<p>grantedin, First of all, welcome to CC - I see that this is your first post. I have to tell you that DD waited until the last possible day to decide which school she was going to attend. Up until the last minute she vacillated between H, S, Y, and to a lesser extent C. As a parent, I tried as much as possible to be supportive and to make sure that it was her decision, not that of my wife and I - active listening skills were utilized, and we did not tell her if we had a preference.</p>
<p>In any case, I think that she chose Harvard based on a very subjective "feel". DD visited the campus twice, including two weeks before having to make her decision, and really liked what she saw (this was also the case with Y and S). She had the opportunity to meet the niece of a co-worker who was a senior at Harvard during her last visit, and this student gave her a really good feeling about Harvard. She also liked Boston and the opportunities that Harvard has for students to volunteer in the community.<br>
DD ruled-out P early on - read something about eating clubs that she did not like. And she decided that C was a good fit (she spent six weeks in Ithaca last year), but would rather live in a large city.</p>