Hey guys. I previously posted on here but have some updated info and still really need help deciding on a school. My top 3 options right now are UMich, Tulane, and UCSB. They actually all come out to about the same cost so that is not really a factor in my decision. I really am not too sure what I want to do with my life (something in the Science’s, but I don’t think that those fields pay too well). I have visited all of the schools and liked all of them, I’m really just having a hard time with this decision! Does anyone have any input/advice that they can give me? I really appreciate any input!
One more thing that I forgot earlier… I haven’t done as much research into this school/program as I was very recently admitted, but I also got into the UGA Honor’s Program.
Linking to OP’s other thread for reference. Tulane vs UMich
Congrats. Make it four. UGA Honors is rated tops this past year.
I think you know - Tulane is smaller/mid size in New Orleans but outside the action.
UM is your huge flagship with a great city.
UCSB is a beach school. Large but not UM large.
UGA if you go there is another large one, very spread out but if you like football, the way the stadium is smack in the campus is so cool.
Start with - size. You will have huge intro classes at the big schools, maybe less so at Tulane.
If you prefer small, consider this:
At Tulane, 14 of 1622 classes are 100+ or less than 1%.
That’s 7.5% at UM, 5.2% at UGA and 9% at UCSB.
It may or may not be your major - but think about that as an overall.
If you want smaller classes overall, that’s Tulane.
If you want beach, that’s UCSB.
If you want big football, that’s UGA or UM.
Given your possible major - you’ll be ok anywhere.
And it could be you like many schools - and that’s ok too.
Other than an inability to make a decision, are you looking for specific/more information regarding the schools than you were getting in the other thread?
The advise I would give one of my kids is this… make brackets… take 2 of the schools (pretend the other options don’t exist) and make a pro’s/con’s list. Ultimately you want to get to a selection out of those 2. Do the same thing with the other 2 schools. Now you’ve excluded 2 of the 4 and push the 2 remaining schools up against each other.
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I’ve been sharing this post a lot this past week, because I think it’s a great methodology to help kids hone in on what’s important to them in a college and how to compare colleges on those qualities (which involves specifying the priorities, their relative importance, a kid’s score for each college for that priority, and creating a weighted total score): Parents of the HS Class of 2025 - #9032 by sbinaz. The link shows what was important to that particular student and gives more details on the methodology. Below are some additional potential categories that can help you brainstorm things that might be important to you:
- Distance from home
- Geography
- Type of housing
- Particular interests
- Appearance of campus
- Vibe of campus
- Peer group
- Size of classes
- Range and depth of classes
- Distribution requirements
- Flexibility to change majors
- Major requirements
- Study abroad options
- Climate
- Prestige
- Cost
- Proximity to a favorite destination (multiple parents mentioned how the presence of a Chick-Fil-A or smoothie shop or Starbucks was of significant importance to their kid)
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We just visited UCSB last week and had a senior student we know take us around. What matters is if you like it, but we felt it was very rundown and that student even told my kid to choose something different. Even the server we had at dinner the night before said he wishes he chose UCSD because there is nothing to do. UCSB was just voted the number one party school and we have consistently heard from students after a while it gets really old. I guess they have a club that goes out and goes camping and does other outdoor things on the weekend, but just consider what it is you like to do for fun. There is no football and even their basketball arena looked sad.
All good options. UCSB is a great option if you are looking for large school resources at a mid-sized school. The academics are first rate, as are the students. I find it gets positioned as a party school by people who didn’t go there. It is festive and relaxed, but the Greek system participation is low, and the student community is literally bordering the ocean. I would recommend you visit if you can, they have admitted students day next weekend 4/12.