How to choose a college?

[Kris in Wis]

Curious how other parents guided their children to seek out and apply to certain colleges. Not only how did you help plan their high school studies, but how you helped them narrow down the myriad college choices available to them.

 

Online searches according to interests? College Board? Ranking books like US News or Petersons? Your or family members' Alma Maters? Desire for "top schools"? Cost?

 

What were the major criteria your children voiced when immersed in the college search? Was location and/or distance from home an issue? Private vs. public? Liberal arts vs. technical? Prestige and/or reputation of school?

 

(As a sidenote, how many of your children "knew what they wanted to be when they grew up," and thus had some idea already of where they wanted to go?)

 

And, finally, how did you navigate that fine line between allowing them to choose vs. following your own hopes, dreams, and wishes for their education? Did you ever try to convince them NOT to apply to a certain school? Or talk them INTO applying to a school you thought would be a good fit? If so, why?

 

Interested to hear how YOU did it! Thanks for sharing!

[creekland]

I just want to let you know I'm very interested in sharing my experience with my three boys (one now in college, one thick in the hunt, and one beginning it), but I just don't have the time right now as we're also packing up to finish heading home from our latest college visit. It'll take me a while to write out my thoughts in a meaningful way.

 

Overall, each son is heading a different path with each of them going to colleges I wasn't even very aware of (or aware of at all) prior to our search. Yet, I'm happy with what appear to be their choices. Oldest is at a private Christian, middle will likely be going to a research U, and youngest currently likes a state school that is out of state for us. Since youngest is just starting 10th grade, his is very tentative!

 

We are not wealthy and savings we had got devastated by the economic downturn, so finances are also a MAJOR consideration for us and have dictated both our preparation for college and colleges chosen. What I have time to write now is that scores and grades can REALLY matter (worth thousands), so it's worth it to have good preparation.

 

I'll see if I can sort out some time tomorrow. In the meantime, perhaps others will share. I imagine we'll have different methods and one might work out well for you.

[mcconnellboys]

My older son swam, so I began when he was in ninth grade to schedule visits at colleges when we'd be in a town near one that I thought he might have an interest in.

 

I thought that this child needed a small liberal arts college to accommodate his interests as well as his need for small classes, so I mostly tried to steer him in that direction, showing him larger state universities, too, and talking to him about the differences in classroom size and structure, life on campus, activities, etc.

 

"Online searches according to interests?" Yes, I did do searches based on his expressed areas of interest for "best colleges and universities for xxxxxx."

 

"College Board?" Here? No, it wasn't started yet when I began our search. I did search other college boards or websites and many, many individual college websites. Make notes! If you're like me, you'll forget things after a while and have to do the same work again. I made myself a handwritten table of schools with bits of info about them so we could make comparisons.

 

"Ranking books like US News or Petersons?" Yes, a lot of that is online now, too. I mostly was looking at top universities in the south.

 

"Your or family members' Alma Maters?" Yes, he visited my family's. He's been around my husband's off and on for years. Those were both big state universities and I really was just using info about them to juxtapose against smaller, liberal arts colleges.

 

"Desire for "top schools"?" Well, no, not an ivy league school, per se. He did apply to Vandy to just see if they seemed to have any interest at all. He did not elect to interview with a local alumnus, however, so I knew that they would not consider him further.

 

"Cost?" Well, yes, to some extent. We did have him apply to a number of schools in order to see what the best award was he could receive. He did not end up going with the school that offered the him the highest award, because he really wanted to stay closer to home.

 

"What were the major criteria your children voiced when immersed in the college search?" Well, with my rather indecisive son, that changed somewhat over the last two years he was in high school. He wanted a school that offered swimming, then he didn't, then he did. Oy. He wanted a school that offered one major, then another, and now he's probably not majoring in either of those things. So I tried, but when the target is ever moving, that can be somewhat difficult. I'd say try to go with a school that offers at least most of the areas of interest for your child and seems solid in those areas.

 

"Was location and/or distance from home an issue?" Yes, it turned out to be so much of an issue for him that I really thought all during his senior year that he was going to attend a school here in town. He did change his mind to attend one about 40 minutes away, but all those that were 2-5 hours away got nixed (and I didn't think that was very far)....

 

"Private vs. public?" He ended up at a private school because there were no public options nearby that offered majors of interest to him.

 

"Liberal arts vs. technical?" Well, I'm hearing now that liberal arts schools can serve those going on to engineering or medical degrees, etc. very well. I still tend to think that for math and science majors the wealth of research going on at a big state school might offer more options, but maybe I'm wrong. If a kid can get into the honors college at a larger school, and if it's a good solid program, then that might make their world smaller.

 

"Prestige and/or reputation of school?" Yeah, I wanted a school that ranked high in terms of educational preparation for its students, so I tried to find schools that had solid reputations for their professors.

 

"(As a sidenote, how many of your children "knew what they wanted to be when they grew up," and thus had some idea already of where they wanted to go?)" Not my oldest. And he still doesn't know precisely what he might want to do.

 

"And, finally, how did you navigate that fine line between allowing them to choose vs. following your own hopes, dreams, and wishes for their education?" Oh, I just showed him the options and then the decision was up to him. I constantly asked him if he wanted to look at other schools, smaller state schools (even though they didn't offer majors he thought he'd be interested in, etc.) As I said, we thought all senior year that he was going to enroll in a local school and I really wasn't thrilled with the whole demeanor of their student body, but he decided on what we thought was a better school at the last minute. I didn't think it was the best school. I thought the one that offered him the largest award package was the best school he got into, but he thought it was too far away, didn't like the little town it was in (neither did I), etc. He's all about quality of life....

 

"Did you ever try to convince them NOT to apply to a certain school?" I only told mine that I did not think our big, local university (or any large state university - which cost about the same as private schools for out of state tuition, by the way, unless you have a stellar GPA and ACT/SAT score) would serve him well and why. The decision was his. I still tell him that if he loses his scholarship by socializing too much that he'll have no other option but that....

 

"Or talk them INTO applying to a school you thought would be a good fit? If so, why?" We thought that he really needed to make the decision himself. We also knew full well that if we lobbied for a particular school, he would be certain not to choose that one as he has a very contrary streak. So we simply presented a variety of choices, visited a variety of places, looked at websites, read about offerings, life on campus, etc. and waited for him to choose. He didn't decide he was going to swim at college until about a week or two before he left to go there.... Again, we simply waited. He has to learn to make decisions on his own, no matter how long it takes him (he has some auditory processing problems and it does take him FOREVER to make decisions)....

 

Insofar as actually just "applying" to a school, if it's free or low cost, then why not? We still waited for him to give the okay about which ones he wanted me to send out apps to, but we presented lists of options for a lot of good schools. We are lucky to be surrounded on all sides within about a 4-5 hour drive by many, many good schools. We told him what xxxxx school offered, and if he liked the sound of it, he applied. He got in to all schools he applied to save Vandy (in which he had really no interest).

 

This child returned to a private school for 10th through 12th grade. His school had college reps from all over the U.S. visiting all senior year and he attended a number of those talks, but didn't elect to apply to any additional schools (other than the ones we'd already talked about) because of those. There was a rep from one that came to town for interviews and he did go for that. I think that might have come about because of a school visit. He did apply to that school and did get in, but it didn't offer swimming (if I'm remembering correctly), and was an extremely liberal school, and in the end he elected not to even visit or accept their scholarship.

 

In all, he applied to 9 schools and got into 8 of those. All but one of those 8 offered him scholarship money of some amount (two were larger state schools and their awards were small, but then the overall price tag was much smaller, too). I had to send out packets for all because he had hs'ed one year with me (he had actually been ahead and his private school granted him 7 or 8 credits when he transferred, plus he had some dual credits he had completed, and then I highlighted those hs credits not transferred). So his profile was a little different, but not all that strange....

 

Hope your search goes well....

[TravelingChris]

D applied to mostly small LACS. The next bigger schools she applied to where universities with about 5000 in the undergraduate departments. Where is she going? University of Alabama with more than 20000 UG and over 2000 in the honors college. What did I do? Take her to college fairs, take her to visit colleges, talk to her with what was important. But what sealed the deal was visiting Alabama. She is walking into this realistically but thinks she is making the right decision and everything that I am encountering with the administration is reconfirming my view.

 

What was somewhat hard for me is letting go of the idea that she needs to go to a very topnotch small school. I see that she is going to be getting a more appropriate education for her at this very large school and even more importantly, with my contacts with the administration, I am very relieved that her medical issues and accommodations will be handled correctly.

[mooooom]

I have three graduating next year. Two of them "know" what they want to do. It definitely helps when looking for schools. Dd wants a major that only 10 schools in the country offer. That narrows it down quite a bit. She also doesn't want to go too far away. Cuts down over half of them. Of the 4 in an 8hr radius, one was ruled out by looking at their course catalog, no optional classes just the bare minimum. One was ruled out - we visited it and it was sooooo not her (completely loosey goosey, no grades, very limited structure, everyone was pretty much supposed to make up their own course of study-and you wouldn't believe how much they wanted us to pay for that...), She came home and said she would apply but wouldn't go there. We crossed it off. The other 2 are both beautiful and good fits, one only accepts 30% off applicants. So we'll see. The thing like is that both schools offer a wide range of alternatives if she changes her mind for major.

 

Ds#1 knows exactly what he wants, and it is a much easier major to find. Also, knowing what he wants to do after graduation, and it is not easy to get into, he is focusing on specific schools that have kids that get these jobs after graduation - which also appears to be affected by school location. He has pretty much done his own research, and we try to make sure that he gets to sit in on a class and meet with a professor in the department - and make sure they don't just gape at him when he tells them what he wants to do - it weeds a few places out. He has fallen in love w/ a particular school, but money is going to be a real issue for us - with 3 at once, so we will see.

 

Ds#2 really doesn't know what he wants to do, wants a very small school (he hates the mall on the weekend), and doesn't want to go very far away. Fortunately we live in an area where there are a bunch of small schools w/in an hour radius or so. The trouble w/ small schools is that they don't offer tons of options and I would really hate to be doing the transfering thing. I would be so happy if this kid develops a passion in the next few months, but doubt it is going to happen.

 

I found the college board really helpful for college searches - to find names of schools that offer specific degrees, but I also found that they are often incorrect - I always head immediately to the school's website to verify. I also like the US News & World report site - I haven't seen the book, and find College Prowler pretty interesting - I like reading the students' comments before we go for a visit, then you can ask people there to verify whether the complaints might be accurate.

 

I think the visiting really clinches it though. Once you are on location, we found it was much easier to get a feel for what it could be like. We've only really not liked one so far (the weird part is we couldn't pinpoint why. but both dh & I hated it, and ds didn't really like it either) and another one I have serious doubts about - I like looking at the kids walking around campus, what they are wearing, their demeanor, their attitudes - at this one place the kids were slogging around in sweats and slippers and many of them looked overweight and the cafeteria was producing mass amounts of fried foods... it was so much not my son even though the program was supposed to be really good. I am going to make him go back for a second visit at that place.

 

Oh, and that's the other thing, I can't imagine visiting a campus during the summer when school isn't in full swing - I know a vibrant campus with a lot of activities happening around campus would be really good for my kids who are shy and need that scheduling - if you're at a campus on a Friday afternoon and you see kids setting up for a Battle of the Bands, and a Fun Run is in progress and crowds are gathering - it doesn't matter that Admissions is promising 90% of the kids don't go home on the weekends because it is so much fun to stay - because you can actually see it happening.

 

I always ask the kids that give the tours lots of questions and it has never appeared that they give canned answers. And if you meet with professors that have department secretaries - the secretaries, they can be really helpful with information as well. There was this one - she had a picture of every kid in the program on a bulletin board, had a bowl of fruit, and one of chips out on a table, where some kids were working on a project and pb sandwich fixings out back, and promised that if there was any registration/scheduling conflicts the kids could just come to her and she would fix it.. well this is really where I am hpping my dd to end up, how many schools are out there like that?

[creekland]

Curious how other parents guided their children to seek out and apply to certain colleges. Not only how did you help plan their high school studies, but how you helped them narrow down the myriad college choices available to them.

 

Online searches according to interests? College Board? Ranking books like US News or Petersons? Your or family members' Alma Maters? Desire for "top schools"? Cost?

 

We started with our plan. All three of our boys would go to our Alma mater (Va Tech) where both hubby and I had a great time and got a great education that prepared us well for life. Therefore, we didn't think much about college other than knowing what it took to get in there.

 

Our local public high school didn't really have what it takes (I work there, I see it), so we started homeschooling to ensure they were prepared.

 

In the meantime, we visited other local colleges and visited VT a few times.

 

Then, oldest dropped a bombshell on us. He didn't want to go to VT. :glare: It seriously took us a little while to adjust to that, but in the end, it's their lives, not ours, so we decided to focus on getting them to the best schools THEY wanted that we could afford.

 

First question:

 

What DO you want to do? Mine have been able to narrow it down quite specifically, so that helps - though oldest CHANGED his mind late in his junior year.

 

Through local visits, oldest was able to tell us he wanted a SMALL college. (Honestly, I had my doubts that a small college WAS a college, but I've since become ok with that AND seen the benefits for him.) Then, due to his changed plan (wants to get into microfinance with a Christian company), he also wanted a Christian college. I knew next to nothing about ANY Christian colleges. We found several names, including the one he's now going to, via a Christian news magazine (World).

 

What were the major criteria your children voiced when immersed in the college search? Was location and/or distance from home an issue? Private vs. public? Liberal arts vs. technical? Prestige and/or reputation of school?

 

So, criteria:

 

I'm of the school that feels the college matters. In high school teachers can only teach to the level of their students - the level they come in at and the level they are capable of. I don't foresee that being different at college, so I want my boys with their peers in capability. I actually want them slightly above their peers, but not so much they are bored. Therefore, at any school that interests them, I look at the incoming SAT/ACT stats and make sure my guys are in the top 25%, but not so high as to blow the curve. Schools that are too low absolutely do NOT make our cut regardless of anything else. One pays about the same for most colleges. We're paying for an education - not a repeat of high school.

 

The college MUST be well-known IN THEIR MAJOR. We talked or e-mailed people IN THE FIELD my guys wanted to be in and ran college names past them. Some didn't make the cut here. Others were elevated. Some just got "on the list" this way for further evaluation. For some majors (business is one) you can see if the college offers the Major Field Test to outgoing graduates and see how they did on it. With oldest, this swayed his list a bit as not all schools who offer a major seem to do as well educating their students in it.

 

Publics or privates were ok - until limited by each son. Our state school gave hubby and I a fantastic education. Privates are recommended by people in the fields. Either can be good.

 

I think it's good if kids go away from home to college, so we set limits of at least 2-3 hours away and preferably east of the Mississippi (far distance border). Both limits might be tested - they are not at all set in stone. It's just a preference. No matter what mine are going to live at college, but that's partially because it also fits their personalities. Know your student with this one.

 

Once each kid had a list, we started looking more critically at them. I googled them and looked for the good, bad, and ugly. We visited. I checked to see if they were good with financial aid (a biggie for our needs). I'm still in this process with middle son and have started the process with youngest. We run names past anyone that might have an educated opinion. We verbally talk about pros and cons.

 

Then they apply. We wait for acceptances and financial aid packets. Each boy will have their own preference, but finances will dictate (they know this).

 

Oldest got his #1 choice (Covenant College), and after freshman year is still really happy to be there and tells us he made the correct decision for himself.

 

We're doing visits with middle son now. He had a list of 14 - 15 colleges that passed all of his online and verbal checking for pre-med. Some have been eliminated for various reasons already without a visit. Others we're going to or have gone to. Due to our schedule, some have to be summer visits - but most will be when college is in session. I'd like him to apply to 4-6, but it might be less since he's got a nice safety school - possibly two. Applying to less saves time, effort, and $$, but applying to more can possibly provide more scholarship $$ if one doesn't have a financial safety in the bag.

 

And, finally, how did you navigate that fine line between allowing them to choose vs. following your own hopes, dreams, and wishes for their education? Did you ever try to convince them NOT to apply to a certain school? Or talk them INTO applying to a school you thought would be a good fit? If so, why?

 

Interested to hear how YOU did it! Thanks for sharing!

Our definite limits were:

 

The school can not be too far below their academic ability.

 

The school can not have a red light with the "Choosing the Right College" college guide (meaning conservative views aren't viewed well at those colleges).

 

The college must be well known in their major - doesn't have to be otherwise.

 

The distance thing was a guideline, not a hard and fast limit.

 

In the end, our finances do matter, so they might not get their top choice.

 

Outside of those, the boys could apply wherever they liked and see what happened.

 

Oldest did and is happy. Middle is enjoying the process getting ready to apply starting next month. Youngest is enjoying some internet searches at this point. Both younger boys did the visits with their oldest brother. Even if they aren't interested in the same colleges, they still get a feel for what they do and don't like size-wise and other factors.

Edited June 19, 2011 by creekland

[creekland]

I'm just adding one more criteria that has us adjusting our list.

 

We're checking to see where med schools he'd like to go to accept their students from. That info is not always available and it can take some digging to obtain what is out there, but nonetheless, what we've found is adjusting our visit list.

 

I would do the same for anyone planning on going to grad school or professional school after graduation.

[Kris in Wis]

Thanks to those who posted. I'd like to hear more!

 

Some background as to why I asked the question. It seems to be common among families in our local homeschool group (those who do choose the college route) to seldom look beyond our local region (i.e., tech. schools, community college, or campuses of our state university). Or, they insist the child attend the school they went to.

 

Many homeschoolers in our area seem not to have planned ahead for the possibility of college, and are finding out too late they don't have the proper prerequisites.

 

People have raised eyebrows when I tell them my children all went away from home . . . to private colleges, no less! Most believe private colleges are unaffordable (depends - our children did well enough to receive ample scholarships and grants, so it's actually costing us less than it would at our state U!).

 

So how did our children choose? Only one really knew what she wanted to do. She was a dancer, and wanted to continue in dance therapy or dance education. She wanted to stay in the Midwest. She preferred a Christian school. So we looked for a school accredited in dance that fit that criteria, and found ONE. She did apply to a few other Christian schools, because she also wanted to do childrens' and youth ministry and thought if she didn't get in at her #1 choice she'd have options. But she was accepted, with scholarships, and has LOVED every minute of it (altho' going far away from home was a big adjustment the first few months. But it was a growth experience, and turned out to be THE right choice for her!)

 

The other two had myriad interests, but didn't really know what they wanted to do. So they decided on liberal arts colleges with a basic core curriculum so as to experience a broad range of disciplines. They both wanted Christian schools, too, but ones that were fairly selective, academically. The schools they applied to, for the most part, reflected that. Oldest was a National Merit Scholar and basically had his pick. He didn't choose the one his father and I would have chosen for him, but it was HIS choice to make. And it was a great fit. He is now looking for grad schools and wants to be a professor one day.

 

We will see how things pan out for child #3!

 

I agree that college visits are extremely important. You can't get a real feel for the place unless you go there. That was challenging for us, since all the schools but one were out of state, and DH is a teacher and just can't get off work to go make college visits. But it was well worth the time and effort (and money) for us to do so.

 

We did searches with our kids on collegeboard.com, checked out rankings books from the library, and tried to help our children narrow down the choices. One thing I did was compile a list of questions for them to answer for themselves about college - things like: big school or small? public or private? Christian or secular? Urban or suburban? Majors offered? Clubs or organizations of interest? Etc. etc. etc. This really gave them some food for thought, and helped them focus in on what was important to them.

 

Because of their test scores and overall academic level, I didn't see the need of applying to more than 3-5 schools. Since all were schools they would have been happy to attend, we didn't see the point of applying to more.

 

Well, that's my experience! Thanks to those who shared their stories. Looking forward to hearing more!

[creekland]

Thanks to those who posted. I'd like to hear more!

 

Some background as to why I asked the question. It seems to be common among families in our local homeschool group (those who do choose the college route) to seldom look beyond our local region (i.e., tech. schools, community college, or campuses of our state university). Or, they insist the child attend the school they went to.

 

 

 

This isn't just among homeschoolers. When I talked with our college adviser at our local public school this past spring she said that more than 90% of college bound students and/or parents insist they stay within 2 hours of home and will only consider schools within that distance. Some insist on one hour or less. Most will also only consider state schools.

 

It's a common mindset - one I do not personally share. I prefer to pick the best affordable choice for the student. That may be local and state or it may be further away and private - or any mix. As students vary, so does the "best" school.

 

I do have a bias though. I prefer mine NOT stay local and be one of the many on the long lists of local college grads published in our paper. I think there is more education alone just in experiencing a different place for 4 years. Then they can come back (if they wish).

[JFSinIL]

Large part for the first kid was where could he go that was a good school, had his probable major, and...for which he qualified for a LOT of merit aid!

 

He ended up at a LAC three hours away with a very good dept. for his major and the biggest hunk of merit aid of any of the 9 schools that accepted him (not the biggest award in total, but biggest compared to the price of the school - hence the smallest bill for us, less than we'd have paid at the local state school.)

 

The next kid in line does not qualify for the same degree of merit aid, so will start out at the local cc. If she improves her grades enough to get merit aid, then LACs will be looked at - otherwise it is s state school.

 

We make too much to get Pell or other low-income grants...but too much to afford to pay everything ourselves, so merit aid is very important (if the kid has done his/her part!)

 

PS He did apply to several out-of-state schools, as I would LOVE my kids to broaden their horizons. It just didn't pan out that way. He is able to save his work study money (since he doesn't spend it on anything but books and occasional Taco Bell) as the school offers a $2,000 study-abroad stipend for the summer after sophomore or junior year (I figure it means $500 a year of what we pay is being earmarked by the school for this!) and extra money for it would be a good idea!

 

Another thought - some of the schools he applied for overall he would have been in top tier of kid - BUT they did offer Honors programs for those kids. He is in the Honors program at his LAC now.

Edited June 20, 2011 by JFSinIL

[Kris in Wis]

I do have a bias though. I prefer mine NOT stay local and be one of the many on the long lists of local college grads published in our paper. I think there is more education alone just in experiencing a different place for 4 years. Then they can come back (if they wish).

 

I share that bias, though perhaps for different reasons. Having been at home for so many years, my children needed to be independent. Had they been able to come home every weekend, they probably would have (at least at first)! I really wanted them to get the whole college community experience, make new friends, and learn to be a little more self-sufficient.

 

They have really matured over the last couple of years!

[AngieW in Texas]

So far this has only happened with the oldest. At first she thought she wanted to get a studio art degree. I knew this wasn't really what she wanted because what she actually likes is to do art on the computer and that's NOW what you do with a studio art degree. I encouraged her to take studio art classes at the cc for her fine arts credit and I figured that would either make it clear that studio art really was what she wanted or that it really wasn't. She learned that she didn't want a studio art degree.

 

I started researching schools that had graphic design majors because that's a computer art type of degree. I found one school that seemed perfect from what was on the College Board website. I had actually taken a class there once (but it was strictly a graduate school at that point and had NO undergraduate classes in any field). The school has expanded a great deal since then and now has a full undergraduate program as well. It's also just 10 minutes from grandparents and is a smaller state school.

 

We visited that school and several others. The only one my dd liked was the one I had found. It seemed like a perfect fit for her. It also ended up being the only one that my dd applied to. I tried to get her to visit more schools just because I thought she ought to see more, but she had NO interest at all. She had found the school she wanted and she was done. She's excited (and quite nervous) about starting school in the fall. On the plus side, the school also has a free Asperger's support group for students (she was just diagnosed a few months ago).

 

We're very early into the process with the 15yo. She thinks she wants to something along the lines of cognitive science or educational psychology or psychology research or occupational therapy. A lot of people come into OT with psychology degrees, so we figured she'd work on some type of psychology undergraduate degree and figure out from there which direction she wanted to go with it. There are only two schools in our state that offer cognitive science and are not Christian, and one of those is the school where the oldest is going. Since this dd is also Asperger's (although we've known she was spectrum since she was a toddler), that's quite likely to be where she'll go as well.

[Nan in Mass]

How not to choose a college would be a better title for our story...

 

Oldest refused even to look. We made him apply to a large and a small instate public. He got into one of them but refused to consider going. He had a viable alternative plan, so we didn't insist. He got an apprenticeship.

 

Meanwhile, while avoiding a hurricane and desperate for someplace dry to take two younger ones, we toured a college.

 

Fast forward to middle one's turn to go through the choosing-applying process. He was uninterested but didn't outright refuse to visit them or go. After saying he didn't like any of the ones we'd dragged him to, he confessed that what he really wanted to do was go to the hurricane college. We pointed out all its drawbacks but he wanted to go anyway. This was the summer after sophmore year - plenty of time tochange him mind. Instead, he persuaded his brother to think about going. 24 hours after the oldest mentioned that he might be interested I had him scheduled for a visit and we became very very quiet about the disadvantages and held our breaths. A long series of small miracles later, we delivered oldest to the college with strict instructions to stay until Christmas even if he hated it because his younger brother's application was going to depend on how he was doing. Oldest hated it but managed to stay. He says he still hates school but it is a means to an end. His brother was accepted. At the interview, they looked at his CC classes and asked the name of his brother and didn't ask about anything else. They are both still there. They didn't bother to apply anywhere else. The oldest wouldn't have gone anywhere else if he hadn't been accepted and the younger one applied early decision so there was time to apply elsewhere if he didn't get in.

 

Youngest has already eliminated anything out of driving distance, having watched his brothers, and he wants an engineering school. That is pretty good for the end of 10th grade. He is testing ok and has two cc classes under his belt. I'm reasonably sure at least somebody will want him if he doesn't blow the rest of his cc classes (hasn't tried anything hard yet). His college choosing process is looking like it is going to be a little easier on everyone than the oldest two's. We'll see. I have given up trying to predict what my children will do or not do LOL.

 

-Nan

Edited June 20, 2011 by Nan in Mass