Most of my kid’s college acceptances have arrived, and he’s narrowed it down (I think) to 3 very different schools - Northeastern, Hampshire, and Brandeis. I know it may look like he didn’t put much thought into applying when these are all so different, but he did - they could all be very good fits depending on which aspects of his personality and interests take center stage. Any suggestions for ways to evaluate the different schools to make the best choice? We’ve already talked about the idea of coming up with a list of 5-10 things that are important to him, then grading each school on how they measure up. I’m hoping that there will be a clear winner, but I’m not counting on it.
That’s interesting. I guess Hampshire and Brandeis are more similar. It is a bit tedious, but he could try to dig in to see what it would really be like as far as classes and requirements. Look at the distribution requirements and see what they are at each. Where are there more electives? What do the major requirements look like? Are there special grading considerations. My daughter didn’t really think about it, being a strong student, but taking pass/no credit, and ability to drop class late without penalty really takes the edge off a stressful schedule/major.
I’d think about the vibe of the student body, if it is appealing. Location.
I know Hampshire has that sr project year. A student I know who attended did take a class or two at both Smith and UMass. So special features that may be appealing.
Congrats and good luck for him with picking.
Wow. That’s a very unique choice set. D’s is very similiar (or will be once all finaid packages are in) and although we’ve set those 5-10 things that are important, I’m not sure she’ll be able to decide easily either.
Has he visited all three? I assume since they are all Boston area he has. So…NE and Hampshire, well…do you like rural areas or cities? My thought is Brandeis is neither, kind of like Wellesley, too far away but not far enough? I don’t know much about Brandeis but we visited Hampshire and I’m familiar with the NE neighborhood. Its funny that they both are eclectic in their own ways. Hampshire does have the 5 school consortium but I think the student demographics might separate it from the other four schools? Just my thought. Because they are both great schools, my major vote would be with rural or city? Brandeis is a whole 'nother ballgame.
Dorms, food, transportation to and from fun things (and home), advanced placement credits, specific majors and minors, study abroad (and financial aid for same)? Those are some of the things we are considering in our choice.
Brandeis is about 10 miles from Boston. There is a train station at the bottom of campus so it is easy to take the train in.
Go to admitted students days at each and see how he feels about the places after that. Be especially aware of the vibe, the feel of the place and people, visit the dining hall, the dorm, the gym, the library and look around and observe - hopefully one will feel like a better fit for him. My daughter had a very tough choice between Northeastern and Tufts and the admitted students days convinced her that the students at NEU were more like her.
I’d suggest he go back and remember why he applied to each one of those colleges and review what that criteria was when he chose them. Agree with brown, have him dig into the websites for academics and review what he might be studying and what the general education requires are. Compare what he thought back six months ago with where his head is at today. See if he can eliminate one of the three fairly easily and then If he can revisit, that might help if he’s waffling between two of them.
If he doesn’t envision himself staying in the region he should probably look and see where students end up or how he will feel with that college on a resume. My guess is Brandeis has more national name recognition than Hampshire (pretty unknown outside of academia) or Northeastern (which sounds like any state directional college so somewhat neutral…could be any state when seen on a resume which could be a good thing).
If it is possible, see if you can attend the accepted students day at the three schools. We went back to my S’s three top choices and after the visits his top choice became very clear.
NEU is a coop centered school and presumably very preprofessional. Does that match his interests?
I’ll go a completely different direction. Ask about town-gown relations. Also about the drinking/drug/disciplinary policies. Who handles issues – campus police or local law enforcement? Also, policies about dropping/retaking classes.
Also, are the “campus safety and security” actual police or not?
I would add housing. Do they have residential houses . Do most move out of dorms in two years? What is your son’s preferences in living conditions. City, suburb, and country-- big differences.
LIke any decision making, create a criteria list in priority sequence and assign point to each criteria. Then add up criteria points for each school. The one with the most points is your winner. We did not do it, D. knew excatly where she wants to be simply because it was clear that one school met all of her criteria.
what’s the point of “priority sequence” if you get a point for each “hit” regardless? The whole issue of decision-making is that not all criteria are created equal, thus the dilemma.
I say go with your gut - go to admitted student days at all three and see how he feels about them after that
Will he make use of the 5 college consortium that Hampshire offers?
I agree completely about taking a good look at the websites and getting a good sense of what you’d be taking. How difficult is it to come up with a schedule once required gen ed courses, sequences within the major, possible courses that aren’t offered every year etc. are taken into account.
I’d also come up with the pros and cons of each places. It’s perfectly possible that the proximity to the city and to the country can both be pros. But I wouldn’t count points or anything. That’s just so that it’s all down.
Finally, I do think visits can be a good way to get a flavor of the student body and the vibe of the area. It’s okay to go with your gut. It sounds like he has three interesting choices. I imagine he’ll make good uses of the resources at any of those colleges.
What is he thinking about for majors? People here may have more opinions if we knew.
You could make a spreadsheet and lay out the different factors. Give them a weight. Then rate each of the factors.
Do the weighting and rating. Then see if the results go with the gut…choose what feels right.
Drop these 3 choices, take a gap year and re-apply to Miami of Ohio. Clearly that’s the only sound choice here. 