Monday, March 9, 2009

Choosing a college

What factors influence a child's decision about college? Over the summer and fall my husband and I accompanied our son on several college visits. A few places he dismissed immediately, a few he fell in love with but upon further reflection changed his mind, a few he was so-so about at first and is now gung-ho. I couldn't tell you why any of these things happened. The tour guide certainly plays a role, but guides I liked he may not have and the opposite. Now we are waiting, and waiting, for the acceptances to arrive. He has received a few, and I think was relieved to get the first one under his belt. The places he is currently most interested in attending are the ones he has yet to hear from, of course.

I visited only one college and applied to only one (a different one from the one I visited.) I had absolutely no idea about the process, what to look for, what to consider. In the end I applied to the state university that my father had attended and my sister was currently attending. I had no idea what I wanted to major in and figured a large school would give me plenty of options. Good thing, since I changed my major a few times! I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I had attended a different kind of school. Would it have mattered? I feel like I received an adequate education, but I certainly was not, for the most part, challenged by my courses. I could have done more.

Stay tuned to see where young son #1 ends up.....

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