<p>a few other threads list what criteria families have come up with- but since this also seems to be such an individual and emotional decision, I thought it would be fun to see what made the decision.
I have mentioned that my D didn’t even want to look at Whitman, even though it was instate, and she would have gotten a governors scholarship, because she was tired of hearing the Whitman name after middle school studies.
Her top two choice schools, had a beautiful campus ( although Evergreen it isn’t about the buildings and you have to be happy with grey skies) were quirky, had decent vegetarian options that weren’t just a salad bar like some of the larger schools, and were Mac friendly, but not only was Reed located in a pretty quirky city itself, but the intellectual energy on campus was very noticable, if even a bit too self aware, and it was small enough that it seemed possible to make your own category, instead of fitting into jock/geek/beatnik</p>
<p>The advertisements on campus bulletin boards protesting daylight saving time- made it easier as well to push Evergreen to a distant 2nd place
what clinched it for me- were the buildings that looked like the college in my brain- torrefazione coffee, great dal in the cafeteria- beautiful dorms overlooking the canyon- grotesques on dorms whose names could have come out of harry potter- doggie drinking fountains- and a campus that was small enough to walk across instead of having to rent a mountain bike- oh and the blue bridge.
High school was never like what I expected it to be, I didn’t attend college- but Reed with its thesis tower and legend of the Doyle owl, fullfilled my romantic ideals-
( of course romance is just the beginning of the relationship-but this about the heart)</p>
<p>The thing that stole my heart was how NICE the kids at D’s school are.</p>
<p>During an admitted-students visit one of them (a junior) looked at her and said, “Just think, in a few months you will BE here-- and we will be your friends!” </p>
<p>The coach was also incredibly warm, funny, and intense.</p>
<p>For my D, first time around–the “right” major (since changed,) and the fact that it was closer than her other choice, were her reasons.</p>
<p>It’s funny about that “nice” thing, which SBmom so well described. She thought she felt it on the visiting day at that first school, because the army of school ambassadors were definitley trained to exude it. But when she actually went there, she found a lot of superficiality and cliqueiness, and was quite unhappy. When she visited her transfer school, she felt more genuinely at-home; she’d found her people, and they really did embody that friendliness similar to what SB described. We learned a lot from that contrast.</p>
<p>For S? It was the moment at the info meeting when the adcom said “we’re looking for students who like to argue…” That sold him!</p>
<p>S had a hard time making the final decision. H and I pushed for 1 school, which had sent him a likely letter. I think he felt more wanted by that school, and is now having a wonderful time.</p>
<p>At a noted academically intense campus…An overnight on a Sunday into a Monday. S brought work with him, a paper he needed to write on the Iliad, and his host (also doing work) asked him what he was doing, and then began discussing the Iliad with him. That, plus an early Monday morning Intro Astrophysics class. (S is a a political science/history dual major.) A very strange child indeed.</p>
<p>Accepted students weekend did it for D, kids were all friendly, campus is beautiful and the open curriculum where she can take whatever she wants - she truly is a Renaissance woman! And don’t forget being courted (and given a wonderful FA package to make Mom happy, too!) turned out the school that she wasn’t even going to apply to, but did as an afterthought became the real fit.</p>
<p>Yes. Accepted students weekend. Stanford was too much like home. At Princeton she danced with an African American sophomore boy - for some reason that was it.</p>
<p>For us, it was how, on accepted students’ days, the faculty began to design a program, including a paid research assistantship, specifically for her. This was coupled with a midweek overnight at what had been the #1 choice, where the students started drinking before dinner (and didn’t stop.).</p>
<p>What clinched it for my son who visited schools on both coasts and this one in the middle: the friendliness of the town and the state. Right now he considers himself a midwesterner.</p>
<p>We had visited 13 schools over a period of three weeks. A couple fell off the list but most were likeable, all had positives but none was overwhelmingly loveable. A disappointment at what had been thought to be a top choice led us to drive over a mountain in a torrential downpour to a school that had been previously x’ed because of what I guess I would call, mis-perceptions. </p>
<p>What clinched it? The museums, the art facilities, the mountains (even in the rain), Louise Gluck on the faculty (sadly, she’s since moved on), the warmth, enthusiasm and confidence of the kids, the dorms, Winter Study, the intellectual drive, the life opportunities.</p>
<p>It was a Goldilocks experience: just right!</p>