Cross off everything you can't afford and let your kid visit and choose which one s/he likes best. It isn't rocket science.

My sweet DD had already made up her mind but she didn't want to tell me that she was deciding against my alma mater. Make sure your DC truly doesn't have a preference already in mind.

We did a college tour where we visited schools the kids thought they'd like to apply to. After they got in, we did a second trip to visit the ones they thought they'd like to accept.

At one point, we left our kids on the campus and had them walk around themselves. Do you feel safe? Do you see people you think you'd be friends with? Do the kids going here seem happy? DD rejected one school because she saw a mouse in the bathrooms. DS rejected one school because he felt like everyone looked stoned.

We also told them it's okay if a school wasn't a good fit and they wanted to transfer after their first year.

Another visit to her top two?

So, DC is deciding this week. How do we guide her to compare them? We're looking for feel more than program comparisons. TIA!