Process for Comparing Offers

[Anonymous]

DD asked for my help coming up with a system to compare acceptance offers holistically the way colleges compare students. Together, we came up with a matrix that may be useful to others.

Factors: Academics, Outcomes/ROI, Cost, Student/Faculty Ratio, Major, Minor/ECs, Campus, Community, Distance
Importance/Weight: Very important (5), important (4), considered (3)
Scale: 1 (worst), 2, 3 (best)
Colleges: She received six offers

First, we (DD, DH, and DW) decided together on what factors to consider and then each of us weighted them slightly differently. For example, DD and I gave Student/Faculty Ratio a Very Important (5) but DH weighted it as Important (4). We all ranked Cost as Very Important and Distance (from home) as Considered. Other factors varied in importance.

Scores were also very different. We created a spreadsheet to compare. It was a great exercise to talk about priorities together and ensure everyone felt heard. In the end, we let DD choose and she felt really confident about her choice. DH and I also felt good about it, even though it was the most expensive option.

How are you comparing offers?

[Anonymous]

Thanks for this OP! We're comparing some very different offers and this will be helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD asked for my help coming up with a system to compare acceptance offers holistically the way colleges compare students. Together, we came up with a matrix that may be useful to others.

Factors: Academics, Outcomes/ROI, Cost, Student/Faculty Ratio, Major, Minor/ECs, Campus, Community, Distance
Importance/Weight: Very important (5), important (4), considered (3)
Scale: 1 (worst), 2, 3 (best)
Colleges: She received six offers

First, we (DD, DH, and DW) decided together on what factors to consider and then each of us weighted them slightly differently. For example, DD and I gave Student/Faculty Ratio a Very Important (5) but DH weighted it as Important (4). We all ranked Cost as Very Important and Distance (from home) as Considered. Other factors varied in importance.

Scores were also very different. We created a spreadsheet to compare. It was a great exercise to talk about priorities together and ensure everyone felt heard. In the end, we let DD choose and she felt really confident about her choice. DH and I also felt good about it, even though it was the most expensive option.

How are you comparing offers?

Besides finances, you let your kid decide. And in reality the financial aspect should have been discussed in detail a long time ago (before applying)

You want them to succeed, and when they have issues freshman year (trust me, they will have some issues) the last thing you want is them "blaming mom or dad for forcing me to come to this college"

[Anonymous]

How did you determine ROI?

I have a sophomore in college. In hindsight, distance from home was more important than I could have predicted. I don't think it's true for every kid. Overall I don't regret the decision because the school met the thing highest on his priority list.

I also have a senior in high school so going through it again. I'm not necessarily doing anything different because only time will tell if a decision was correct. I'm a bit more mindful this time of how many kids change majors even those who are 100% certain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD asked for my help coming up with a system to compare acceptance offers holistically the way colleges compare students. Together, we came up with a matrix that may be useful to others.

Factors: Academics, Outcomes/ROI, Cost, Student/Faculty Ratio, Major, Minor/ECs, Campus, Community, Distance
Importance/Weight: Very important (5), important (4), considered (3)
Scale: 1 (worst), 2, 3 (best)
Colleges: She received six offers

First, we (DD, DH, and DW) decided together on what factors to consider and then each of us weighted them slightly differently. For example, DD and I gave Student/Faculty Ratio a Very Important (5) but DH weighted it as Important (4). We all ranked Cost as Very Important and Distance (from home) as Considered. Other factors varied in importance.

Scores were also very different. We created a spreadsheet to compare. It was a great exercise to talk about priorities together and ensure everyone felt heard. In the end, we let DD choose and she felt really confident about her choice. DH and I also felt good about it, even though it was the most expensive option.

How are you comparing offers?

Besides finances, you let your kid decide. And in reality the financial aspect should have been discussed in detail a long time ago (before applying)

You want them to succeed, and when they have issues freshman year (trust me, they will have some issues) the last thing you want is them "blaming mom or dad for forcing me to come to this college"

+1 There was no reason for me to score different elements of the colleges. When my two kids went through the process, anything out of budget was thrown out. Then they picked based on what felt right to them. For DS it required no thought as he'd settled on a very clear first choice earlier in the process. DD had three in final consideration but felt confident of her choice after admitted student visits. I might have picked a different of the top three but my opinion was irrelevant. And her choice has been a good fit.

For both of them the main determinants of the choice were specific aspects they liked about the program for their majors, specific extracurriculars they wanted to do, and just the overall feel of being on campus, that the "vibe" felt right to them.

[Anonymous]

DC is a sophomore so we’re not quite there yet, but something like this could be very helpful, thanks! DC tends to get decision paralysis and this could help them work through figuring out what they want and feel confident in the decision. It’s the biggest decision most kids have had to make at this point in their lives and it’s not always easy!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD asked for my help coming up with a system to compare acceptance offers holistically the way colleges compare students. Together, we came up with a matrix that may be useful to others.

Factors: Academics, Outcomes/ROI, Cost, Student/Faculty Ratio, Major, Minor/ECs, Campus, Community, Distance
Importance/Weight: Very important (5), important (4), considered (3)
Scale: 1 (worst), 2, 3 (best)
Colleges: She received six offers

First, we (DD, DH, and DW) decided together on what factors to consider and then each of us weighted them slightly differently. For example, DD and I gave Student/Faculty Ratio a Very Important (5) but DH weighted it as Important (4). We all ranked Cost as Very Important and Distance (from home) as Considered. Other factors varied in importance.

Scores were also very different. We created a spreadsheet to compare. It was a great exercise to talk about priorities together and ensure everyone felt heard. In the end, we let DD choose and she felt really confident about her choice. DH and I also felt good about it, even though it was the most expensive option.

How are you comparing offers?

Besides finances, you let your kid decide. And in reality the financial aspect should have been discussed in detail a long time ago (before applying)

You want them to succeed, and when they have issues freshman year (trust me, they will have some issues) the last thing you want is them "blaming mom or dad for forcing me to come to this college"

Finances were discussed initially, private schools that didn't offer merit never made the list, a budget range was set, then financial offers compared when received.

The choice was DD's, but she needed help comparing. If our rankings came out very different, we would have talked about it, but it still would have been her informed choice. In the end, our rankings were mostly the same, which was validating and eased some of DD's stress, especially given the cost of the preferred option. While it was at the high end of our price range (we wouldn't have let her apply otherwise), we all agreed it was worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How did you determine ROI?

I have a sophomore in college. In hindsight, distance from home was more important than I could have predicted. I don't think it's true for every kid. Overall I don't regret the decision because the school met the thing highest on his priority list.

I also have a senior in high school so going through it again. I'm not necessarily doing anything different because only time will tell if a decision was correct. I'm a bit more mindful this time of how many kids change majors even those who are 100% certain.

The ROI metric isn't perfect. We started with the Forbes' ranking of Best Colleges of 2025. Some people put no stock in the rankings, but I like the Forbes guide, which takes into account cost and earnings 10 years after college. We also looked at school data about internships, graduation rates within 4 years, % students in jobs related to their majors within 6 months. Then we looked at the job market, because some schools skewed more toward NYC, Boston, or Washington, and DD prefers Washington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD asked for my help coming up with a system to compare acceptance offers holistically the way colleges compare students. Together, we came up with a matrix that may be useful to others.

Factors: Academics, Outcomes/ROI, Cost, Student/Faculty Ratio, Major, Minor/ECs, Campus, Community, Distance
Importance/Weight: Very important (5), important (4), considered (3)
Scale: 1 (worst), 2, 3 (best)
Colleges: She received six offers

First, we (DD, DH, and DW) decided together on what factors to consider and then each of us weighted them slightly differently. For example, DD and I gave Student/Faculty Ratio a Very Important (5) but DH weighted it as Important (4). We all ranked Cost as Very Important and Distance (from home) as Considered. Other factors varied in importance.

Scores were also very different. We created a spreadsheet to compare. It was a great exercise to talk about priorities together and ensure everyone felt heard. In the end, we let DD choose and she felt really confident about her choice. DH and I also felt good about it, even though it was the most expensive option.

How are you comparing offers?

Besides finances, you let your kid decide. And in reality the financial aspect should have been discussed in detail a long time ago (before applying)

You want them to succeed, and when they have issues freshman year (trust me, they will have some issues) the last thing you want is them "blaming mom or dad for forcing me to come to this college"

Finances were discussed initially, private schools that didn't offer merit never made the list, a budget range was set, then financial offers compared when received.

The choice was DD's, but she needed help comparing. If our rankings came out very different, we would have talked about it, but it still would have been her informed choice. In the end, our rankings were mostly the same, which was validating and eased some of DD's stress, especially given the cost of the preferred option. While it was at the high end of our price range (we wouldn't have let her apply otherwise), we all agreed it was worth it.

Sorry this was unclear. We wouldn't have let her apply if the school hadn't been in our price range, although it was at the high end.

[Anonymous]

There’s a little bit of art to the science too.

I’m very data oriented but some of it is what feels best to the student.

First my oldest we had 8 schools (within price range < 60k) he applied to and he was accepted to 5. After we dropped the two most expensive, we were down to three that were great options.

He chose a different one than I would have, but he’s flourishing there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
How are you comparing offers?

We visited schools and went by how my child felt. The autonomy in making a decision was very important to him.
The big discussions were when he was selecting the list of schools he was going to apply to. He would not have wasted time applying to a school that he was not willing to go to.
I feel like factors such as ROI is dependent on what the student is willing to put in. So at the end of the day, it was really more how he felt being on campus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD asked for my help coming up with a system to compare acceptance offers holistically the way colleges compare students. Together, we came up with a matrix that may be useful to others.

Factors: Academics, Outcomes/ROI, Cost, Student/Faculty Ratio, Major, Minor/ECs, Campus, Community, Distance
Importance/Weight: Very important (5), important (4), considered (3)
Scale: 1 (worst), 2, 3 (best)
Colleges: She received six offers

First, we (DD, DH, and DW) decided together on what factors to consider and then each of us weighted them slightly differently. For example, DD and I gave Student/Faculty Ratio a Very Important (5) but DH weighted it as Important (4). We all ranked Cost as Very Important and Distance (from home) as Considered. Other factors varied in importance.

Scores were also very different. We created a spreadsheet to compare. It was a great exercise to talk about priorities together and ensure everyone felt heard. In the end, we let DD choose and she felt really confident about her choice. DH and I also felt good about it, even though it was the most expensive option.

How are you comparing offers?

Besides finances, you let your kid decide. And in reality the financial aspect should have been discussed in detail a long time ago (before applying)

You want them to succeed, and when they have issues freshman year (trust me, they will have some issues) the last thing you want is them "blaming mom or dad for forcing me to come to this college"

Without guidance, my kid would choose on the basis of merch. I wish I were joking. Some kids need more help than others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD asked for my help coming up with a system to compare acceptance offers holistically the way colleges compare students. Together, we came up with a matrix that may be useful to others.

Factors: Academics, Outcomes/ROI, Cost, Student/Faculty Ratio, Major, Minor/ECs, Campus, Community, Distance
Importance/Weight: Very important (5), important (4), considered (3)
Scale: 1 (worst), 2, 3 (best)
Colleges: She received six offers

First, we (DD, DH, and DW) decided together on what factors to consider and then each of us weighted them slightly differently. For example, DD and I gave Student/Faculty Ratio a Very Important (5) but DH weighted it as Important (4). We all ranked Cost as Very Important and Distance (from home) as Considered. Other factors varied in importance.

Scores were also very different. We created a spreadsheet to compare. It was a great exercise to talk about priorities together and ensure everyone felt heard. In the end, we let DD choose and she felt really confident about her choice. DH and I also felt good about it, even though it was the most expensive option.

How are you comparing offers?

This reminds me of the scene in Dead Poets Society where Robin Williams character makes fun of the Prichard Scale of Understanding Poetry.

My son is going on straight vibes. Currently a college is getting downvoted because they ran out of a favorite flavor of cookie at the activities fair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How did you determine ROI?

I have a sophomore in college. In hindsight, distance from home was more important than I could have predicted. I don't think it's true for every kid. Overall I don't regret the decision because the school met the thing highest on his priority list.

I also have a senior in high school so going through it again. I'm not necessarily doing anything different because only time will tell if a decision was correct. I'm a bit more mindful this time of how many kids change majors even those who are 100% certain.

The changing majors is a real thing to consider. If the business school, CS/engineering, hard sciences or anything really that your kid might want to major in are ALL direct admit or "impacted majors", think long and hard about attending a university like that. What if your kid wants to switch majors but literally cannot get into anything else they really want. I'm not paying $60-90K+/year for my kid to have to "settle" for their major

[Anonymous]

I feel like it gets clearer once you have acceptances. The college 8 hours away felt great in every way until the acceptance from the college 4 hours away which was similar in many ways. Same with the financial part: once you have your awesome merit offer in hand, it feels nice, but the college with no aid but 40k cheaper feels a whole lot nicer, even if theoretically the merit college was not out of the question.