College acceptances...now what?

[JustMe]

Ds was accepted at 13, rejected from 2, and waitlisted from 2. As usual, we are still waiting for schools to get FAFSA to help inform choices. As I told ds, I think he can do well with any of his choices, and its more about what choices he makes once he gets there.

[wencit]

OP, this is such a great question--and thank you to the poster who linked the podcast about choosing the right school. I will have to listen to that later.

I did not realize what a crazy emotional rollercoaster this ride would be for ALL of us! Right now, DS1 is struggling to decide between 2 schools. One is a very small private college about 2500 miles away from us that wasn't a realistic choice (because of the cost) until they gave him a large scholarship that brought the cost down similar to our in state public. The other is one of our large in state public schools. With DS1's major, he knows grad school will essentially be required, so that is factoring into our decision as well, both from a cost standpoint and from a "getting in to grad school" standpoint.

DS1 is torn, because the small college will definitely make it easier to advance his career goals. No question about it. He'll have better access to professors, research opportunities, career-related activities, collaborative not competitive environment, etc. I had a long conversation with my friend, whose child attends this college with the same professional goals as my kid, and she says their graduate school advising is A+. They are very happy with the school.

However, the private school is small and doesn't have the same name recognition as our big in state public. If DS1 ever changes his major, I worry that it might hurt him with his grad school aspirations. It's also just logistically harder. DS1 will have to deal with 4 seasons, long flights and all the associated possible headaches, a different political climate, being thousands of miles away from home with no one he knows.... Selfishly, my mama heart hurts that I can't just grab my car keys and drive to him in one day if I really wanted to.

We'll be attending both admitted students day in the next few weeks, so hopefully that will help DS1 get a clearer picture of where he envisions himself. It's such a hard decision and all part of this crazy rollercoaster experience! Good luck to all these high school seniors!

[essnce629]

Your College Bound Kid did a recent podcast about making a college decision. It gives a list of questions for a family to discuss:

https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/2024...-admitted-you/

Another vote for the YCBK episode! My favorite college admissions podcast and I never miss an episode. They cover the 6 Fs of choosing a school:

1. Family
2. Financial
3. Focus (academic & non academic nonnegotiable priorities)
4. Fellowship (who do they want to share their college experience with? diversity & affinity)
5. Future (how is college going to get you where you want to go?)
6. Feeling




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[niccig]

I think money has to be a large consideration. Is the extra money for the more expensive school really worth it? Especially if grad school is a possibility or if there are other children still to go to college. Even if the family will be paying and no debt for the student, could that extra money go elsewhere, say to the parents’ retirement?

DS wants to work in similar field to DH and spoke with DH’s younger colleagues who attended the colleges DS had applied to. They all told him the extra cost wasn’t worth it. Even the guy who had a free ride to a top 10 school in the field, told DS the college had great marketing but wasn’t that great. They all told DS to go the local state school where DS had guaranteed entrance and to spend his time on his own projects and networking.

So maybe see if DC can talk to people who have recently attended the school and get their opinion if the school is worth it.

DS would do fine at several schools so we knew any of the colleges would work for him


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[jacksmomtobe]

Another vote for the YCBK episode! My favorite college admissions podcast and I never miss an episode. They cover the 6 Fs of choosing a school:

1. Family
2. Financial
3. Focus (academic & non academic nonnegotiable priorities)
4. Fellowship (who do they want to share their college experience with? diversity & affinity)
5. Future (how is college going to get you where you want to go?)
6. Feeling




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I started listening to the podcast due to your recommendation here. I have found it really useful and enjoyable to listen to.

[KpbS]

DS had 3 solid choices after all was said and done.
He had a good scholarship to two of them and a great scholarship (almost free ride) to one of those, the more academic one. It made the most sense for him to attend the school with the nearly free ride and also he also had some connections to this one from a prior academic camp.

OP, your DC has been admitted to some great schools! Many have been denied to those and others. It is so great to have options and I agree with a PP the emotions are all over the place and the future feels unknown. She should be super proud of her accomplishments and not spend a minute thinking of what could have been regarding more highly rejective schools. Hugs

[KrisM]

It's hard! Congrats on getting good acceptances. I think many kids will end up just fine at many places. There isn't going to just be 1 college that is their good fit. But it definitely feels that way when they are making decisions.

We eliminated a couple because the scholarship received didn't make it work for us financially. I think there is a good chance DD will take longer than 4 years to graduate, so having a 5th year that is affordable is a key part of it for us. And as we toured different colleges, different elements stood out to her as more of a priority than she had originally thought. We were at 3 top contenders for quite a while and then when final scholarships came out, it dropped to 2. I think the 3rd would have eventually dropped anyway, due to distance. For her, the dorm space and overall feel of the college ended up having more importance. The dorm space made it very easy to eliminate some!

[firstbaby]

My high school senior has gotten into 7 of the 10, denied at 2 and on the waitlist at one of the favorites.

Currently he’s deciding between 2. One is considered highly competitive and getting in was a surprise. He’s gotten many unsolicited opinions that the more competitive school is a no brainer. DS has said the other school feels like home but feels like he’s making a bad decision choosing the “home” school over competitive school. He visited competitive school recently and did not like it at all. He’s going back with a couple of friends in a couple of weeks who were also admitted. I’m leaving it completely up to him. Sounds like the podcast mentioned here might help him.

[KpbS]

My high school senior has gotten into 7 of the 10, denied at 2 and on the waitlist at one of the favorites.

Currently he’s deciding between 2. One is considered highly competitive and getting in was a surprise. He’s gotten many unsolicited opinions that the more competitive school is a no brainer. DS has said the other school feels like home but feels like he’s making a bad decision choosing the “home” school over competitive school. He visited competitive school recently and did not like it at all. He’s going back with a couple of friends in a couple of weeks who were also admitted. I’m leaving it completely up to him. Sounds like the podcast mentioned here might help him.

I would let him know that it is perfectly fine, even great to choose the "lesser" school that feels like a good fit!!

[SnuggleBuggles]

I would let him know that it is perfectly fine, even great to choose the "lesser" school that feels like a good fit!!

ITA!
Honestly, I steered my kid away from competitive pressure cookers. I let him make the choice but we did talk about the difference in school cultures. Mine still got into some good grad schools so his next level wasn’t hurt by his choice.


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