| My parent's had a great attitude about it. They, like me, tried hard to not fall in love with Brown before I got in. When I did, it was after I had already practically sent a commitment card elsewhere where I would have received over 80k in scholarship over 4 years and where the bottomline was already 5-7k cheaper a year. I loved the school and one of my best friends already went there.
When I got into Brown, I went back with my dad to ADOCH. My mom had been reading stuff online and had already pretty much felt that Brown was right for me and Brown was really my first choice from the beginning, but thought of as a dollar in a dream. I really felt so proud the day I got into Brown--definitely one of my most proud moments.
The day of ADOCH my dad was all about sending me here. He just felt it could not be compared to other places I was considering. It was too much of an opportunity in too many ways. It fit who I was in too many ways. My teachers had been pushing Brown the whole way, too. We went down to Financial Aid that day (I initially had no package) and we talked about the next four years, mapped out the cost, and my parents figured out that while they'd have to sacrifice their weekends (wouldn't really be able to eat out, wouldn't go on vacation, etc), that with the financial aid I'd receive my final two years assuming my sister went to a state school (was very likely and turned out to be the case) that we could squeeze Brown and I wouldn't come out in really rough shape.
We walked out of Financial Aid and handed in my commitment card that day.
It was probably the best choice I ever made.
But, it was a very personal choice and it was very much the right choice for me. That's not always the case.
FWIW, the school I was talking about above was Case Western Reserve University, and I still frequently recommend it to kids from home because it's an all too often overlooked choice for Northeasterners. |