Umm… doesn’t that describe your alma mater perfectly? Or is the climbing team not serious enough and local outdoor options not close enough? That new climbing gym looks impressive to a non-climber.
Both kids wanted a college that was bigger than their HS. Our HS has 3800-3900 so that knocked out quite a few schools. They both didn’t want to know everyone personally that they go to school with.
We were a merit$ hunting family both times so they had to be flexible with pretty much everything else.
2 Likes
UC Boulder!!!
S22 applied to two schools only and one because I forced him to do it.
We visited Pitt and it was over. His line in the sand was “I am going to Pitt…that is all “.
1 Like
I found out for S23 (music major) that is was any place too close to home and anywhere that he felt he could just “walk on” to a top music group. He wants to feel challenged and have to work for it. He is also clear that he prefers historic over simply dated looking buildings/aesthetics.
1 Like
Please get back to the original topic and move the discussions about school suggestions to PM or a new thread. Thank you!
2 Likes
My line in the sand about college with both of our kid…the college either had to be within a 3 hour drive of our house…or within an hour of a family member or close friend. Not negotiable at all.
Mine was money and how we could pay for it. It wasn’t really a line in the sand but more of a trench, a gully, a canyon.
Both kids wanted schools in California.
Neither went to a school in California.
Because they’d changed high schools three times, I also wanted them to go to the same college for 4 years (and ONLY 4 years). Not so much a line but a wish.
5 Likes
My oldest wouldn’t even get out of the car for the GW tour because he hated that it was part of the urban city grid rather than a campus. He eliminated NYU sight unseen on that basis too after that. (Ironically he now lives and works in a major urban city.)
My middle one eliminated Swarthmore after doing a camp there because it was too much elevation change. Eliminated Colgate after a tour for the same reason. To this day we tease her whenever we are somewhere on a hill or with a lot of steps.
Mine must have watched too many movies - but if the guys on the campus looked “too preppy”, that was a hard “No!”
(And here I had naively assumed a walk along the Charles River was going to be a seller…)
That’s what I keep telling him! He needs to see the gym, thinks it might be too small. I think it’s perfect of course!
ETA: to keep the topic on course, my D23 line in the sand wound up being Texas. She wanted to be in Texas for some reason.
2 Likes
Our S did not want to attend any school in FL.
We live in FL. He was raised in FL.
He wanted change of scenery in many ways!
2 Likes
My rule for both children: NOT Auburn. Anywhere but Auburn. Yes, I was serious.
S23: The final chart we are comparing has days of sunshine and days of precipitation. Until we left the Mountain West, we didn’t realize he has severe Seasonal Affective Disorder. Someplace like the place we live now (and are moving from right after graduation) might kill him for college, and I mean that seriously. Only 180 days of sun/ 135 days of precipitation?!?!?
So for S23, climate and weather were and are serious lines in the sand.
3 Likes
I completely get this and sympathize! That is what I keep telling S23 (who has been in three states, in five different school situations in grades 6-12). You should get to stay for four whole years in one place for college if you work hard!
Now if only I could stay for four years in one place, too!
S23’s lines in the sand for where he would consider going to college turned out to be the northern border of North Carolina and the western border of Texas. Everything else was too cold, or too far from home in TN, or both. We walked the campus of Miami OH (so many pretty trees) – hard pass. We mentioned schools in VA – total nonstarter. “There’s no such thing as too hot,” he said. And you know what? I get it! Because I AGREE!
1 Like
My kids’ line in the sand was essay writing. They didn’t want to apply anywhere that had extra essays. 
They knew they’d have full rides (NMF) and were happy with the schools that offered them. They even did the direct school applications vs the Common App because the school versions were simpler. They finished their apps in August and were mostly done. Until they were all nominated for the Presidential Scholars Program. That was a lot of essays for kids who wanted to avoid them. Lol.
3 Likes
Yep. Kid really wanted California. Then he wanted warm weather and the beach. Then if he couldn’t have that, he wanted “different scenery” than the midwest. He is likely headed to a college almost exactly directly east of us with the same weather and similar foliage.
2 Likes
We are doing final visits this week. So far child has opined about whether or not there is a Pizza Hut ( note that there are no pizza huts near our home and I have never fed child Pizza Hut), how many Starbucks are on campus, if school colors are not “boring”, if students look “sloppy” . Initial selection of colleges was based on sports performance in different sports (ranking in football and basketball , and what the weather was like. Also dorms with private bath.
So far college with robots that bring you food from Starbucks or Chick Filet, wherever you are is winning because child can have coffee delivered to them at the door to their first class. Child had previously favored school with live tiger because…. Who knows. We still haven’t seen that one.
Things that don’t seem to matter… academics or price tag. Child wants to major in “something sporty”
2 Likes
D22- School spirit. As in wouldn’t attend a school that had ANY school spirit. Also, as an education major, she didn’t want to have to pick an additional major outside of the School of Education.
S23 - Wouldn’t look in states that “were going to run out of water”. Also, nothing in the tri-state area or that had a large contingent of “Westchester kids” (we don’t even live in the tri-state area). No LAC’s. Nothing with “Saint” in the name. No place that he would sweat.
1 Like
Same! The mantra was “no bros.”
My line in the sand for my children was no states where the general public is allowed to carry guns in public without a permit, bring guns into bars (what can go wrong???), or own guns on campus.
13 Likes