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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Is this an American thing to choose a college based on kids impressions from a campus visit? I am a immigrant and this feels so strange and random to me. [/quote]

If my kid is going to spend 4 years and I'm going to spend $100,000+ on something, my kid's feelings at a school are something to consider.  [/quote]

But these first impressions are so irrelevant to the product you are paying for. [/quote]

I disagree.  And with many schools to choose from, how else should a kid pick where to go?  If a kid just gets a "not the right place for me" vibe from a visit,  would you double down and drop $100,000+ and insist he goes there anyway?   Take a risk that he is miserable, becomes depressed, and ends up flunking out?[/quote]

How else you would choose? You can consider graduation rates, graduates salary, where they go after college, class sizes, college reputation, resources, faculty caliber, aid, merit scholarships, etc, etc. [/quote]

[b]You would consider those criteria when building a list of colleges to apply to (and visit) but when it comes down to Amherst vs. Williams or Michigan vs. Wisconsin none of those are meaningful differentiators so leave it up to your child’s instinct. [/b] [/quote]

+1
This is exactly it--once you've figured out where you are going to visit based on meaningful reasons, you narrow down the list based on gut reactions/preferences--it gives kids a sense of control in an anxiety-ridden time.  Alternatively, sometimes kids are visiting schools just to get more accustomed to the idea of college, what to think about--not visiting places they are truly considering--they just happened to be in Boston so go to a handful there etc. Also there's a bit of sour grapes that can be helpful--Harvard isn't so amazing so it's not the end of the world that I can't get in.  Even in state-- there's rain at UVA, there's tourists at W&M, VTech is in the middle of nowhere etc. so if you don't get in one of those it's not like they are so much more the perfect dream than the ones you do get into.

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