How do you chose which school?

[Elisabet1]

Such a bad title!

 

But here goes..how did you and your child, and whoever else, narrow down the choices to where your child will go?

 

Last year it was easy. My son applied to 3 schools, got in to two, and got the financial aid he needed to one. He went to that one and he is happy. Yay!

 

This year feels impossible. My daughter applied to 10. Got in to all but one so far, still has 4 to hear from. Financial aid won't come out for a while. She still has music auditions for 3 of the schools. She doesn't really like any of the schools. She did not really apply to some schools she maybe should have. She started to like a couple of the schools-but just because other kids at school told her she should. Then she visited those schools again and really disliked one and liked the other. She cannot go to any school without enough financial aid, etc etc etc. I actually have a head ache right now and am looking forward to taking a xanax after my husband gets home so I can go to bed. 

[Jenny in Florida]

Well, my son is still in the middle of the process, but here's how it's gone so far:

 

- I did a lot of preliminary research based on various things he said he wanted in a college (major, size, culture, certain academic and extracurricular activities, location, etc.).

 

- I used various websites to try and estimate which of those schools would be good matches for him academically and at which campuses his grades and test scores would make him an attractive enough candidate to be in line for decent scholarships/merit aid.

 

- I shared all of my notes with him, invited him to do research on his own and either add or subtract schools from the list.

 

- We came up with a list of 10 schools to which he thought it was worthwhile to apply.

 

- He's started to receive acceptances from schools with rolling admissions and has begun getting basic offers for merit aid based on his grades/test scores.

 

- He's preparing for an arranging theatre, dance and music auditions (depending on what majors/programs are offered at each school). Some of those auditions are for entrance into a major/program, but others offer the possibility of additional scholarships.

 

- At a few schools, he's been invited to apply for additional academic scholarships, too, and he's working on those applications. (He's also applying for an outside scholarship offered by my husband's employer.)

 

- He'll visit most of the schools in the process of auditioning.

 

- By sometime in April, we should have all of the offers of admission and aid on the table. At that point, we'll sit down and discuss which of the schools to which he was admitted (and, when necessary, where he was also admitted to the program of his choice) offered enough aid to make it feasible for him to attend. If there is more than one reasonable possibility, it will come down to him choosing which school he is most excited about attending.

 

[Lori D.]

[ASIDE:

Your DD has a specialized and highly competitive field of interest: music. Not trying to dissuade her, but, how STRONG is that interest? What does she want to do with it? How much is she prepared to work for a career in this field? I ask, because I have had several friends attempt to make a living in this field. One worked hard and earned 2 Bachelors, a Master's and a PhD, could NOT find work as a symphony musician in spite of 7 hours of practice a day and all the degrees, worked for years in a college music dept. as a secretary and gave music lessons because that's as close as she could get, and finally, at age 40, left the field, got a Divinity degree and is now a pastor...

 

Music is an extremely difficult field to break into, and even if it is your sole passion and you spend hours and hours a day on it, there is only a small chance of being able to actually DO it in the way you would want, or earn a living from it from performance (or composing)... Our economy has meant the arts have even more been cut back, from elementary schools all the way up through college positions, to paying performance opportunities.

 

Again, not trying to rain on DD's parade, but thinking through these hard realities may in the long run help her find a good match in a different field... Esp. since she doesn't like any of the schools to which she has applied. End of my long aside, FWIW... ;) ]

 

 

 

Just a few thoughts:

 

- Perhaps DD would benefit from waiting for a year (or two or three) until she has firm goals and knows that college will accomplish those goals, and would also better know which college would best meet those goals?

 

- Or, since money is a concern, what about attending a community college or university in your town and live at home, knock out some of those gen. ed. courses, and then in another year or two, when she more clearly knows what she wants, transfer to the school that best meets those needs. Or, perhaps she will be graduating with an Associate's degree and be wanting to work at that time...

 

- Or, again, based on the money, what about a College Plus degree (distance courses and CLEP tests while living at home for a degree at about 1/4the the price). Another resource on doing college without debt: Debt-Free U

 

 

However, if attending a 4-year school is clearly the goal, then:

 

Maybe a book would help by seeing school profiles and matching with your student's abilities, campus needs, and career interests? Some may be available at your library.

College Finder: Choose the School That's Right for You

Choosing the Right Collegehttp://isibooks.org/choosing-the-right-college-2014-15.html

 

Or perhaps a website with a search engine to help you match up?

Peterson's College Search

 

Or a book to help you think through what is important to YOU and to your STUDENT to better match up?

Smart Parents Guide to College: 10 Most Important Factors for Students & Parents When Choosing a College

Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges

 

 

Also, check out the pinned thread at the top of the high school board for lots of past threads on a lot of helpful topics: Transcripts, Credits...College Prep/Applications... past threads linked here!

 

post #1 topics:

- getting started/planning

- transcripts

- credits

- GPA/grading

- course descriptions

- record keeping

- diplomas

- accreditation

 

post #5 topics

- college prep/planning

- NCAA

- choosing a school

- admissions/common app

- orientation

- financial aid

- FAFSA

- scholarships

- alternatives to college

- career exploration

 

Here are a few of the past threads linked in that pinned thread to get you started:

 

COLLEGE: Choosing a School
Where do we start with choosing a college?

How do you begin making college choices?
Which college would you choose (many good issues raised helpful for thinking thru choosing a college)
DD having an impossible time choosing a college! Can you help?
Choosing a college

How do you "check out a college"?

 

Best of luck! Warmly, Lori D.

[Elisabet1]

I need to explain on the music...she is not planning to major in music at all. She used to want to and did everything to prepare for conservatory. But then, this past year, in less than 12 months from now, she changed her mind. So she had done everything from Interlochen to horribly expensive music lessons and even has a "conservatory-grade" instrument.

 

At this point, the music auditions are at schools that give non-major scholarships. They are not huge scholarships, but they are ones that can really make a difference for us.

[Elisabet1]

When she graduates...she will have passed (assuming she passes what she has for this May too) with 4 or better ... Ap Human Geo, AP World History, AP Music Theory (this was just a 3), AP English Comp, AP US History, AP French (just a 3, will retake this spring), AP Gov't, AP Econ, AP English Lit, AP Chemistry, and AP Math (not sure about this one, but I did speak to her and she will sit for this test too). IF she passes everything she takes this spring with a 4 or better, then she will have about 2 full years of credit for community college, so not a good option at all. She will also have all core classes for state university completed, except for 1 more gov't class. 

 

Her current plan is Chemical Engineering or Chemistry. She actually can do that. She has been earning a high A all year in AP Chem, which is a hard class at her school. The teacher has close to a 100% passing rate for the AP test with her students, several receiving 5's. She has been teaching science during the summers as a volunteer to children. She is in Science honor society and math honor society (called Mu Alpha Theta) as well as other honor societies. She just recently scored highest in her school in math UIL and will be competing at the higher level now. She also is going on to the science competition. However, I think she does better in the math. The science competition has high level biology, physics, and chemistry, and she has only had Chemistry at the AP level. 

[Lori D.]

Wow, well sounds like she is well on her way to being able to receive credit that could reduce her time at a university by a semester, or at least lighten the load a bit each semester so she will be able to keep a high GPA for scholarships. Speaking of which, she may want to focus on "women in science" scholarships and things related to her field, because getting a non-major scholarship, while great, may ALSO require classes that take away from her degree field -- and engineering, chemistry, math will all require a lot of focus and time...

 

At this point, if she's not feeling like ANY of the colleges are "the ONE", then perhaps together start a comparison chart of the schools she has been admitted to -- things like what options do the engineering programs offer (chance of internships, or research in the jr/sr years, nationally recognized, place into jobs well, etc.). And compare how the APs will be received, and of course, the financial aid packages, and things like if the school accepts outside scholarships without taking off what they would have offered. Perhaps once she gets into the process it will become more exciting and something will click for her...

 

BEST of luck! Warmest regards, Lori D.

[8filltheheart]

When she graduates...she will have passed (assuming she passes what she has for this May too) with 4 or better ... Ap Human Geo, AP World History, AP Music Theory (this was just a 3), AP English Comp, AP US History, AP French (just a 3, will retake this spring), AP Gov't, AP Econ, AP English Lit, AP Chemistry, and AP Math (not sure about this one, but I did speak to her and she will sit for this test too). IF she passes everything she takes this spring with a 4 or better, then she will have about 2 full years of credit for community college, so not a good option at all. She will also have all core classes for state university completed, except for 1 more gov't class.

 

Her current plan is Chemical Engineering or Chemistry. She actually can do that. She has been earning a high A all year in AP Chem, which is a hard class at her school. The teacher has close to a 100% passing rate for the AP test with her students, several receiving 5's. She has been teaching science during the summers as a volunteer to children. She is in Science honor society and math honor society (called Mu Alpha Theta) as well as other honor societies. She just recently scored highest in her school in math UIL and will be competing at the higher level now. She also is going on to the science competition. However, I think she does better in the math. The science competition has high level biology, physics, and chemistry, and she has only had Chemistry at the AP level.

You mention 2 yrs of credit and chemical engineering. Is she aware that if she majors in chemical engineering she will most likely have 3 1/2 to 4 yrs left, not 2? ChemEs don't take that many humanities courses. I'm guessing 5-7, including English comp is the norm, and those are their breather courses that they throw into semesters. If she doesn't take the cal AB exam, her entire college sequence is going to be based on completing calculus (per your other thread) before she can start into the real sequence. Almost everything in engineering is pre-req based. So, what is labeled in 1semester can't simply be shifted around to another. Many courses are offered spring only or fall only.

 

If she takes the AP AB exam and makes a high score on the AP chem exam, she will be starting with cal 2 and cal based physics. If she doesn't take the AB exam, she really won't be able to start her major courses until finishing cal 1 at a minimum except organic chemistry. University physics often has a co-req of cal 2. Most engineering classes are going to need diffEQ.

 

Has she looked at 4 yr plans and understood the sequencing?

 

If she gets a music scholarship will she have to minor in music? I don't know anything about music courses except what I have read and that they are very demanding time wise. I can't imagine a chem e having time for music classes???

[Elisabet1]

1) the only schools that she is considering that have non-major music scholarships are LACs that do not have engineering, so she would be a chemistry major at those schools. 

 

2)I have never expected her to get away 2 years early due to having that many AP credits. Plus, each school is different in how AP credits transfer in. One school will give her a little more than a years worth of credit. A&M and UTD and Baylor would all give her closer to 2 years worth of credit. Another would basically give her none.

 

3) at most, she could do 1 semester at a community college. By doing that, she would pass on all the freshman scholarships she has on the table right now. She would be better off at least starting at a school with a scholarship and transferring if need be, than to pass on a scholarship, PAY to attend community college for one semester, and then start all the applications all over again. And since she cannot take anything like freshman engineering at the community college, no matter how much time she spends at community college, she would still have to take 4 years at the state university to do engineering.

[Nan in Mass]

When we had a similar problem, it turned out that our son really did know which college he wanted to go to.  It just looked like he didn't because we hadn't really liked his first idea and in the process of trying to find something else he would like to do, we had somehow lost track of what he had originally said and he, not wanting to push the issue and hoping that we could find that magic of magics, a third option that we both liked better, didn't like to remind us.  We had no luck finding that third option and his brother got involved and somehow we got ourselves straightened out again.  Ever since then, if someone doesn't seem to be making up their mind using sensible criteria, we have tried to think back and remember if we somehow accidentally eliminated their first choice, leaving them to waffle weakly between other much less desirable alternatives.  Is there any chance you might have somehow landed in the same boat?

 

Nan

[SkateLeft]

.

[8filltheheart]

These are excellent points. My daughter, who is a ChemE major, graduated high school with 60 semester units of transferable college credit, which completed nearly all of her General Education requirements. It would still take her at least 3 or 4 years at the university to complete her degree. .

 

Yep.   And w/o the math/science being the strength of her AP credits, math is going to be controlling pretty much every course decision. 

 

I have no idea why CC was even mentioned???

[Lori D.]

 

I have no idea why CC was even mentioned???

 

 

I'm afraid that was me ;) -- the original post did not have much detail other than "music auditions", "school choice indecision", and "tight finances", so I suggested alternatives based on ways of cutting college costs (with CC to reduce time at a 4-year univ. being one of those). The OP then responded to my post with much more detail about DD, along with responding to how my CC idea would/would not fit for her DD.

[AK_Mom4]

To answer the OP's original question - how did the process work.

 

DD20 was interested in music and her test scores (ACT) were fantastic.  She had only one college she was interested in attending, but they really weren't interested in her after hearing her audition.   I went online and came up with a list of schools that had what she was interested in studying. One of those was a school where she had met the jazz director already and he encouraged her apply.  She is a music major on an ACADEMIC scholarship and the music department is delighted.

 

DS18 has two colleges he is interested (and his in-state backup school).  One was in the right location and the other was a school he heard about from a friend.  Sigh.  He has been accepted to both and we are just waiting for financial aid offers to come through.  We did spend a couple of weeks going through the CollegeBoard site searching for schools that matched his criteria and he surfed the websites of about 50 schools before coming up with one he was willing to apply to and that was in his price range.  But his backup school is a reasonable choice, so if the others don't pan out, he would still be happy.

[Elisabet1]

When we had a similar problem, it turned out that our son really did know which college he wanted to go to.  It just looked like he didn't because we hadn't really liked his first idea and in the process of trying to find something else he would like to do, we had somehow lost track of what he had originally said and he, not wanting to push the issue and hoping that we could find that magic of magics, a third option that we both liked better, didn't like to remind us.  We had no luck finding that third option and his brother got involved and somehow we got ourselves straightened out again.  Ever since then, if someone doesn't seem to be making up their mind using sensible criteria, we have tried to think back and remember if we somehow accidentally eliminated their first choice, leaving them to waffle weakly between other much less desirable alternatives.  Is there any chance you might have somehow landed in the same boat?

 

Nan

Yes!

 

But, she applied ED to that school and did not get in.

[regentrude]

I am now thoroughly confused about the processes through which your DD chose where to apply. She got accepted to a bunch of schools and does not like any of them? Then why did she apply to them???

For a student who has an idea what to major in, the selection process should be straightforward: make a spreadsheet of all schools she is interested in and rank the academic departments. Add columns for extracurriculars, internships, special programs, anything unique about the school. I am a firm believe in a data driven as opposed to emotion driven selection process.

 

My DD did just that. She made a spreadsheet, looked up the rankings of academic quality of departments (not necessary identical to the reputation of the school!), went from the top down, eliminate all that were in an undesired location or too big. Applied to twelve. All are good to excellent candidates in her major combination.

Now we wait for the remaining acceptances and financial aid offers, and then she will rank again, taking the financial situation into account. Unless two equally prestigious schools offer equally attractive financial packages, I expect there to be a clear winner. But we will not even speculate until all information is in hand.

[Nan in Mass]

Yes!

 

But, she applied ED to that school and did not get in.

 

So there are no other schools like that one?  This seems possible to me.  My children each applied to pretty unique schools.  In the oldest's case, it was get in to that one or continue plumbing.  Middle one applied early decision and was accepted.  If he hadn't been, then he would have had to do some major rethinking and probably would have delayed a year to figure it out.  The youngest applied to his one unique really-wanted choice early action, was deferred, and scrambled over Christmas to apply to several others that each had one or two of the things he had liked about the unique one and two state schools, just in case.  (Two states because one was UMass Amherst where he would have had to get his GED to matriculate and where the engineering program fills up very fast, and four others because this was the first time I had one applying to more selective schools and I had no idea if anyone would want him.)   In the end, he got into his first choice.  It was a big relief.  He didn't really want to go to any of the other schools, although he was being very good about it.  We would have visited them all and he says he would probably have wound up going to either the closest or the one where his brothers were, since he didn't really care beyond his first choice.  At the time, he had the flu and nothing seemed to matter much.

 

Maybe putting off the decision as long as possible and forgetting about it in the meanwhile would be a good approach?  That would give her time to come to grips with her dream not working out.  Maybe she hurts too much to think about it right now.  Does she have until May 1st to decide?

 

Nan

[creekland]

FWIW, most kids like where they end up.  I'd let her continue in this "pause" state until you get your final acceptances and financial packages, then see which schools are still on the table.

 

Since she wasn't accepted to her ED school she may be gun shy at wanting to have another favorite until she is SURE it can happen.

 

Once you know all the possibilities, then compare on paper, and if possible, at the schools - perhaps on accepted student days as the schools try to be rah, rah then.

 

Or... do the folks where she works have any suggestions of favorites?  That could move a school up significantly IMO.

[Joules]

For a student who has an idea what to major in, the selection process should be straightforward: make a spreadsheet of all schools she is interested in and rank the academic departments. Add columns for extracurriculars, internships, special programs, anything unique about the school. I am a firm believe in a data driven as opposed to emotion driven selection process.

 

My DD did just that. She made a spreadsheet, looked up the rankings of academic quality of departments (not necessary identical to the reputation of the school!), went from the top down, eliminate all that were in an undesired location or too big. Applied to twelve. All are good to excellent candidates in her major combination.

What information/resources did you use to rank academic departments? Ds is undecided, but has several distinct fields of interest. A couple are my own fields, so I have no problem there, but what about areas that I have no idea about? Are the popular media lists enough or did you find other resources you like?

[Teachin'Mine]

Lori, even with all the information the OP has since clarified, I think CC is an option.  If she completes all the APs and tests well on all, that's still only 11 courses and 37 or so credits at most.  That would be equivalent to one year of CC credits.  But as has been mentioned, she still would need the math and science sequences for engineering, so community college is a viable option.  OP, hopefully your daughter will get some nice acceptances and she'll visit them and find one that she likes.  If it doesn't work out to be the best fit, she can always transfer.  If she doesn't find any she likes, I would go with a good community college with the plan to apply as a transfer student in a year or two depending on her target school's transfer requirements.  If she does plan to transfer, hopefully she come up with a list of colleges she likes and would work out financially. 

[nancy in nj]

We were in a similar boat last year with my daughter not being thrilled with any of her college options--except for one school 5 hours away.  She was a high stats kid, but her college choices were limited because of a serious chronic health condition that required her to be in a temperate climate (not overly hot/humid during school year, but also not freezing cold).  It was also forseeable that she would require more parental assistance that a typical college student during times when her condition flares up.  This basically put a 3 hour ring around our home.  

 

One school, Duke, had to be eliminated after visiting, because she could not breathe in any of the buildings there, not one! There was not point in even applying.  So, it came down between UNC Chapel Hill (which she despised at first visit) and Emory in Atlanta which is the only school that she liked and could see herself attending after visiting.  She applied to UNC under duress (since she needed a financial and academic safety), and it was very difficult to convince her that it was a top-notch academic university that would fit her needs, and not just a sports-crazed party school..  

 

I can assure you, it is still too early in the process to have complete clarity as to the right decision.  If finances are an issue, it is better if she doesn't fall in love with a school before she has the aid packages and knows which are viable options.  Once you know which schools are truly options financially, go back and visit those schools (most schools have special days for admitted students), spend an overnight if that option is available, set up meetings with professors in the chemistry department, carefully look at the website, course requirements etc to make sure she thoroughly understands the school.  It's tough when you have 10 potentials on the table, but not so bad when it whittles down to 3 or 4 (or less).   The right option will become clear, and it very well might be a gut-feel rather than a strict analytical decision.

 

It really does work out for the best most of the time.  My dd saw UNC in a completely different light after going to Scholarship day and competing for merit aid....the caliber of the other participants were her academic peers, she loved that the set up the day in a collaborative rather than competitive fashion (small round-table discussions with a professor based on an article they had pre-read), like the professor.  Completely opposite of her first impression the year before.  She went back for an admitted student day and that confirmed her choice.  By the time she got her Emory acceptance without the necessary $$, she was already a Tar Heel!  Fast forward a year and she loves it there.  Had she not been invited to scholarship day (300 out of 15,000 EA applicants), we would have likely digged deep to pay the full fare at Emory rather than force her into a school she hated.  Things really, do work out for the best....next year you will likely be sharing a similar story!