<p>SDonCC,
Every student is different in what they are looking for, so things she likes about Brandeis may not be the same as what your student likes. </p>
<p>My daughter was primarily looking at small liberal arts colleges, preferably ones which offered merit based scholarships. She was not interested in the Ivies, did not want to take classes from teaching assistant, and preferred small class sizes taught by high quality faculty members. She is interested in the sciences (Neuroscience and Biology), so high level labs with the opportunity of participating in faculty research early on in her academic career was important to her. Academically, Brandeis met all of these criteria. An important factor was the fact that Brandeis operates as a small liberal arts college within a first class research university, giving her the best of both worlds. She probably spent 40 hours reviewing the catalog, looking at all the options and possibilities that Brandeis provides.</p>
<p>My daughter plans on going for a PhD right after college, and she felt that Brandeis had a strong reputation was most of the top tier science graduate programs.</p>
<p>She also liked the students she met at Brandeis, and the culture and feel of the campus. She enjoyed the multicultural (and international) mix of students. She wanted to avoid “party schools” (which Brandeis is certainly not) as well as schools with a strong drug and alcohol culture. After speaking with several students there she felt that she “fit” in socially. Some of the schools that turned her off had a large percentage of smokers on campus, strong Greek life influence, or students who told her they work hard during the week so they could party hard all weekend. I am sure there are plenty of Brandeis students that do this, but she didn’t feel like that group was the majority, and there would be plenty of places for her to “fit” in and be part of the campus community.</p>
<p>The interview helped to reinforce her beliefs (stated above).</p>
<p>Finally, Brandeis made a strong offer to her, making her feel like the school really wanted her to attend. They offered a full-tuition scholarship (Justice Brandeis scholarship), the Lerman-Neubauer Fellowship, and will offer her a small scholarship for being a national merit finalist. I am sure it made her feel good to be “in demand,” and the level of money offered alleviated all of our family financial concerns. </p>
<p>The schools that she applied to met many of these elements, but only Brandeis was strong in each area that was important to her.</p>
<p>So SDonCC, I hope this answers your question. Have you son and daughter decided whether they will attend? What other schools are they waiting on?</p>