<p>What colleges were you accepted to and why did you choose the one that you did? Briefly, of course. It may be useful to future applicants to be able to see the thinking process of students as they navigate among the choices they have already been accepted to. Also, it will be interesting to see what schools were chosen when matched up with other schools. </p>
<p>I’ll start. </p>
<p>Accepted to:
- University of Chicago (EA)
- University of Pennsylvania (RD)
- University of Virginia
- College of William and Mary
- University of Maryland at College Park (EA)
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill</p>
<p>Attending next year:
UNC Chapel Hill. They offered me a full scholarship and they have a fantastic program for what I want to study; they also have great perks as well. Also, I like the South and liked the school when I visited.</p>
<p>My S surprised himself by getting accepted to HYPSM. (early to The Farm) Whatever catnip he put in his package must have really swung the deal.
To make the best decision with such a wealth of riches, as a ‘conscientious’ parent I considered it essential that he not only attend the pre-frosh/admit/cpw weekends of each place to which he got accepted, but that he be there on the first part of the first day of each event to see them at their best and ‘make it count.’ (Previous S tried to have it both ways on H’s and S’s virtually simultaneous weekend events at the end of April a few years ago by going to two days of each using a red-eye flight to make the second and third day of H’s. Arriving sleep deprived mid-event wasn’t a fair way to see the place.)
A busy April ensued.
Y’s virtual overlap with P’s and relative inaccessibility from the perspective of someone from ‘out west’ threw a wrench in the above prime directive, so a hard choice was made early to skip Y’s, and thereby render it the first “no thanks.” It was sad to be so ruthless about such a great place.
M was the acceptance that elicited as much excitement in him as any, but the visit showed it to be not the hoped-for “fit.” Good thing he went.
P was so charming in so many ways that it became my personal favorite and I lobbied for it to prevail. An absence of a certain kind of “connection” (?!?) with other pre-frosh and undergrads MAY have contributed to it’s status ultimately as “only” runner-up. Sad for me. I still think that may have been a mistake, but not a huge one considering the competitive field.
H placed third in the running. If ‘name’ mattered more, or even “at all” to the kid, then it probably would’ve done better. Having hard-partying ‘Visitas’ hosts and another absence of ‘first-impression’ social connections didn’t help. Fantastic local alumni advocacy made that one a particularly poignant “no thanks” too. Ironically, this whole process can be brutal the OTHER direction during an abundant April.
Matriculated to S. Why? “Fun place” kind of vibe weighed. (One of the also-rans, for him above, touted its “work hard, play hard” mantra a bit too chirpily, and it seemed to translate more as “REVEL in your sleep deprivation, party immoderately subsequently. Repeat as necessary until the blessed relief of graduation.” Palo Alto seemed more balanced to him in that regard. Less exclusively geek or Greek too.
Other S plusses: Expansive, charming campus; no slouch for opportunities for academic rigor in his prospective major/concentration; ability to wear shorts comfortably outside in January, and of course (having foreshadowed as much) the much craved sufficiency of simpatico he seemed to hold so dear.
Little things lead to big differences. Any choice would have been fantastic, but a choice had to be made. In the end I think he made it based on the gut feel arrived at from the visits. (A karmic apology to the fine institution in New Haven)</p>
<p>^ good choice on your son’s part! And I’m not saying that just because I made the same choice a few years ago (S over HYP). ;)</p>
<p>Accepted to Boston College, Syracuse, Villanova, UNH, UCONN, and others. Narrowed it down to BC, Villanova, and SU. Found Villanova seemed too religious for me and I did not care for Philly so I ruled it out. BC had a much more thinking, less blind faith religious feel so I didn’t mind it there.</p>
<p>Syracuse was great. I loved the campus and the administration seemed really to care. BC was amazing as well. In the end I decided that both would give me a great education and opportunities so I went more based off of feel.</p>
<p>I felt better about BC, closer to home, love Boston, and am a huge hockey fan. Also I felt a better connection to the students at BC than those I stayed with at SU. Finally, the AFROTC branch at BU (where BC kids go for it) seemed a lot better and more fun than the SU one which was big for me as AFROTC and the Air Force are my goals.</p>
<p>Going to Boston College this Fall and am extremely excited!</p>