<p>re Unalove, #6... that is from the movie Goodwill Hunting, I think. "You wasted $150,000 on an education you coulda got for a buck fifty in late charges at the public library. "</p>
<p>it is an interesting idea to bring up!</p>
<p>idic5-
One point on the ACT composite is equivalent to roughly 30-50 points on the SAT math+verbal (CR). And, I was talking about math+verbal when I said that SAT is worth about $1000-$2000 per year per 10 SAT points.</p>
<p>soconfused-- </p>
<p>That's probably where I got it from. Anyway, I still remember it!</p>
<p>Primary decision: MONEY MONEY MONEY.</p>
<p>if you are in the 9th-first half of Senior year you will not see how important this is until the time comes to pay for college. we make what many would consider a lot of money but we have three kids. we actually thought money would not be a problem until we stopped to think about how much has to be paid by say Aug 15 or 31. it is not like you can pay by the month. and it is not like 30 years ago when you graduated from college and were 20,000 in debt. then, kids left home at 18 and applied for fa and things were no where near as complicated. now any family that makes a decent living cannot get fa. NO UNDERGRAD DEGREE IS WORTH GOING INTO DEBT FOR 200,000. EVEN HARVARD. i actually know a harvard grad that make less than many others in the same job with degrees from "lesser" schools. also know a vandie grad that if she could go back would not have spent the money.</p>
<p>INSTATE VS OUTOFSTATE: kids please think about this. most families we know that have kids that left and went more than 6 hours away from home ended up transferring close to home after a year. you get tired, you miss home and you miss feeling like you can relax around those that love you. this is not saying that spreading your wings is bad it is saying that you can do that and still want to spend time in your own bedroom. </p>
<p>SAFE SCHOOL CHOICE: EVERYONE WANTS TO GET INTO AN IVY OR TOP TIER SCHOOL but the school choice for undergrad is not that big of deal. it is what you do while there. you can party anywhere, you can coop anywhere and you can take a semester in europe at most all schools. some try to tell you that their program is better than others. think about it....a semester in london is a semester in london. it is what you make it. this notiin that you failed if you don't get into or go to "that" school is so silly. i got my hair cut the other day and i certainly did not ask the owner if he graduated from ? or his gpa. and the very successful homebuilder of our house did not even go to college. and the accountant and lawyer and doctor we use...don't know. how do you think these schools sell their school? you certainly don't say it is not worth the 50000 a year. and the ratings are sort of a joke.....exactly who cares what John the student or George the teacher says about the class or the bars down the street. i may like them even if they don't? it is all subjective.</p>
<p>It all depends on the person, one has to see for himself what the school has to offer and if you enjoy what the school and the surroundings let you do. I had a lot of schools i liked but many did not offer what i was looking for so i had to obviously change. The mayority will satify you when it comes to chosing the school but it is the school in general that matters the most.</p>
<p>How to choose...well, of course different people will have different priorities, different ways of arriving at their final decision, etc., but here are my contributions:</p>
<p>(1) Remember that if you're looking at residential schools, you're not just choosing a school...you're also choosing a home. At some point, once you're confident that you'll be academically content at any of your remaining options, put away the student:faculty ratios, put away SAT averages, and think about the dorms, the dining hall, the "vibe", the social scene, etc. I didn't realize the importance of this until after my decision, so I was very grateful (and lucky) to end up at a school that provided me with not only a wonderful education, but also a wonderful 4-year home.</p>
<p>(2) I have a very analytic mind, so basing such a big decision on stuff like fit, gut instinct, etc. was overwhelming to me. My GC had an exercise that really helped me sort out the situation. First, she had me choose five categories that I considered important in my decision (Ex: location, "atmosphere", academic flexibility, etc.) and then rank them in order of importance, so that the most important was #1 and the least important (relatively speaking) was #5. We set up a table with my three schools on one edge and the five categories along the other, and then I "graded" each school 1-5 (1 being poor, 5 being great) in each category and wrote its score in the grid. The schools' scores were independent of one another, so if I liked all three locations equally, I could have given them all 5's. Next (this is where it starts to sound tricky), one school at a time, I multiplied each category score by the "opposite" of that category's importance (Ex: If location was my #1 most important category, I'd multiply each location score by 5; if academic flexibility was my #2 most important category, I'd multiply each flexibility score by 4; etc.), and then added up each school's total points. In the end, even though I'd been totally confused about where I wanted to go, one school came out significantly ahead of the other two. Setting it out numerically and paying attention only to the things that mattered most to me let me ignore the factors that had been confusing me (but which I didn't actually consider to be important) + see where I really wanted to be. Not everyone needs this kind of validation, but it was really helpful to me.</p>
<p>(3) Take this decision seriously, but don't let it drive you crazy. You'll learn new things about whatever school you choose. You'll grow and change. You can transfer. Your interests might change. So many things can happen, and whatever does, you'll find a way to roll with the punches. Yes, it's convenient if you get into your dream school, select it, and love it, but if your path isn't quite that straightforward, odds are good that you'll still make it through just fine. </p>
<p>Best of luck with your decisions :)</p>
<p>It's very important to visit the school, especially after you know you've been accepted. </p>
<p>Also, make sure you consider whether or not the SCHOOL is a fit-don't think about where your friends are going, etc. Then factor in location after you think about academic and social fit.</p>
<p>Ask your parents, or whoever is paying for school, to rule out the ones that you simply can't afford after you are notified of your financial aid package-this will make the decision a little easier too.</p>
<p>I personally would never choose a school based on how much AP credit I receive. The point of going to college is to take classes-not to skip them.</p>
<p>I agree with collegehelp in cases where you are prioritizing future success/job placement. But if you are prioritizing four years of a good time, selectivity is less relevant. For most it's a mix of selectivity and other criteria.</p>
<p>those who say choose for selectivity... would there be a big difference in cmu, cornell, and chicago? is cornell considered the most selective of those?</p>
<p>When it's not about money--but about long-term/short-term benefits..which one do you choose? I'm torn.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I'm choosing between Providence College and Hobart and William Smith Colleges. HWS is more affordable, but far away. Providence College, I think, will be more beneficial when it comes time to apply to med school and it is close to my house. I don't know! I would sail at PC, do equestrian at HWS...choices.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Ha me too.</p>
<p>well I am a home schooled student so does anyone have any advice for me?</p>
<p>I am deciding this weekend on where I will be attending. I am choosing between Caltech and Harvey Mudd. The two are very simialr in many respects though there are differences. I have been leaning toward Caltech though I have been reconsidering the reasons for this (I don't want to choose it subconsciously because tehy admitted me 4 months before Mudd). Having read through this rather long board it seems that general opinion would directly narrowly toward Caltech. Many of the posts contain different criteria that in my case support both schools. If you had to choose a single criterion to make the decision what would it be? (Just to make clear I don't plan on using just one criterion, but would like to see what is seen as the absolute highest priority by others)</p>
<p>My one criteria would be how going to that school would enable you to do what you want after college.</p>
<p>For instance, I want to go to grad school, do research, do some traveling, and get a job I love even if it doesn't pay well. I went to a school that had good research opportunities for my major, a lot of academic support for honors kids, and yet wasn't so expensive that I wouldn't be able to afford everything else.</p>
<p>Choose Caltech over Harvey Mudd. It has a much better reputation.</p>
<p>Chicagoboy12-
Cornell Arts and Sciences and Cornell engineering are a little more selective than Chicago and CMU but they are all three very selective. Among those three, I would choose based on factors other than small differences in selectivity. Cornell has the Ivy reputation, beautiful campus. Quality of your particular major might be a factor. What will your major be again?</p>
<p>Something business-econish. I'd have to transfer out of cornell engineering, or do info science engineering.</p>
<p>When choosing between schools, unless the selectivity is very different, choose the school based on whether or not you think you'd be happy there. If you are comparing Top 10 to 50 or 60 that is a difference, but when you are comparing #19 to #31, that is not enough of a difference on which to base your decision...just my 2cents. You have to be happy there and, dare I say, you should have some fun while you are at college...follow your heart. Enjoy your college experience. Choose the school that "feels" right to YOU, not some ranking stats that do not take YOU into account.</p>
<p>its almost better to go far away from home, home is boring after 12 + years of being there id say</p>
<p>Here's a list I kept meaning to make a post about. It's a list of aspects to consider when deciding what you like/dislike about colleges--feel free to add/remove things as you see fit:</p>
<p>Accomplishments of the university
Admissions
Alumni
Campus (architecture, size, etc.)
Campus culture (strictness, parties, religiousness, gay friendliness, intellectual, competitive, etc.)
Classroom sizes + subsections
Cost/financial aid
Courses
Degrees
Dining (on and off campus)
Diversity – ethnic, cultural, sexual, religious, geographic, political
Events
Facilities -- incl. computers
Faculty
Grad school prospects
Greek life
History
Housing (on and off campus)
Job prospects
LGBT community
Library
Location/area (nature, etc.)
Organizations/activities
Parking
Percent degrees in different areas (concentration in engineering, English, etc.)
Places to go (botanical gardens, etc.)
Politics
Post-grad placement – grad school + jobs
Prestige
Programs
Prominence of drugs/alcohol
Prominence of religion/religiousness
Proximity to city
Required classes (core, distribution requirements, etc.)
Rigor
Safety/security
Size (student population)
Sports/athletics
Strange and miscellaneous features (Happy Happy man)
Structure (semester/quarter, colleges/schools, etc.)
Student life
Student:faculty ratio
Students
Traditions
Transportation
Undergrad:grad ratio
Weather</p>