terrific, but for D it was a yawn - fine school but no particular spark. </p>
<p>W wishes that I liked the Claremonts better. I went along with D applying to Pomona but was unenthusiastic about it. I hated Mudd and was relieved when D decided not to apply (mostly because she would have had to write another essay, and she was sick of essays by then).</p>