<p>It's been a week or so since I found out about colleges so I might as well post a little on that subject.
I've a really tough choice between Yale, Princeton and now, Stanford. I had an epiphany this saturday when I realized that for me, the choice was not simply between Y and P: "decision entropy."
Although it's nice to have these three schools to chose from, my blessing, to paraphrase Spiderman, is also my curse. The question of which school I should attend weighs heavily on my mind. It pervades my daily thinking. It keeps me up at night. And worst of all, I'm worried it has come to tarnish my thinking on all the schools I was admitted to. I have been forced to wittle away at my rosy preconceptions of all schools, searching for the slightest fault in the housing system, social life, academics etc... that would tip the balance in favor of one school. I fear that wherever I go, this process will have dulled my outright enthusiasm for that school, that I will enter with reservations and concerns for what may very well have been my top choice, and one of the best schools in the country (applies to any of the 3). Might this in turn make me less energetic and happy to be there?
Ideally, in visiting me I will have an "a-ha!" momement when the clouds clear, angels sing, and all is made clear. ONE school will be the one for me. But more likely, I will vacillate and tremble as on May 2nd I weigh which card to mark the 'yes' box on and include an expensive cheque with (note: all three have said May 2 is a fine date).
As I face these doldrums, I have heard from every corner statements that I should go to this school or that school, most for no good reason, or rattling off worn and clich</p>
<p>Although making the choice of which college to attend is a tough one, I agree, I feel that many people would rather be in your position than in the "I was rejected everywhere what should I do?" one. I sympathize with you, but you've been accepted at outstanding schools and you'll be happy at whichever you choose to attend so just make the choice knowing that it'll be the right one. :) Good luck Iki, and keep us updated.</p>
<p>try to go back to the reasons why you applied to them in the first place. Have you visited them? Did you have an initial first choice? Where would you prefer to live? ... because as a person who moved from a place she loved to an ok place I can say that liking where you live weighs a great deal on how happy you are:-)</p>
<p>lki...what are your stats...Princeton, followed by Stanford, is my top choice school.</p>
<p>Iki, my d was a lot like you in the college decisionmaking process. In the end, she chose on the basis of the very specific offerings available to her in her areas of interest. I think she came to realize that one of the biggest stumbling-blocks to making a decision was that she really wanted to go to ALL of the schools she liked, and so choosing one -- no matter how wonderful -- would inevitably mean facing a loss, crazy as that sounds. </p>
<p>What you need to do is talk this over with someone who won't tell you which THEY think is the best school but who will help you reason through which one will work the best for YOU. </p>
<p>And once you do make a decision, don't look back. Put your energy into being a Tiger or a Bulldog or a Cardinal -- make friends, work hard, get involved, as I'm sure you will -- and you will have a wonderful experience.</p>
<p>How true Iki!</p>
<p>I can identify myself with every word you said. I don't sleep deciding between Harvard, MIT, Princeton and Stanford,
and what's more awful I've lost my enthusiasm...I know I will not be happy when I check that one box, and seal my life for the next four years...</p>
<p>you're not sealing your life... you can always transfer... you can be an Ivy hopper....? :p with a little MIT in there as well, of course. hahaha</p>
<p>See the problem isn't that you have the choice - it's that you have to make a decision.</p>
<p>Hear hear, Iki and ognjen....I'm only deciding between Princeton and Stanford, but it's soooooooo hard...</p>
<p>It is difficult. </p>
<p>and it's not just that I don't know which college to choose. It's worse that I change my mind several times a day. For a couple hours, I think that this college is definitely the one. And then, I say, but wait... and consider another factor. And it does seem like a huge loss. I sometimes wish I could attend all of the colleges and experience each college life. Also, each e-mail, note or phone call that I get from colleges makes the decision that much harder! Since I will be "rejecting" 8 colleges by the end of the month, now it seems like that this decision is personal, like I will personally be rejecting my interviewers or the college students. I am definitely waiting for that A-Ha moment. Hopefully, it will come during one of the college visits.</p>
<p>This is something that has been bothering me, and since the pton kids seem to be the most active here, I'm gonna say it here so I can get other people's opinions.</p>
<p>While I understand making a decision like this can be hard, I dont understand why people couldnt have made up their minds about their order of preference in the months between sending the apps and hearing back. If FA is your main decision factor, I can understand, but if you simply are trying to decide between social and academic atmospheres, I really dont see why you couldn't have made up your mind already.</p>
<p>I'm not trying to be mean if it comes off that way, I just find myself amazed by people who tell me that in the last 4 months they haven't been able to choose one school over the other.</p>
<p>if you start ranking your schools before you've been admitted, you run the dangerous risk of getting rejected by 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. and then feeling inadequate and ****ed that you have to go to 6. If, on the other hand, you consider them on equal playing field, you will be able to more reasonably make a decision when the time comes.</p>
<p>funny you should say that ilcapo, i had my schools ranked, and here is how i fared
1. rejected
2. waitlisted
3. waitlisted
4. rejected
5. waitlisted
6. Accepted
7. Accepted</p>
<p>Your right, I did feel like **** the first few days, but at least i knew which waitlist school I was going to go full blast on. I guess it's similar to how i see everyone here saying they wont get in anywhere, and of course, they get in everywhere, whereas I spent the 3 months convinced I would be accepted everywhere, and well, you can see how it turned out.</p>
<p>Anyone else with a good reason why you wouldn't decide beforehand?</p>
<p>I couldn't because it was just too damn hard figuring out what I like (which vacillates daily) compared to what each college offered.</p>
<p>I thought this would all be over April1, that it would all be clear. I, too, have lost my enthusiasm via the necessary scrutiny. And right, I won't feel any better when I check that box on May 1...I'm gonna spend the next 4 years wondering "what if..." no matter where I am!</p>
<p>WHAT? YALE, PRINCETON, AND STANFORD? WE ARE IN THE SAME SITUATION!</p>
<p>and lki--our reactions seem very similar, too.</p>
<p>oh and also--i mostly had a hierarchy already set up, but i was SO not expecting to get into these few reach schools, I didn't even consider them</p>
<p>Kids - Please, please, please ease up. It is so wonderful you've been accepted at fabulous schools. The choice will be hard. But if you are really lucky you will have choices like this again in your life. So think of this as practice. One thing I know for sure is that life is not linear. Some things I did as whims have had huge impact, some things I planned and considered barely registered. It is even possible that going to Stanford, for example, and regretting Princeton, for example, will help you make a better choice of jobs or mates. Choices which are more important in the long run. Take a breath. Look outside. Hold somebody's hand. And I'm as Type A driven as any of you - just older.</p>
<p>couple thoughts:
- i didnt rank my schools beforehand, because doing so would entail finding things to love, which in turn means getting emotionally attached to a school which may reject you, therefore i tried not to rank beforehand, but
- nevertheless stanford became my dream school and princeton my second choice. i was rejected by stanford, but i got into princeton. let me tell you, having the adcoms choose ur school for you dulls ur excitement much more than being able to decide for urself. ur choice is a happy predicament to be in!
- everyone has their own reasons for liking schools and i assume you will visit each. in my opinion, the one with the best "feel" is usually the right choice (and if you have any interest in engineering, dont go to yale)</p>
<p>Pick one out of a hat. You can't go wrong.</p>