<p>As the final RD application deadlines approach, are there any colleges that got crossed off your kid's list (or never made it on) that you're really wishing s/he had applied to? I have three in mind: Hampshire, Boston University, and Bard. </p>
<p>If you've read my visit report for Bard, you might raise your eyebrows at that last one. But our research prior to the visit painted Bard as an excellent fit in nearly every way; we crossed it off the list not because any of that changed, but because the admissions office annoyed the dickens out of us. Kind of silly in retrospect.</p>
<p>BU makes the list because they are strong academically in my son's areas of interest, he would probably get in, and they have recently made a commitment to meeting financial need for Boston public school graduates. My son has a strongly negative feeling about BU, but it's pretty thinly based; he never even did a tour. Oh well.</p>
<p>Hampshire was rejected because my son felt that the curriculum was too open-ended; he wanted a little more structure. I think that's because a highly structured approach is what he's grown accustomed to at his rigorous, very traditional public school, not necessarily because it suits him all that well. I think he might really blossom in a place like Hampshire. But he disagrees, and it's his call.</p>
<p>How about others? Is there a school that you carry a secret (or not so secret) parental torch for?</p>
<p>D ended up applying to only 5 because she cut her “have to fly there” schools at the end of summer. She did apply to schools that gave generous NMF scholarships. I do wish that she had applied to one of the schools farther away, so that in April when her classmates are going to Boston, Chicago, Phila etc. she won’t have a case of “what ifs.”</p>
<p>So off the top of my head, I wish she had finished the Tulane, George Washington or WUSTL apps. But (as I keep telling myself) it’s not my journey.</p>
<p>University of Pittsburgh.
We didn’t visit and it was never on S2’s radar, but I suggested it as a good fit with possible merit money. Along with UWisc, S2 thought he applied, but the charge never showed on our credit card and an account was never set-up at either school. Apparently something did not compute when he pushed that submit button. I wish we had caught the snafu earlier, so that those apps would have been complete.</p>
<p>I wish my S had not applied only to schools that were best for his intended major. He could have cast a wider net. But he is very happy where he is, so I need to let this one go.</p>
<p>We thought it would be a perfect fit after seeing a presentation (without S along) and on a later visit to the campus. Later our S went for an interview and tour. After the interview, i told him the tour would be starting in a few minutes. He said, “Not for me, because I’m not going to this school.”</p>
<p>I think the small size was a factor, but in addition there seemed to be a palpable sense of “this place isn’t for me” happening.</p>
<p>Great school. Great rep. Close to home. But a no-go for our S.</p>
<p>Hobart & William Smith, I thought he would really like it, but he did not! I really did, but I am not the one applying, am I? You never know, it is a crap shoot at best! </p>
<p>Someone should revive that thread about “Stupidest reasons for your child not applying”, now that was very entertaining! LOL, some of the things the parents reported! “did not like the tour guide’s shoes” etc. or “School color is ____<strong><em>, I look terrible in _</em></strong>__”.</p>
<p>Rochester, Pitt & USC for their NMF awards - financial safety. But I probably wouldn’t trade any of the ones that made his list for them, excluding those with no app fees.</p>
<p>Now I wished I insisted s apply to one more school that was 3 hours or less from home. Out of the six he applied to four of them are 4 to 9 hrs from home. I keep thinking of some nice LAC closer to home (like Gettysburg and Dickinson) We visited and he initially he liked them but they did not make the cut. </p>
<p>Also wish we had gotten to look at American University. We were all set to visit and then s decided he was tired of looking at schools and had enough choices.</p>
<p>After gaining EA admittance to a very good warm weather school, S2 dropped every snow belt school from his list. Only schools remaining to which he applied were near the southern pacific coast.</p>
<p>The ones that got away…every parent has them. This go round it was Alfred. I loved Alfred… S2 did not like the location and did not want to apply. With S1 it was Colorado College, I loved it, S1 did not like Colorado Springs and did not want to spend 4 years there and did not apply. So for mine it was location, location, location.</p>
<p>Cornell - DD was very impressed and was legacy but COA was just to steep for me without major help so she backed off once she got into #1 & #2. I wish she had at least applied and got the “Welcome to the Cornell Class of 2014” letter.</p>
<p>On the other side of the coin, she had MIT on her short list. I was not anxious for her to complete that one.</p>
<p>Smith and Bryn Mawr-Our daughter firmly stated “no all girls” but she ended up falling in love with Scripps and we are awaiting RD. </p>
<p>She applied and was accepted to St Johns College. I always wanted her to fall in love with this school. We visited during a beautiful summer day, she did the overnight in October, we did the NY reception, but at the end of the day she still says “Mom I have no interest in learning about Plato”…I’m still holding out for a last minute change of heart.</p>
<p>For one of my girls Cornell College in Mt. Vernon Iowa. I still believe the “one class at a time” model would have fit her like a glove. She refused to go that far east</p>
<p>for my other D Occidental, She is a double legacy (both my parents), I felt it would be similar to and more of a “stats match” than her first choice where she was WLed and eventually denied. D just felt she had “enough cool LACs on her list” and didn’t want to add another.</p>
<p>I was also secretly disappointed at the time, shame on me :embarrassed:, that one of my DDs turned down three higher ranked schools for the one she is attending.</p>
<p>But BOTH are very happy where they landed and that makes me :D</p>
<p>I wish my son would have applied to Wisconsin, Syracuse, and Boston College. But I’m realizing that even if I had really made him apply, he wouldn’t have ended up at any of those places anyway since he didn’t want to apply to them!</p>