<p>Decision-time has finally arrived and I thought I’d complete the thread I started 8 weeks ago. Thanks to all who have weighed in with their thoughts and advice. This site has been invaluable as I’ve tried to help my son navigate his way through the college application/decision process.</p>
<p>So, he decided on Yale. It was a long road getting here, but he is thrilled with what he expects his next four years to hold. Ultimately, his decision came down to the people and the intellectual/artistic/urban vibe of the school. Our family has been blown away by the extraordinary outreach and welcoming attitude from all quarters of Yale from the director of admissions, down to individual students willing to have long chats on the phone about their CS and Math experiences. My son has yet to talk to a single student at Yale that doesn’t absolutely love their undergraduate life there. They seem to make it their personal mission to convince others to come if they can and it worked. He already feels like a member of the student body with multiple students friending him on FB, exchanging emails, making plans for the fall, etc. The enthusiasm and school spirit is extremely infectious.</p>
<p>As for Stanford, MIT and Carnegie Mellon SCS - it was very strange having to turn down even one of those schools, much less all three. It may seem especially strange given his areas of interest. But the large, spread-out suburban campus of Stanford, their approach to housing by interest/ethnicity etc and the sports focus didn’t appeal to him as much as the compact, urban, residential college system of Yale. As for MIT, my concerns about their environment for undergrads was confirmed in conversations with three separate local parents all with current students there. The lack of decent food, sleep deprivation, decrepit housing, extreme stress and pressure made every one of these parents say they would not send their child there if they had it to do all over again. Their kids are hanging in there, but we are a pretty laid-back family and believe that college should be enjoyed, not just endured, so that actually made the decision fairly simple-even though it’s still strange to say ‘no thanks’ to MIT. </p>
<p>Finally, my S threw the U.S. News rankings out the window, knowing that any of his choices would result in a fantastic education. I hope the rest of this year’s applicants found their perfect fit and I look forward to learning more over the next 4 years on CC from those who came before us. Boola Boola!</p>