<p>oh well then … good for you!!</p>
<p>I’m a NMF who was accepted to Rice and TAMU, engineering major, and I chose not to do Rice ED because of the “binding” thing. They offered me enough to “only” pay $30,000 a year, whereas at A&M its more like $5,000. I chose A&M. </p>
<p>Just wondering… with the ED thing… what can they do to you if you don’t go? Not much, I would think. Especially since they offered you crap.</p>
<p>Just say that it is too much financially for you to attend their school. If they can’t do any better, then that is their problem.</p>
<p>S1 got accepted to Rice, TAMU and a couple of other prestigious programs. He was having a hard time choosing until he started visiting colleges by himself. He asked questions from people he chose, in addition to the scripted programs. In the end, he chose TAMU. I was very surprised as he had been gaga over ND, Rice. It wasn’t apparent to me then, but I believe he chose TAMU because of the culture. He is very much a team guy, not a me guy. He also loved the big school. </p>
<p>I just returned from Parents’ weekend, and am filled with a quiet joy that he made the right decision. The honors community there is as impressive as any school. The advisor was top notch, and his friends share many of his conservative values. He is a minority and has found a great deal of diversity in the engineering and honors communities. Service is a core value at TAMU, and he has found a rather large Catholic community at St. Mary’s. Yes, you can be conservative, have a heart, and still serve your fellow man.</p>
<p>My advice to you is ignore the prestige (pause), and have your kid go visit the schools by themselves. Can they find what they need? Is there a connection with the students.</p>
<p>For engineering, if they graduate with a high GPA, they will have more opportunity than they will be able accept.</p>