<p>Bumping this thread again! :-* </p>
<p>EEEK!</p>
<p>My best advice is to figure out which features are important to you and your child. Also, don’t try to keep track of <em>everything</em> at once.</p>
<p>I had 3 spreadsheets – one for keeping track of info about schools my S might want to consider applying to. For us that primarily consisted of information about likely merit aid, size, distance from home, info about honors programs where relevant. </p>
<p>Second spreadsheet was for applications, keeping track of all deadlines, what had been submitted and when, when to expect replies, etc.</p>
<p>Third spreadsheet is for making the final decision.<br>
One section for money to figure out the net price after merit and need-based aid and then another to compare other features of interest for those schools that made the cut on money issues. The features in this final chart are the details my S is most interested (size of his program, overall size, detailed differences in the major, minors available, engineering project clubs, housing details, recreational activities he enjoys, and so on) Although for the most part I think money and a gut feel will be the final decider, it’s helpful to have all the info in front of us.</p>