I do have a plan! And I’m very excited about it: I have a roll of Wizard Wall and a fresh box of dry erase markers, so we’ll have the “Wall O’ Colleges.” We’re going to have a set of criteria and C’s going to score all of the schools they’re considering (College Confidential just did an episode with a list of things to consider, that’s probably going to guide some of our categories). And we’ll see what happens.
Depending on how decisions come down, there’s a chance that C24 will be making decisions about schools they’ve never seen. Of the schools we’re waiting on, C has only seen one of them as of now. I think what we may end up doing, depending on the number of choices available, is get their list whittled down to 4 or 5 frontrunners, then take a week in April to go visit those. But again, that assumes they’ll get into more schools.
(of the schools they’ve been admitted to, they’ve seen two and will see one more this weekend). My kid, bless them, has strong “Love the one that loves you” energy and would possibly be perfectly happy with one of their admitted schools, in particular.
That is gorgeous, but it is 62° in MA today so the south doesn’t have as big an advantage as at some times. (Just…don’t try to do this comparison in January! )
I have only visited Brown once but I loved the little street full of surprises behind the campus. We ate at Baja’s Tex Mex (hole in the wall but very good) and had bubble tea. I remember there were Korean fried chicken as well.
I would also vote for just letting it play out. And in the end, if a college getting in the mix early ends up permanently helping the kid be excited about that college, great!
Frankly, I think from a rational perspective it is very hard to know in advance which colleges within a broad range will truly be optimal. Cost is obviously a hard variable, but other than that?
So assuming you put in the work to have a reasonable list to begin with, you could probably put all the comfortably-affordable offers you get in a hat, and the one you picked out would be approximately as good a bet as any other.
But many kids don’t want to do anything like that. They want to be excited, and they want to make a choice that feels personal and not just a whim of chance. And I fully support that desire because I actually think starting off college with a positive attitude might really matter, even if where you do that does not so much.
My daughter did a summer program at RISD and we found lots of great spots, and I particularly enjoyed a little tapas bar near the water. BUT one thing I do on college trips is have my kids research restaurants and choose where to go. I think that gives the kids a nice glimpse of what the dining options in the area will be, for better or for worse.
Well, S24 was done in the ED round but I am 10% (maybe 5%) wondering how the other decisions would have played out.
I feel like we are already doing summer tasks - his math placement test was due a few weeks ago, along with a laundry list of other things. I got immunizations in yesterday and he has to do the foreign language test by April 1.
With S22 we were doing all those things in the summer so it seems really early. I guess his ED school wants to get the early kids done before the RD start rolling in.
All this talk about tours has me hoping more are coming!
Brown was a special one. It was so cold and gray yet they had a petting farm in the middle of campus, it was bustling and alive. Our tour guide from Turkey was the absolute kindest soul. Convinced he’s big reason mine connected so much with the school. The artsy little sister got to tour RISD at the same time.
We ate at the Malted Barley and had great sandwiches at Ocean State Sandwich Company.
This is actually not a college trip. We are going to be there 5 days for Speedo Sectionals. Lots of meals to be had! Its team travel so DH and I get to just be spectators which is a bit of a treat.
@Figgy2@1728MMB love a good hole in the wall! I think both are right by the pool. @NiceUnparticularMan I will check out Parkside. It’s good to mix in a few nice meals on these trips.
I never made it with D22 or S24 but toured in the pouring rain with D25 last week and still loved it. Bonus for the RISD Museum pitstop.
KNEAD Donuts is closed on Weds but we were able to grab delicious PVDonuts on the way out of town.
My kids (twin boys) are pretty much set on going wherever is cheapest. We make just enough money to not be complete charity cases, but we also have lots of kids. So we’re very limited in what we can do to help.
The delay is killing them. They are considering National Guard or ROTC, but without aid packages they can’t even think about what they need.
They will also go to a cheap school site unseen. Because it doesn’t make sense to fly around the country visiting places you can’t afford. Or knowing if a close place might be more affordable.
They just know they don’t want to live at home anymore!
A ton! If you can get a reservation Al Forno would be top of my list. Waterman grille easier to get into and everything (seafood focused but has something for everyone) we had there was delicious - right on river too. These are both places for nicer dinners.
)
but I may be indulging in a sweet breakfast a morning or two, which is not usually my style.