DD not excited about any of her options

[Anonymous]

DD has applied broadly to 10+ schools and is more of an average student (3.5w in NoVa, test optional), and has gotten some great acceptances (in my book) but is not really in love with any of them.

She would ideally be a business or marketing major but did not apply to the business school at most college because it was more competitive.

Her current choices are: JMU, Michigan state, Indiana, college of Charleston, and is requesting review to main campus at Penn state. (Accepted to 2+2).

She is not really interested in some of the smaller schools we looked at.

How can I help her come to terms with the fact that there may be no “dream” school for her? Also she does not want to take a gap year or go to NOVA and then transfer.

[Anonymous]

Those are some nice options. With that GPA, she cannot be picky choosy. Visit all the schools, that should help her narrow it down.

[Anonymous]

She's lucky she got into so many good schools. Beggars can't be choosers. If she wanted better she should have worked harder. Every one of them would be fine -- and fun.

[Anonymous]

What will she major in if not business?

How much of a homebody/mommy's girl/daddy's girl is she?

MSU is local to me. It can be hard to transfer into the business school. I've known kids that left MSU because they couldn't make the transfer. Indiana is probably stricter.

[Anonymous]

Has she visited?

[Anonymous]

Those are fantastic options! Take her to the admitted student days. Hopefully, she will change her mind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Those are fantastic options! Take her to the admitted student days. Hopefully, she will change her mind.

Also, encourage her to follow the school's Instagram accounts.

[Anonymous]

Op here. We are visiting the schools. We are on a visit to one of these schools now and this is when she finally confessed how she feels, in tears.

For those who are telling us she should have worked harder, thanks for that unhelpful advice. She had a rough freshman year grades-wise and it’s been hard to recover. She knows it too.

[Anonymous]

She doesn’t have to be excited. She just have to pick one before the deadline.

My son got into the school he wanted and accepted right away. He doesn’t seem excited at all and since then, hasn’t done once single thing he needs to do. We asked if he wanted to go for another visit and he doesn’t.

I remember not being excited either and almost feeling dread about the entire process my entire senior year. I never had the “dream school” feeling, despite getting into some great schools.

[Anonymous]

Have her apply for more with rolling admissions. Maybe Pitt?

[Anonymous]

My DC who has strong stats is also considering Indiana. It’s a fantastic school. Has she visited? I would highly encourage tours to help her get excited. I would cross off the Penn State option and focus on Indiana & JMU (are you a VA resident?).

[Anonymous]

College is what you make of it. You start over with a fresh GPA and a completely blank slate. She can be anyone she wants to be in college and all of those schools have lots of options.

[Anonymous]

It’s hard at this stage after the waiting game. I think some of the student acceptance days will probably build back more of the excitement. JMU is such a solid school and has so many happy and satisfied students. Hopefully some of that energy will be infectious and help her feel enthusiasm about the possibilities, wherever she decides to attend.

[Anonymous]

Those are great options! What was she hoping for - maybe find the schools that are the closest comparisons to her 'dream' schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. We are visiting the schools. We are on a visit to one of these schools now and this is when she finally confessed how she feels, in tears.

For those who are telling us she should have worked harder, thanks for that unhelpful advice. She had a rough freshman year grades-wise and it’s been hard to recover. She knows it too.

Oh c'mon. She also applied test optional, meaning her test scores weren't great.

It's ok to be average. She's very lucky with those options.