<p>I suppose you could say that I’m at my super safety. But any college I settled on, I would have been attending without having ever visited. So aside from brochures and website info there was no guarantee I’d like my final choice.
I’m pretty glad I ended up where I did. The location’s great (in terms of public transport and proximity to NYC, not the city itself), the scholarships are great, the people are great, the honors program’s pretty good. I have no desire to transfer.</p>
<p>My whole life I was obsessed with the idea of going to NYU, but during my junior year I got realistic with myself and realized that my chances there were not promising. So I started searching for safeties and came across Temple. After researching and visiting, I realized what a much better fit Temple was for me then NYU. Sure the logistical stuff was wayy better, obviously Temple was much cheaper and a more doable distance from home. However, everything else ended up being be much better as well. I feel much more comfortable in Philly then I ever would in NYC and like how Temple plays out to provide a more traditional college experience. Also, their program for my major is fantastic. I loved it so much I ended up not even applying to NYU. Not to diss anyone going to NYU of course, it’s an amazing school, but in this case, my safety ended up better for me.</p>
<p>I’m not sure what people mean by a college being a good “fit”</p>
<p>For me, it’s black/white. The school’s either big (urban) or small (friendly, relatively). Granted, I never visited any colleges, so I probably don’t quite see the whole picture.</p>
<p>I ended up in my last choice (my hometown). Now, I’m trying to finish up and get outta here. This semester was really bad, my GPA took a hefty hit. Hopefully, I can get 4.0 next semester and impress my professors enough to write me good recommendations. but for now, I’m ready to do anything but studying. . . anything…</p>
<p>I’m at my “last choice” because of mostly financial reasons. Unfortunately, I didn’t really read about or pay attention to this school before I visited/needed to attend, so I ended up going in somewhat uninformed. Incidentally, I’m transferring for next year. However, if I had planned my admissions process out a bit better, my “last choice” could have easily been a place I knew more about and had actually picked for my list. I really liked my other safety school, for example, and I would have been happy to go there if it hadn’t been too far away compared to my current school. One’s “last choice” school doesn’t need to be a school one doesn’t like.</p>
<p>I did a ton of research on colleges and visited a lot of them. I am probably going to go to my last choice (UT Austin) for financial reasons, and I could not be happier about it. Just like the other 4 colleges I applied to, it’s a perfect fit. Even better, it’s ranked in the top 10 for my major, and I get in automatically.</p>
<p>I think safeties can be just as nice as the other choices if you take the time to do your research.</p>
<p>I didn’t get into my number #1 or #2 choice, but I got into my #3,4,5,6,7 schools. I picked between options 3 and 4 and picked 4, and thank god. My number 3 would have costed me a fortune and the other schools were in the middle of nowhere in the midwest. I’m glad I picked my current school!</p>
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<p>Ironically, UT Austin is pretty high up for me right now. What are you hoping to major in?</p>
<p>I ended up at my “last choice”, I guess you could say. After applying to a few big names, (and getting waitlisted by 2, and pennies of a scholarship offer from another) I had only two realistic options left. Both gave me equal dollar for dollar amounts of scholarship, but one was in-state, and the other was over 10 hours away by car. After seriously considering the out-of-state option, I realized that if I had to choose between large public universities, I would rather choose the smaller of the two, and I’ve been truly happy for three semesters already. With the scholarships, I don’t have to worry about being able to afford groceries, or try to fit in a part-time job in with my schoolwork. Also, I found that attending a large state university can be very personal, instead of being just a number in a crowd of thousands. I’m very happy with my “last choice school” after being placed on two heartbreaking waitlists at my top two schools. I think that my “last choice” actually has a lot of amazing resources for well-qualified students, and that although it was a last choice, it was the best choice for me.</p>
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<p>Graduating debt free is something the future you will thank the current you for.</p>
<p>I got into my absolute first choice school. Honors program, merit aid, all that stuff.</p>
<p>And I absolutely hated it.</p>
<p>Transferred to a commuter/state school that, without sounding arrogant, would have been an academic “safety.” Never even considered it first time around. Worked out a hell of a lot better.</p>
<p>My point is, you can think you know yourself, know who you are going to become/who you want to become, know the school you’re going to, but guess what? You don’t. You will learn more about yourself and about the schools you’ve applied to and it may turn out that what you think is your first choice really wasn’t a good fit, and some other school was. Hopefully you can figure that out before you go, but hey, transferring is not as big of a hassle as it sounds.</p>
<p>And if you do have to go to a school that you can’t convince yourself you’re going to like, fix your attitude beforehand. You won’t like it if you come in thinking you’re better than it or you would rather be elsewhere or whatever it is, because people will not take well to that, and if you don’t have people, you don’t have anything.</p>
<p>what are people’s definitions of a good fit? why did you love/hate your school?</p>
<p>I don’t think it matters in the end.</p>
<p>Basically, if you end up at a school that you hate, you transfer after freshman year.</p>
<p>I really wanted to go to one school, but when it came down to applying to schools senior year, I quickly realized that I didn’t have the grades to get any scholarships, so even if the school gave me tons of financial aid, I would still be left with a LOT of debt. I just couldn’t afford it.</p>
<p>So I convinced everyone around me (including my parents, teachers, friends, etc) that I really, really wanted to go to my state university, when in fact, I hadn’t really given it that much thought. I didn’t know anything about either of my major’s departments. And I really wasn’t sure that it was the school for me. I came here with a positive attitude realizing that I had the possibility of transferring, and I ended up loving it. But I definitely did not convince myself of that until I had already spent some time here.</p>
<p>One of my friends only applied to USC and he didn’t know anything about it. His first time on campus was Orientation. He likes it.</p>
<p>So I think the whole process of applying to college and finding the right college is way over-exaggerated. I think the most important thing is finding a school that at least has the major you want. Other than that, you can go to the school freshman year and then transfer somewhere else once you really know what you want. But I don’t think high school students necessarily know what they want because they haven’t actually gone to college and been on their own. (For the most part, anyways. Kids who come from boarding schools probably have a different picture.)</p>
<p>I applied to 11 schools and ended up getting into 6 of them, including Brandeis, where I thought I really wanted to go to. I ended up at my last choice school; a small liberal arts school close to home where 11 other students from my high school went. My gut told me to pick it when the time for decisions came around. I’m still not exactly sure why I did, but one thing I know is that it’s been an amazing experience so far anyway.
I’ve met so many amazing people here and my eyes have been opened. I go around all the time saying that my school sucks and I’m thinking about transferring, but in reality I’m so glad I ended up here even if it isn’t for good.
For those of you ending up at last choice schools this coming year, just remember to make the most of it and that just because the school wasn’t your first pick doesn’t mean you can’t get anything out of the college experience. And if you’re really having a miserable time, you can always transfer. I’m applying for transfer for next year, but only to give myself the option. The first month of school, I couldn’t be paid to stay at my current school, but now I feel like I might graduate here. And after all, there’s always graduate school.</p>
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<p>It’s funny how you hate a school one day and then love it the next, haha. I’ve seen others do it, too.</p>
<p>I only applied to my school because I got one of those emails offering a free application and no supplemental essay. It was accredited and had my major, so I applied to it as a safety just in case I didn’t get in anywhere else. Then I got enough merit aid for it to become my parents’ new favorite school. 
I got into my targets and one of my reaches, but I visited this school because of the money and it felt right. I think what I mean by that is the following: it’s small and nonthreatening with a sense of community/identity, not so rigorous academically as to scare me but also legit, pretty, the price (after merit aid) was low enough that I felt less guilty going here than to my reach), and the professors seemed good. A cozy, academically legit school. That’s just what I personally wanted after high school; it’s different for everyone, of course.
I’m happy but not overjoyed. No intention of transferring, and I’ve decided to study abroad for a semester (not a year) because I like it here, and even three and a half years doesn’t sound like enough. It’s academically serious enough, but I wish the students were more politically/socially engaged. It’s also in the middle of nowhere, but one can’t have it all…</p>
<p>The people in this thread seriously would rather critique the structure of the sentence than answer the question that obviously has a concise meaning behind it lol. Anyway, to answer your question, if I ended up at my last choice, I would be in a ton of debt and if I ended up disliking the school I would probably always think fondly of how better my life would be at my top choice (which I am currently at).</p>
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<p>Congrats on UW (and on avoiding massive student loans)!</p>
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<p>Location: What kind of weather are you looking for? Do you want a large city or small college town (or somewhere in between)? Do you want to live in a liberal, conservative, or moderate location? Do you want to be near a beach, forest, lake, etc.? Do you like the people who live in the town/city? Do you like the aesthetics of the town? Do you like the entertainment options near the college? Do you want good public transportation? Do you want a bike friendly town? Is there good (and affordable) off campus housing? Is the town generally safe? How far away from home do you want to be?</p>
<p>Education: Do you want a liberal arts education or do you want to focus on your field? Is research important to you? Is the school strong in what you want to pursue? Do you want a lot of GE’s or very few? Does prestige matter to you? Do you want large or small class sizes? Are you okay with a competitive student body? Does the school have grade inflation/deflation? </p>
<p>Atmosphere: Do you want a liberal, conservative, or moderate student body? Does diversity matter to you? Do you want a school strong in sports (or a specific sport)? Do you want a party school? Does the school have a strong extracurricular you’re interested in (band, newspaper, etc.)? Is quality of dining important to you? Is quality of housing important to you? Is there school spirit? Do you like the aesthetics of the campus? Do you want a large, medium, or small campus? Do you want a bike friendly campus? How many guaranteed years do you want in the dorms? Is the campus generally safe?</p>
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<p>I’m going to be honest: I’ve never heard of weather being a deciding factor for a college.</p>
<p>Really? I know plenty of people who chose So Cal schools (partly) because of the perfect weather year round. I suppose this is more prominent in California where there’s such a huge dichotomy between Nor Cal and So Cal weather.</p>