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<p>I think there is enough data to predict whether or not a school might be affordable. So I do agree that affordability is the first criteria. Major would be second, even if kids change their mind many are “thinking” about something and should be a consideration. Third would be location. Fourth would be size and fit.</p>
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<p>The second category would not be “out of reach”, but would be “reach”, “match”, or even “safety” depending on the likelihood of getting sufficient need or merit aid. E.g. a high stats student may find that a school like Alabama or UAB is too expensive at list price, but the automatic scholarships for his/her GPA and test scores that they offer bring their costs down to the easily affordable range, making them safeties.</p>
<p>Exactly . . . as I said, “based on sticker price.” It can make sense to target some schools that are out of reach based on sticker price, but where student is an automatic or likely candidate for merit aid and more favorably configured grant vs loan packages.</p>
<p>Our criteria were location- was it urban/rural/suburban?- transportation- both getting around the town & to & from home. Quality of academics- rigor # of courses taught by profs, class size. Cost was a consideration as well but not a big one. Outside scholarships & 100% need met, as well as WUE consortium, made the choices fairly equal to each other.
The majors my kids were interested in were offered every where so that wasn’t criteria that needed to be ranked. Campus life was another- what sort of activities were available? Quality of life- what was food like? Dorms/available housing? whether on or off campus. After criteria was decided we ranked them for importance & after that it was fairly easy to rate each school according to the criteria & add up points.</p>
<p>Geography is a big issue for D. We are also northwesterners, and she can think of lots of places she’s rather be (probably including the local CC) than Alabama or Kentucky so all that mail goes straight to the recycle bin. It is too bad, as I keep reading about all the OOS aid that southern publics are offering.</p>
<p>^^ I know. Someone told us that the Florida schools will practically pay OOS IB students to come, but D refused to consider anything south of the Mason-Dixon line.</p>
<p>D2 is planning on a major (or double major) in a very common majors that are offered everywhere, so that isn’t such a concern. Cost is a consideration, but not the deciding factor. The two items that matter most to her: (1) she prefers a small-ish school; (2) She wants to be surrounded by bright, engaged people who are intellectually voracious like she is.</p>
<p>Yes, D was recently in NC and Florida for sports tournaments. At one point I had thought that Davidson could be a fit, but she was uninterested in staying in either place any longer than necessary. Had no interest in touring Duke while she was there.</p>
<p>She’s a “hothouse flower” in reverse ;-)</p>
<p>Fit.
So how do you find “fit”</p>
<p>That meant selecting geography/region…Kiddo eliminated everything west of the Mississippi…Then cross referencing STEM major with EC (student is an athlete and it is a passion- not something to be “given up” after hs)</p>
<p>That created a list–about 70 schools…
From there the whittling down began. The things that impacted that included location, size, campus culture, scores etc…Reading what the big books wrote, visiting campuses etc all played a part in honing the list.</p>
<p>Finances were considered.</p>
<p>fogfog - I envy you. The difficulty with geographical bias is that if you do live west of the Mississippi, the options are significantly reduced - particularly for a kid who also has a no So Cal bias 
If my kid wanted Pennsylvania, Ohio or NY we’d be set.</p>
<p>^ There is so much that is great west
…all over…
Stanford and Rice are two that were left off for geography…</p>
<p>^ Stanford was in the mix, but alas, is no longer . . . rejected SCEA. Texas was a non-starter.</p>
<p>p.s. it’s too bad about Texas, though. We are overrun with mail from Texas schools, but it goes straight to the recycle bin.</p>