How did your child pick their college?

[Mickeyrella]

Not sure if I should answer this lol since I'm the child and no the parent..

But I live in Florida and visited several private universities since I don't really like overcrowded classrooms which are common in state universities. I wanted a university that would allow me to explore my creativity so I ended up picking a university that offers me exactly what I need and want from a university. I'm majoring in Advertising and honestly.. Best decision of my life I decided to not use housing as I do have dogs that I could never leave behind, so I have to commute almost 2 hours to and from school 3 days a week. It's hard because of gas prices, but it's very worth it to me.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

Another child answering here. My daughter is only 2.5, so she only knows of one school - my alma mater!

I was an Aggie fan from about 5 years old and no one is really sure how that happened. My dad and sister were longhorn fans and, anyone from Texas knows, those two have quite the heated rivalry. As we grew, my sister was determined to go to The University of Texas and I to Texas A&M. My sister's junior year rolled around and she was so excited to visit Texas. She hated it. The culture on that university's campus is very different than what the rest of the state is like and it was clearly not for her. She was very upset because she didn't know where to go. That's when my mom stepped in and suggested that she try out Texas A&M. She didn't want to - that was where I was planning on going. But she tried it, loved it, and came home and threw out all of her longhorn stuff.

Texas A&M was clearly going to be the right fit for me. It is the first public university in the state of Texas and has very strong military roots. In fact, it was an all military institution until the 60s. Even though we now have women and non-regs, that military tradition is still strong and rich. We still have our Corps of Cadets and a military precision marching band that performs at halftime of our football games. It is very rich in other traditions and takes those traditions very seriously. We have Muster, Silver Taps, 12th Man, Howdy, Ring Dance, Replant, and bonfire, just to name a few, and each holds a special place in the heart of every Aggie.

When you set foot on the campus, you feel like you are part of a family and that continues for the rest of your life. We have A&M clubs all over the country who get together monthly or even weekly. We have special ceremonies all over the world to remember our Aggie brothers or sisters who we lost that month. We have the network that helps you find a job - but goes above and beyond that to help you get plugged into your community. I knew that if there really was a university like that, it was certainly something I wanted to be a part of.

 

[StephMK]

DD toured about 8 schools during her jr/sr year. She originally had a pretty specific major so that really limited her choices. The large in state public school she attends was originally her last choice.

She first visited a tiny liberal arts school that she loved but then decided it was too small. It was in the middle of nowhere. She had a question about her intended major and while the admissions rep said she'd forward it to a professor, she never heard back from anyone.

She then fell in love with a large out of state college and LOVED it. We toured a few more that she liked or disliked based on her feel of the campus, strength of the program, living conditions, and the tours. She visited the last choice college during a Jr. day on campus and liked it a lot better than she anticipated.

I couldn't go with her the first time so we went back a few months later at the beginning of her senior year. She learned more about her major and was impressed that one of the student panelists searched her out & gave her her email if she had questions.

Her absolute favorite campus and program was an extremely competitive, extremely expensive out of state school. She didn't get in so that was out.

It ultimately came down to the two large state schools but she picked one over the other based on the strength and size of the program. Of course, first semester in, she is already changing her major to something much more generic that would have opened up a lot more choices when she was looking. She absolutely loves her school and says she is really glad she picked it.

I would have expected her to end up at a smaller liberal arts school but she has settled into a large school fairly easily. She did join a sorority and that helped tremendously to have a smaller place to fit in within the large school environment. She loves to be busy and was involved in a lot in HS and seems to be enjoying all the options at college.

Good luck!

 

[AdamRos19]

As having more recently been in your child's shoes, I can honestly say to most of you the "Major" your sons and daughters will choose will change. I for one wanted more than anything to be a mechanical and automotive engineer. I had been offered several scholarships to enter programs at Iowa State, U of Illinois, Michigan State, and Purdue. I appreciated the relaxed feeling of ISU and MSU (ISU offered to pay 3/4 of total cost for 4 years) as the campuses were not very congested.

Needless to say my parents were ecstatic and for about 6 months it had been set in stone. Until I began working. I was a swim instructor/lifeguard who became Personal Trainer for a big corporation making a fantastic income as an 18 year old (same as my dad-police officer, and more than my mom as a DCFS worker) needless to say I fell in love with the field and dropped the idea of engineering (great timing due to the fall out of the auto industry at the time) I then attended Globe University online to Receive a BS in health and fitness sciences- figure that.
After meeting thousands of people and having saved a few lives in y field from medical emergencies I am now a Public Safety Officer (Police/Fire/EMS) felt my services/skills could be better utilized rather than "sales driven"

My wife's story is similar. From scholarship at Dayton U for PreMed and Marine Biology to hospitality management and culinary. And she bounced from achool to school, fortunately she did the Disney College Program and that experience resume builder Has been key for her success. She's now a dept head at the same fitness club in which we met and worked together.

All I can say is ask them where they feel at home, find a well rounded school with strengths in a few categories ( my sister at Illinois State has gone from child education to dietician to speech therapy and special needs education back to child education)

They don't really know until they are there and for this reason they just need to feel as though they can be there for the next 4-6 years and build relationships.

 

[MichelleVW]

Another child answering here. My daughter is only 2.5, so she only knows of one school - my alma mater!

I was an Aggie fan from about 5 years old and no one is really sure how that happened. My dad and sister were longhorn fans and, anyone from Texas knows, those two have quite the heated rivalry. As we grew, my sister was determined to go to The University of Texas and I to Texas A&M. My sister's junior year rolled around and she was so excited to visit Texas. She hated it. The culture on that university's campus is very different than what the rest of the state is like and it was clearly not for her. She was very upset because she didn't know where to go. That's when my mom stepped in and suggested that she try out Texas A&M. She didn't want to - that was where I was planning on going. But she tried it, loved it, and came home and threw out all of her longhorn stuff.

Texas A&M was clearly going to be the right fit for me. It is the first public university in the state of Texas and has very strong military roots. In fact, it was an all military institution until the 60s. Even though we now have women and non-regs, that military tradition is still strong and rich. We still have our Corps of Cadets and a military precision marching band that performs at halftime of our football games. It is very rich in other traditions and takes those traditions very seriously. We have Muster, Silver Taps, 12th Man, Howdy, Ring Dance, Replant, and bonfire, just to name a few, and each holds a special place in the heart of every Aggie.

When you set foot on the campus, you feel like you are part of a family and that continues for the rest of your life. We have A&M clubs all over the country who get together monthly or even weekly. We have special ceremonies all over the world to remember our Aggie brothers or sisters who we lost that month. We have the network that helps you find a job - but goes above and beyond that to help you get plugged into your community. I knew that if there really was a university like that, it was certainly something I wanted to be a part of.

Lol...my DD knew from the age of 12 that she wanted to be a Longhorn. We didn't even live in Texas but that's where she wanted to go. Fast forward to her Senior year and we were now living in Texas. She toured Texas and LOVED the campus and everything about Austin. A few weeks later we toured A&M. She really didn't want to go, but she was accepted and we wanted her to check out other options so she agreed to tour the campus. She hated everything about A&M. The campus, the town, everything. So she's a Longhorn!

She also had a roommate that went to A&M her Freshman year and absolutely hated it, and transferred to Texas the next year and is very happy there.

Just goes to show that you really need to tour the campus before you decide!

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

Lol...my DD knew from the age of 12 that she wanted to be a Longhorn. We didn't even live in Texas but that's where she wanted to go. Fast forward to her Senior year and we were now living in Texas. She toured Texas and LOVED the campus and everything about Austin. A few weeks later we toured A&M. She really didn't want to go, but she was accepted and we wanted her to check out other options so she agreed to tour the campus. She hated everything about A&M. The campus, the town, everything. So she's a Longhorn!

She also had a roommate that went to A&M her Freshman year and absolutely hated it, and transferred to Texas the next year and is very happy there.

Just goes to show that you really need to tour the campus before you decide!

Oh my goodness, when it comes to those two schools, you absolutely MUST tour them. They are two major extremes and if you are looking for one, you will not be happy at the other.

 

[Princess Dolly]

I didn't go through this with any kids, but I'll tell you how I picked. I wanted to go to the best public university in the state. My mom made me visit to be sure, but I already knew that is where I wanted to go. I only applied to that university and was lucky that I was accepted. It also helped that I knew it had a very strong College of Journalism and Communications (started off as a Journalism major and then was accepted into the PR program).

 

[daughtersrus]

Both of my DD's chose the same state school. It has a reputation of being one of the best in the state for their major (Special Education). My oldest DD was able to get a teaching job right away. The principals that she interviewed with said that they pick applicants from that school first to interview.

DD#2 will graduate in Dec. We're keeping our fingers crossed she will also get a job offer.

 

[A_Princess'_Daddy]

For the record, there are some very good state schools. Some of the best research universities in the United States are public schools.

Of course there are! I just personally much prefer a private school environment and have personally found it more advantageous for my own experiences and the experiences that I desire for my children. If my daughter pursues a PhD in one of the hard sciences, which is a possibility, a large R-1 university may be the best place for her to pursue her graduate studies.

 

[ctinct]

I did what a previous poster did. Took my daughter to one large, one medium, and one small that I thought she would like. She decided she would prefer a school with 2000-5000 students. She knew she wanted a school with strong school spirit-not necessarily for sports, but just a school where people like the school and aren't afraid to show it. (Her litmus test was the number of people she saw on campus wearing school hoodies and such. Trivial thing, I know, but it was something she felt she wanted.) She also thought she might like a school with a Greek system, but that was not a necessity, since she really had no experience with that stuff. She also wanted a defined campus; she did not want something that is essentially plunked down in the middle of a city with no real discernible campus feel.

One of her other criteria was that the school be within a three hour drive of our home, preferably less, which is not as much of a problem as it seems, because we live in the northeast, and there are tons of schools. Then, we had to make sure it was a FAFSA only school, since my ex would not cooperate in filing out the Profile form, nor would he contribute to the cost. A little too late in the process, I realized that there are books that give the % of financial need met. I sure wish I had found them sooner.

So, we visited schools around here. Then, I found one that I thought would be a good fit for her, but it was five hours away. (Oh, yeah, it had to had good science and English depts., too.) I forced her to visit. Really, she groused the whole way there. Guess what school she fell in love with on her visit and now attends? Sometimes mom really does know best. She gives tours at the school now, and when students and parents ask her how she picked the school, she tells them this story.

 

[LisaR]

I did what a previous poster did. Took my daughter to one large, one medium, and one small that I thought she would like. She decided she would prefer a school with 2000-5000 students. She knew she wanted a school with strong school spirit-not necessarily for sports, but just a school where people like the school and aren't afraid to show it. (Her litmus test was the number of people she saw on campus wearing school hoodies and such. Trivial thing, I know, but it was something she felt she wanted.) She also thought she might like a school with a Greek system, but that was not a necessity, since she really had no experience with that stuff. She also wanted a defined campus; she did not want something that is essentially plunked down in the middle of a city with no real discernible campus feel.

One of her other criteria was that the school be within a three hour drive of our home, preferably less, which is not as much of a problem as it seems, because we live in the northeast, and there are tons of schools. Then, we had to make sure it was a FAFSA only school, since my ex would not cooperate in filing out the Profile form, nor would he contribute to the cost. A little too late in the process, I realized that there are books that give the % of financial need met. I sure wish I had found them sooner.

So, we visited schools around here. Then, I found one that I thought would be a good fit for her, but it was five hours away. (Oh, yeah, it had to had good science and English depts., too.) I forced her to visit. Really, she groused the whole way there. Guess what school she fell in love with on her visit and now attends? Sometimes mom really does know best. She gives tours at the school now, and when students and parents ask her how she picked the school, she tells them this story.

The problem is that I took my daughter to one large school (she loved it), one medium school (she loved it), and one small school (she loved it). I can't understand how a school with 50,000+ students feels like the right fit along with a school that is only 1,000 students and another with 10,000 students. She always was an odd kid.

 

[daughter_of_amid_chaos]

I walked onto the campus of my college to visit and I knew within minutes that it was where I needed to go to school. I looked at other colleges afterwards including one the next day and it just reconfirmed the feeling of where I belonged.

I applied to other schools I liked just in case I didn't get into my first choice but I did and I have absolutely no regrets.

I got the same feeling about where I got my MA.

 

[Patience]

Our daughter attends my husband's alma mater. We went to a football game there once when my daughter was about 12 and she told us she wanted to go there. As a junior in college, we visited my alma mater and a few other colleges that had the major my daughter was interested in but she kept coming back to the university she attends now. It has a beautiful campus, is medium sized and offers the major she wanted. She was also interested in cheering in college and felt she had a good chance of making the team and she did. All in all, it's a great fit for her and she's happy with her choice.

 

[Boston Tea Party]

When you set foot on the campus, you feel like you are part of a family and that continues for the rest of your life. We have A&M clubs all over the country who get together monthly or even weekly. We have special ceremonies all over the world to remember our Aggie brothers or sisters who we lost that month. We have the network that helps you find a job - but goes above and beyond that to help you get plugged into your community. I knew that if there really was a university like that, it was certainly something I wanted to be a part of.

That is what my daughter experienced with her college. We are ALL now part of the Trojan family even though she is the only one who attends.

My cousin's son is from small town east Texas and started his search at UT. Boy, did he get a shock! He is now at A&M, a much better fit.