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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My DD has a dream school. She could not care about any other school besides this one school. Despite telling her that there are other schools, in better locations, with better programs in a major she seemingly chose out of thin air. I gave up and let her put all her efforts into this one reach school. She applied to about 5 other schools, basically pulling names out of a hat.
She did not get into dream school.
And is now in a tizzy because she hates her other choices. And she announced she is not interested in her major and doesn't know what she wants to do.

All this to say you aren't alone....

What we did and are doing - touring the schools she got into. Telling her that every school will prepare her for the next step (career or grad school) and that no one (her friends, her teachers, other parents) can legitimately state that one school is better that the other unless they have been to all of these schools. These are opinions based on their own personal preferences and what they have "heard". I told her that she doesn't need to choose a major right away and finally, she can transfer out if there isn't a fit.

After touring a couple schools, she actually does like one of them. We are waiting for other results. She is still sad about not making it to her dream school, but she is getting excited about the other prospects.[/quote]

This is it! Lots of kids have one dream school - and don't get in. I was waitlisted for what I thought my dream school was and ended up going to what was originally my third choice (of three schools I applied to). Was I miserable because I was not at my dream school? No. Would I have been happier if I had gotten into that school? Highly  doubt it. Would my life path been different? Maybe, maybe not.

It's hard to imagine being happy or content someplace else when you've put your entire heart and soul and dreams into one specific school. Almost every student applying has a first choice and a lot of them don't get in. This is not a rare life crisis and certainly not a matter of life or death or success or failure.

Now that your child's dream is no longer a possibility, they are able to start looking seriously at what other schools have to offer. 
I think OP's daughter just doesn't know what she wants and is anxious about making what she thinks is a one-shot-only, all-important, life-determining decision. It's a big decision, but it's not one that ends all hope for her future if she chooses one school over another. She has several options - not just one or two. If she's looking for even more options at this point, she's just nervous about making a bad decision or has decision-paralysis.[/quote]

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