<p>yes, i was one of those students deciding among brown and swarthmore and other colleges at ride the tide. i chose to go to wesleyan. which is not to say there was anything bad about the other colleges (i was lucky to have the choice). it was a combination of things—academics, interests, campus culture, and fit. the point is, my decision to apply to these schools and which one to attend involved a lot of factors that had less to do with just ranking, median SAT scores, and per student endowment and more to do with how much i actually “liked” each school. especially when it was a given that i’d receive a quality education at any of these schools. i’d suggest that moot take a similar approach, if it works for him/her.</p>
<p>i just think the “spreadsheet” approach to choosing a college is really more of a parents thing, than an actual college applicant thing.</p>