Anybody decide for sure yet?

rix
Sun, 02 Apr 2006 22:33:12 +0000

My D is waiting to hear from one more school, Whitman. So, we are still behind the starting line in the decision making process!

She is considering Denison, Puget Sound, and the non-LAC-like UC Santa Barbara and UC Davis. She was waitlisted at Scripps and Kenyon, and is not sure if she wants to stay on either list. She was also admitted to Willamette, Oregon and Santa Cruz, but they are not on her short list.

I think she liked Denison more than Puget Sound. While Puget Sound was a pleasant surprise, Denison excited her. But, Denison is far away, there are not many students from the west coast, and she has not yet connected with the swim coach there. Puget Sound is closer and easy to travel to, and the swim coach was very welcoming. Denison gave her a lot more merit money than Puget Sound, but I’m not sure how big a factor that will be in the end.

If she gets in to Whitman, or is waitlisted, that will have a big impact on the decision. Whitman is a wonderful school. It’s closer (although it is about as expensive to fly there as to Ohio), she can swim there, and she knows there will be lots of other “left coast” kids there.

I don’t think a UC is the best environment for her, but she will probably visit one or both sometime before May 1. It’s hard to beat UCSB’s location.

She wants to go to the Denison spring overnight program next (!) weekend to get a better sense of what life would be like there, and who her fellow students would be. I have to find out if they can put her up for two nights, Sat. as well as Sun. (The earliest she could arrive at the Columbus airport would be 4 pm, so she would miss a lot of the program if she didn’t come until Sun.)

I agree that Denison has done a great job. When we visited in February, everyone was extremely nice. My daughter also feels very important and “wanted,” and that is influencing her thinking.

I sure hope the final decision from Whitman comes tomorrow. It feels like we can’t really move ahead until we have all the pieces of the puzzle.

Are your kids going to the spring overnight?

P.S. Lewis1212, I have been noting all your comments about the swim coach. My D is going to get in touch with him this week, and set up some time to meet with him when she visits.