Anonymous
Post 04/15/2026 23:03     Subject: Tell me about the schools your kid applied to
Good business program at a large, sports-heavy school that is a non-stop flight from home (or closer). Disproportionate interest in public flagships, though a few one-off privates and one that was truly an outlier based on size and vibe.
Anonymous
Post 04/15/2026 22:39     Subject: Tell me about the schools your kid applied to
LAC near city (or at least not in the middle of nowhere) with strong science/engineering options, robotics, and access to climbing gym.
Anonymous
Post 04/15/2026 22:29     Subject: Tell me about the schools your kid applied to
Coming from a private high school and applied to

3 public flagships
3 slacs
4 private universities

Attending one of the slacs

Anonymous
Post 04/15/2026 22:19     Subject: Re:Tell me about the schools your kid applied to
Mine looked at schools within a 4 hour radius but not in state, Did not want small, wanted football, newer dorms, good food. Thought she wanted a city school but got to Pitt and changed her mind on that.
Anonymous
Post 04/15/2026 22:18     Subject: Tell me about the schools your kid applied to
#1 big sports public U in a "college town," reasonable drive from home (5 hrs max). Good data science/statistics program (this was several years ago when not many schools had defined "data science" majors).

#2 small, rural/small town LAC with an excellent environmental science major + good options to continue playing in band (but not marching band). Not interested in Greek life so not a school where that is dominant. Preferred schools that had some type of environ sci immersion semester. Looked at some schools a bit farther away but mostly preferred Mid-Atlantic region.
Anonymous
Post 04/15/2026 21:58     Subject: Tell me about the schools your kid applied to
Anonymous wrote:How would you describe the collection of schools your kid applied to without using any selectivity metrics. Location? Size? Public/private? Other criteria? If they had an outlier did they go there?

Interested in some of the criteria kids use that aren’t just selectivity.

First kid applied to large state schools in the northeast and mid-Atlantic. Ended up attending the one outlier they applied to that wasn’t in the northeast/mid-atlantic.

Second kid mostly applied to mid-sized catholic schools. Attended a mid-sized catholic school.

Third kid, TBD.


small Northeast LACS for both, one rural near nature and other in towns/cities near cafes, shops.
Anonymous
Post 04/15/2026 21:43     Subject: Re:Tell me about the schools your kid applied to
Over half the list was Big Ten schools. Wanted school spirit, flagship feel in a college town that’s near a city and social life is not Greek heavy. Location either East Coast, Midwest or California. While there were some non-flagship smaller schools those weee added either due to affordability or to give more options for direct admit, potential portfolio required major. In the end they picked the strongest overall school and went with an adjacent major rather than strongest admission offer for direct admit into intended major.
Anonymous
Post 04/15/2026 20:02     Subject: Tell me about the schools your kid applied to
Mostly large state schools in the MW, NE, and South. (went to a small private school)
Anonymous wrote:How would you describe the collection of schools your kid applied to without using any selectivity metrics. Location? Size? Public/private? Other criteria? If they had an outlier did they go there?

Interested in some of the criteria kids use that aren’t just selectivity.

First kid applied to large state schools in the northeast and mid-Atlantic. Ended up attending the one outlier they applied to that wasn’t in the northeast/mid-atlantic.

Second kid mostly applied to mid-sized catholic schools. Attended a mid-sized catholic school.

Third kid, TBD.
Anonymous
Post 04/15/2026 19:35     Subject: Tell me about the schools your kid applied to
Mid-Atlantic LACs/small universities in the 2000-8000 student range with a strong physics department that have good visual arts that non-majors can be involved in. Targeting schools likely to give decent merit for a high-stats kid. Foreign language substitution a big plus (turns out that’s fairly common, fortunately).
Anonymous
Post 04/15/2026 19:18     Subject: Tell me about the schools your kid applied to
Anonymous wrote:Mine said he wanted big, rah-rah school spirit types on the east coast. Didn’t care about prestige at all and on Scoire all of them were basically safeties (Penn State, South Carolina, Indiana, Tennessee, etc). Got in everywhere, most with generous merit money (were full pay). Almost immediately upon starting decided he was wrong and really should have applied to urban schools and that all his friends were going to “good schools” except for him.
My lesson learned was 16-17 year old boys can have no clue. We toured plenty of places that weren’t state schools and he said he didn’t like them at the time. But probably should have applied more broadly so he had different options in the spring. Not sure if he’ll transfer.


Those aren't bad schools though and he will be able to do great things at them.
Anonymous
Post 04/15/2026 18:25     Subject: Tell me about the schools your kid applied to
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Mine wanted mid-sized in or near a small or large city, East Coast or Midwest. Didn't need big sports life (but would have been fine if it was there), wasn't set on going Greek (and then ended up rushing). Seemed indifferent to weather. Was not focused on the appearance of the campus (and then ended up at at a beautiful campus). Midsized + urban(ish) was hard to find.


Curious which school was their final choice?


Northwestern.
Anonymous
Post 04/15/2026 18:12     Subject: Tell me about the schools your kid applied to
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:How would you describe the collection of schools your kid applied to without using any selectivity metrics. Location? Size? Public/private? Other criteria? If they had an outlier did they go there?

Interested in some of the criteria kids use that aren’t just selectivity.

First kid applied to large state schools in the northeast and mid-Atlantic. Ended up attending the one outlier they applied to that wasn’t in the northeast/mid-atlantic.

Second kid mostly applied to mid-sized catholic schools. Attended a mid-sized catholic school.

Third kid, TBD.


Our DC had a pretty clear idea about what he wanted to study, so we put that as the initial filter, then we considered size and location.

Since he is at a small high school, he started with more LACs on his list because he wanted smaller class size. But then he realized he wanted to be in an urban location and that eliminated many LACs (like Midd) that were seemed to be too rural or in the middle of nowhere. His rule on location was: in a city or as close as possible, but no more than 1-ish hour drive away from an interesting city. We also made sure he researched and applied to both medium-size and larger schools just to give him options to decide. His schools were all over the US, but also strong enough in his major, and of varying sizes but there were enough target/safeties in each size band.

When the time came to decide, he picked a great medium-size college that was 30-ish minutes of a city and is very strong in his major/field of interest. He got into a lot of schools that spanned every location and size of interest so he could really choose.

Note: He did change his view over the course of application season on size. He started out wanting smaller, but then 6 months later realized he may outgrow a too small size, and chose medium. He was also very open to a couple of larger schools in a cool city. So don't be surprised if your senior changes what they think they want during senior year. They are still growing, processing, developing a lot at this age. That's why we're happy he didn't do a binding early decision.


+1 similar
Anonymous
Post 04/15/2026 17:51     Subject: Re:Tell me about the schools your kid applied to
One kid wanted small, near a big city and in warm weather. He did apply to U of south Carolina (as an outlier) but hated the visit and then got waitlisted so that didn't matter.

Other kid was very specific about their major and the specific curriculum and mostly looked for that.
Anonymous
Post 04/15/2026 17:28     Subject: Tell me about the schools your kid applied to
My kid spent a lot time researching private schools we could afford in the south in a major because he thought that is what he wanted, to determine he didn’t want that major and didn’t want to be that far south.

Then he switched majors and did the same in the mid Atlantic. He loved the major and not the location and went a bit farther south.

He found a small private father south than us but not as south as we were originally looking and is going there. Cost was always a factor. We did not visit schools we could not afford.

Climate and sun were huge for my kid.
Anonymous
Post 04/15/2026 17:21     Subject: Tell me about the schools your kid applied to
Oops, posted too early. My DS wanted a diverse, mid to large size school in an urban setting on the East or West Coast. Applied to publics, privates and Catholic schools that met this criteria, although the Catholic schools were smallest, around 6000 students. Emphasized strong programs in the social sciences and humanities.

Greek life was not an issue either way, currently going to school in NYC and really enjoys it. But some kids can be overwhelmed there, so they should take the time to make sure it is a fit.