<p>Where to begin?? S2 refused to look at most colleges except in-state schools and state universities with Big Sports (ie NCAA D-1 football). I think he now wishes that he had looked at some smaller selective schools since many of his peers have gotten early acceptances. He would have been competitive.</p>
<p>@Pizzagirl, what is it about William & Mary that turns off the boys? Both S1 and S2 refused to consider it. I thought it was a wonderful school.</p>
<p>Brown. My D attended a program there over the summer (Chinese language) and was blown away by the quality of the teaching (a regular full-time professor taught the course). She was amazed by how much she learned! However, she opted not to apply… I think she felt too intimidated. I can’t say it’s “the one that got away”…admission would have been a real reach…but I would have liked to have seen that “can do” attitude from her (after having such a wonderful academic experience there).</p>
<p>W&M is perceived by my S as very pre-professional and producing generic pre med and pre law students. Not many risk takers or diversity according to him. My URM son finds it very homogeneous and too much of the same look, same clothes, etc. I think it is a bit of an oversimplification based on one or two upper classmen who went there… </p>
<p>How to get my S to consider OSU? The brochures are full of football and red and grey (S is NOT a football fan)…school spirit dominates literature but he won’t look at all the great programs and fantastic scholarships…still pushing and, if he gets a bunch of rejections from his first choices, he may agree to a visit in the Spring…</p>
<p>fineartsmajormom, maybe we should just exchange sons :).</p>
<p>I wish my son had applied to more LACs. He is a strong student, with great stats and ECs. However, his gpa is mediocre, and he wants to go to med school. Through CC, I have learned how important it is to get a good gpa, so now I’m worried. </p>
<p>Although it’s possible that my son may be accepted to a national university, he might have a better education and eventually get a better gpa at a smaller LAC. We’ll never know those things, of course. I do so wonder what the benefits are about going to a small LAC vs a national university for an undergraduate degree. Since he goes to a large public HS that has amazing facilities, I think he felt he’d enjoy at a midsize college.</p>
<p>Some possibilities he passed up: Pomona, Trinity College (Hartford), Wesleyan, Bowdoin, ??</p>
<p>LACs he applied to: Oberlin, Lafayette, F&M. (Plus WUSL & Rice)</p>
<p>Caymandriver, the deadline for Smith and BMC isn’t until tomorrow.</p>
<p>Yeah, W&M here too. Also Dartmouth and Williams - I’d have loved to visit there. But my Ds grew up in a small place and wanted something more urban.</p>
<p>Son didn’t apply to one school that would have offered him Merit money. So… to whatever degree that could have happened would have been nice. I do, however, wish he had applied to Williams (he really disliked the phrasing of one of their supplemental essays) and Bowdoin perhaps. </p>
<p>On the other hand… knowing him as I did/do, I still don’t get why he ever applied to Johns Hopkins or Georgetown. Great schools, but neither one a good fit for him. And oh… I also wish he had applied to one EA school. Again, don’t know what that might have been, but it sure would have helped ease the stress between ED rejection and late March acceptances for sure.</p>
<p>My kids were never interested in LACs and are happy at the large national U they both attend. I’m happy they’re happy. We all wonder what other Us D might have considered appplying to as she only applied to one & is attending there. Hard to have regrets when both kids are happy & doing fine. For grad school, we shall see what they decide.</p>
<p>I don’t even belong here as my son is only in 9th grade…But I am helping 2 11th graders start the process and I have already found the <strong>PERFECT</strong> school for my 9th grader.</p>
<p>POMONA </p>
<p>Now – I just have to not breathe a word about it to him for a couple of years, have someone beside Mom suggest it and then I may have a shot of him applying ;)</p>
<p>I think I’ll be heart broken if he doesn’t apply.</p>
<p>
How’s this for a hair-tearing scenario? Two schools on my son’s list have EA options with mid-November deadlines. Both are safeties or near-safeties. Back in early November, I suggested to him that he should apply EA to those two schools. He said he didn’t care about EA, didn’t mind waiting, and needed to focus on his schoolwork.</p>
<p>Fast forward to a couple of days ago…SON: “This waiting is killing me. Is there any way we’re going to hear from any of these places before April?” ME: “Probably not.” SON: “Don’t any of them have, like, rolling admissions or anything?” ME: “No. Two of them have early action, but you didn’t want to do that.” SON: “I wish you had talked me into it.” [Cue sound of brain exploding…]</p>
<p>nightchef you made me laugh out loud - really!</p>
<p>I wish my son had applied to some of the LACs in the book “Colleges That Change Lives.” I am sure he would benefit from a small school with more individualized attention - he is a lazy student with ADHD. However, he only wanted big pac 10 schools with a good social atomosphere, so that’s where he’ll wind up. I only hope and pray he can manage things on his own in that kind of atmosphere…</p>
<p>One of mine has graduated college, and the other is a junior. I’d like to tell you the ones still close to my heart where they wouldn’t apply, but it’s time for me to give this nonsense up!</p>
<p>And I won’t breathe a word about the ones they had to turn down.</p>
<p>They each chose the school that appealed most strongly, and I think both would stand behind the decision.</p>
<p>So, time for mommy to forget about it. LOL.</p>
<p>DD is now applying for law school, and thankfully, I am completely removed from the process.</p>
<p>S2 finally finished the last of 12 applications a few nights ago. All but 2 required supplements, and 5 required at least one additional “long” essay. I can safely say that there was not one other school he wished he applied to. He’s quite happy with his list, although both he and I wish he had pruned it a bit - there was so much work to do at the end of the semester, and his grades were important too. He was a little stressed…</p>
<p>Crewdad you are my hero. Smith and Bryn Mawr are both now “on the applied list” I love CC!!</p>
<p>Pomona and Amherst are the ones that got away</p>
<p>I wish I would have sent an app to one of the two</p>
<p>People keep asking why I didn’t apply to Amherst, since I had a fee waiver (ironically for being rejected from something, but that’s another story). I felt like it wasn’t the greatest fit and I had enough reaches… but I did LIKE the school.</p>
<p>I’m a student, but I wish I had given more thought to tech schools like MIT, CalTech, and Harvey Mudd. I think I was just sort of intimidated by the idea, but I wish I had thought about it more (especially MIT) and then made my decision. I think I should have at least tried.</p>
<p>Nightchef, my girls did apply to 3 EA (still waiting on one) but wish they applied to more…now they realize how nice it is to have the acceptance, even without the FA, in hand. I was going hoarse reminding them back then, so they can’t complain too much. ; )
They wish they looked at a couple of OOS flagship schools with OOS aid. I don’t think any of them would have beat UConn’s offer, but if they were close, the location might have been more attractive.</p>