Anonymous wrote:Admitted student visits. I could see it in his face and the way he carried himself. I knew which one he would pick from those visits. He was alive and paying attention and had excitement vs the one I originally thought he’d pick where he was eyeballing and going through the motions and ready to leave as soon as he could.

The final two choices were distinctly different. Urban vs suburban/rural. Mid-size vs large. Private vs public.

Same for both of my kids. Admitted day was critical.

Anonymous wrote:It came down to two choices. At one, kid was very quiet at admitted students day and then whispered to me how everybody on this campus looks and dresses exactly the same. Had I noticed this? I just shrugged, not wanting to offer an opinion. Then kid went quiet again, just a lot of "hmm"s as we walked around the campus. Not a great sign. Came alive on the other campus, said how beautiful it is, was much more engaged walking around campus hearing ten different languages and seeing every type of person, and seemed sort of bummed to leave. Wanted a souvenir sweatshirt from the campus bookstore and wore it to high school every other day while deciding. Hmm. I knew deep down how it was going to go in the end, but stayed quiet and left it up to kid to decide. Not a shocker when kid said they're going with the "beautiful" campus.

That was my kid’s impression at UVA.

It came down to two choices. At one, kid was very quiet at admitted students day and then whispered to me how everybody on this campus looks and dresses exactly the same. Had I noticed this? I just shrugged, not wanting to offer an opinion. Then kid went quiet again, just a lot of "hmm"s as we walked around the campus. Not a great sign. Came alive on the other campus, said how beautiful it is, was much more engaged walking around campus hearing ten different languages and seeing every type of person, and seemed sort of bummed to leave. Wanted a souvenir sweatshirt from the campus bookstore and wore it to high school every other day while deciding. Hmm. I knew deep down how it was going to go in the end, but stayed quiet and left it up to kid to decide. Not a shocker when kid said they're going with the "beautiful" campus.

Attractive people.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kind of surprised that the word “smokeshow” hasn’t appeared anywhere in this thread.

I'm sure this is what draws many young guys to Bama, Ole Miss, Arizona/ASU, etc. They don't actually say this to their parents, though.

What does smoke show mean?

It means they are low-class bros looking to get laid instead of getting a great education.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kind of surprised that the word “smokeshow” hasn’t appeared anywhere in this thread.

I'm sure this is what draws many young guys to Bama, Ole Miss, Arizona/ASU, etc. They don't actually say this to their parents, though.

What does smoke show mean?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kind of surprised that the word “smokeshow” hasn’t appeared anywhere in this thread.

I'm sure this is what draws many young guys to Bama, Ole Miss, Arizona/ASU, etc. They don't actually say this to their parents, though.

They tell their dads

Same way, same reasons, same everything for the last 100 years!

You have to be a troll.

Anonymous wrote:Kind of surprised that the word “smokeshow” hasn’t appeared anywhere in this thread.

I'm sure this is what draws many young guys to Bama, Ole Miss, Arizona/ASU, etc. They don't actually say this to their parents, though.

Anonymous wrote:School size
Matched in state tuition
Highly ranked program for their major
Greek life
Amazing tour
Flat topography - yeah, that was mentioned as a plus!

I hope people making these decisions in the coming years are learning from this discussion.

While it’s nice to think the only important selection variable is the academics, for many students & many majors, the academics among the schools they have applied to won’t be significantly different.

The competition to get tenure-track professorships in most subjects makes it really unlikely that your kid will run into even one professor who hasn’t mastered the topic & won’t be able handle undergraduate classes.

So, factoring in things like weather, safety, flat topography, & typical walking distances from dorms to classes or dorms to stores & restaurants is not trivial. They usually have an effect on the students’ lives, & almost certainly WILL vary significantly from school to school.

Anonymous wrote:My daughter chose Williams over Harvard, Princeton, JHU and Columbia. She fell overwhelmed at all the other colleges due to their size and her anxiety kicked in.

Wow that's not a common decision..good for your daughter though. I went to Pomona and my roommate had turned down Stanford and Caltech and I always though her was crazy lol. No he knew what he was doing. He is a multi millionaire today very successful. And he came from a poor family so no connections. But he was extremely bright. To date the best person I have met who can teach you physics without using any technical terms while doing so with contagious passion.

Good for your daughter for following her instinct. Congrats.

Kind of surprised that the word “smokeshow” hasn’t appeared anywhere in this thread.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's just say picking suxs

It was so much harder than we expected. DC really loved their top 3 options and the in-state option was also compelling.

^Definitely a good “problem” to have but unexpected that it’d be so tough.

Anonymous wrote:Let's just say picking suxs

It was so much harder than we expected. DC really loved their top 3 options and the in-state option was also compelling.

Picking was the absolute hardest part of the process for my kid. It sounds like a first world problem but it was brutal. In the end they picked what turned out to be a bad fit and are now transferring. Transfer app numbers are up this year and while my kid has received one acceptance they're happy with they've also had a number of rejections. It's never fun to be rejected but honestly I am grateful that they're not waitlists or acceptances. It's much less stressful to have limited or no options.