<p>I laid down the rules before my kids even started looking at colleges: no schools that had ever been on a "top ten party school" list, and no schools that accepted 100% of their applicants. You'd be amazed how many schools that rules out.</p>
<p>We did discuss the applications, and my son did apply and attend a school that I thought was a school one should take very seriously before applying, because it can eat you up and spit out the bones (MIT). My D ended up attended a school she only visited because I made her visit (Reed). </p>
<p>I may have had veto power, but more importantly, we <em>talked</em> about colleges before they visited and before they applied.</p>