<p>I had my dream schools narrowed down between Yale and Princeton. When it came down to it, i really needed the financial aid and wanted to apply early so that i could have the best chance. i took the risk with princeton as it has arguably the best aid program in the country. it paid off, because the only way i could be paying less for college would be if i had a full merit based ride to somewhere else. Princeton has more undergraduate emphasis than any of the other ivy league schools and i am glad that i ended up there. I had other applications ready to go for Penn, Yale, Duke, Northwestern (which I think would have been my #2 if the price was right), MIT (basically a whim), and Notre Dame. I got into Ohio State as well, which was my very safety school.</p>
<p>To friedorka talking about admissions: The biggest reason for some of the things you're against are money. Legacies exist because a donor is more likely to continue to be a donor if you accept their kid. States accept more from their state because the primary objective of the school, and the reason that they get state funding, is to educate students from their state. Etc etc, it all goes back to money.</p>
<p>And yes, I love VT. It's definitely not for everyone, but it's a great fit for many people. :) You're right, no college is best for everyone, no type is best for everyone, and no ranking system can tell anyone where they fit. Some like cities, some like rural, some like being a big fish in a small pond, some like being surrounded by a ton of very intelligent people, and that's what's great about the college/university system in the US. There's a college there for everyone.</p>
<p>
[quote]
It's not my "dream school", but who cares? I'll still be happy.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I know EXACTLY what you mean.</p>
<p>As a transfer chose Dartmouth over Brown, Duke, and Harvard WL (I guess Columbia too because I left it!!)</p>
<p>I wanted a relaxed campus environment, a social/ vibrant campus, a LACy feel, lots of opportunities in terms of grants and study abroad, strong grad placement/ recruiting and a loyal alumni network. </p>
<p>Dartmouth was perfect. The fun area around (sledding on trays, river jumping in summer, snowball fights, etc) was an added bonus.</p>
<p>My son let me do a lot of the initial searching online during his Jr year. He and I talked about what he thought he wanted in a school - small student body, 1 - 4 hours from home, and "separate" campus (ie not mixed into an urban area). I did a lot of online research and came up with a list of about 8 or 9 colleges. I asked him which ones he wanted to visit and he chose about 6. Later in the process he did some more research on his own, took 1 school off the list and added one more.</p>
<p>We looked at my & hubby's alma mater first, then went over several months toured 7 or 8 more schools. Based on the tours, he decided on 6 to apply to. After getting accepted to 5 (waitlisted to the 6th, he said no thanks) we went back to look at 2 that were his top choices and 1 that gave him a large merit scholarship. Before returning to the schools for one last tour, he thought he knew which one was his top choice, but after his visits he was changing his mind. In the end he made a list of features he thought were important, and next to it wrote what each of his top choices had in that area. He circled each item he liked best, then totalled the circles. The school that seemed best to him on the return visit ended up being the one with the most circled items, which confirmed his decision.</p>
<p>He will be attending Lafayette, our alma mater. He initially didn't want to go there because he wanted to blaze his own path, and it's almost 6 hours away. But in the end it felt right to him. His other choices were Colby (waitlisted), Union (was top choice before final return visit), Stonehill (big merit money), Providence, and UVM (uber-safety). There was nothing wrong with Union - he really liked it, he just decided he liked Lafayette even better. Stonehill was too close to home, PC didn't feel right socially, and UVM was too big.</p>
<p>1) Good engineering program.
2) Within 100 miles of my home (Santa Barbara).
3) Good reputation.
4) Cost.
5) A place where I could get a high GPA.</p>
<p>I chose Cal Poly SLO over UCLA. UCSB would have been my 3rd option.</p>
<p>Florida:</p>
<ol>
<li>Good engineering school</li>
<li>Great Sports Scene</li>
<li>Cost</li>
<li>Close to home</li>
<li>Gainesville is a nice college town</li>
</ol>
<p>Schools I wish I looked into in high school: Harvey Mudd, Rice</p>
<p>I knew I wanted a school where I would have a lot of freedom to design my own education.</p>
<p>I was going to apply to Vassar, Sarah Lawrence, Bard, Bennington and Hampshire. Just from looking at the books and online that was the order of preference.</p>
<p>After I visited all of the schools, I applied to Bennington, originally my safety, Early Decision, and then didn't have to apply anywhere else. I loved the Field Work Term option that Bennington offers, and all of the work experience that would give me, the campus is absolutely beautiful, and the people, more than any of the other schools, seemed more friendly, upbeat, and "normal" looking. </p>
<p>I have never regretted my decision, but it is a bit small, and while Hampshire was not right for me, I really see now all of the advantages of the Five College consortium.</p>
<p>I should also add that in addition to Virginia Tech I looked at Michigan (ended up being too expensive/cold), Georgia Tech (didn't want the big city setting), and Florida Tech (no sports). Those were just what was important to me, it's different for everyone.</p>
<p>Cost was by far the biggest factor for me, followed by majors and opportunities to pursue things that interested me, then location (I didn't want somewhere very remote or rural and prefered the Northeast), and finally reputation. </p>
<p>I had a choice between Yale, Princeton, Vassar, Fordham, Boston U, Brandeis and UMass Boston. After getting all the acceptances and financial aid packages in, the cost turned out to be about the same for all of them. I thought all the way through the process that I definitely wanted Princeton, but at the last minute I decided Yale had the better location for me and chose there.</p>
<p>Retrospectively, I wish I had looked at Chicago and Brown rather than wasting an application on Berkeley which only attracted me because of its strength in my major and straight rejected me anyway.</p>
<p>Got into Yale but Cal rejected you? What major?</p>
<p>I only applied to Penn ED. When I visited it was because I had some free time on a trip to the Philly area (I was really visiting Haverford and Swarthmore) and, although I'd heard good things, I didn't think it would be my number one choice. It was the first school that I had visited where I couldn't immediately point out something that bothered me and I felt very comfortable there. I actually decided that day that I wanted to apply ED, although my parents did send me back for an overnight visit to make sure it was right. I loved it even more the second time- I sat in on a great class, many of the people I met reminded me of my friends at home, I had time to explore the city. I never formally made pro and con lists but they would look something like this:
Pros:
strong academics (repution, variety, etc)
lots of research opportunities
diverse student body
urban location
beautiful campus
not as academically hardcore as some peer institutions</p>
<p>Cons:
a little bigger than I wanted
party reputation (this is really a pro and a con, depending on my mood I suppose)
So those are my official reasons, but I mostly just loved it for all the small things I noticed during my visits. In retrospect, maybe I should have visited more schools, looked at more options, applied RD so I could try at some places like Harvard, but I'm completely sure I'm be happy next year. AND I had the benefit of knowing where I was going 5 months earlier than RD people, so I had an extra 5 months to slack off :)</p>
<p>
Comparative Lit. Actually, my brother had the same experience a couple of years before - Got into MIT, Yale, and Stanford, but was rejected by Berkeley. I can only conclude that they have some kind of personal vendetta against my family!</p>
<p>I picked Georgia Tech because it has a College of Management that has the productivity of a research university but the size and feel of a liberal arts college.</p>
<p>Georgia Tech is known for its engineering program, especially its industrial engineering. Compared to the engineering professors, I have heard that the business school professors want the students to talk to them and want to make themselves available. Coupled with their productivity, it's like I get the best of both the research university and the liberal arts worlds.</p>
<p>(Plus, the ratio at the business school is 50/50, which is quite a bit different from the 75/25 ratio overall.)</p>
<p>I was accepted to the University of Georgia, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Washington & Lee University.</p>
<p>I had my choice narrowed between Georgia Tech and W&L. It took me a few days, but I picked Tech because I believe its faculty better suits my current career goal.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Comparative Lit. Actually, my brother had the same experience a couple of years before - Got into MIT, Yale, and Stanford, but was rejected by Berkeley. I can only conclude that they have some kind of personal vendetta against my family!
[/quote]
I'm assuming out of state. Cal is always kind of weird though, I thought I was a virtual guarantee for that school - they gave me spring semester admission.</p>
<p>Cal heavily weights class rank, gives lesser value to SATs, and little value to ECs. A kid at a top public or prep school, just outside the top 10%, but with terrific scores and ECS will not find Cal admissions very friendly.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
I'm assuming out of state. Cal is always kind of weird though, I thought I was a virtual guarantee for that school - they gave me spring semester admission.
[/QUOTE]
Since I don't want to put people off, really I think we were rejected because we both were lacking any kind of visual or performing arts course, came from a school that is a world of it's own in grading and scheduling, including capping weighted GPAs at 4.0 and using a horrible recalculation and designation to get to that, and yes, were OOS. Kind of sucks, but I guess they get a lot of applicants, and meh, didn't want to go there anyway.</p>
<p>Yeah, I mean - you are going to Yale.</p>
<p>D really liked UPitt when we visited just August. It had the major(s) in which she was interested, and an urban environment. She said , "I'd go here if I got $$." We're OOS. D received a full tuition scholarship to UPitt and turned down our state schools: UVA, Echols Scholar; William and Mary, and James Madison - the only other schools to which she applied. She's very happy with her decision, and I think she'll do well there. For her, UPitt is a "fit." (And it's a school attracting many well-qualified students because of its merit aid and undergrad programs.)</p>
<p>Johns Hopkins for premed and Peabody, music and neuroscience being my two interests. Also for the research opportunities....</p>