Decisions
Yesterday we crossed the line that stretches across the month, dividing “you’ve got plenty of time to make a decision” from “you better make a decision.”
For people unfamiliar with the US college process, it differs from person to person, but most people apply to a bunch of schools where you’re in the criteria window and then decide amongst their acceptances which program/college fits the best. Because kids also often apply for direct admit, which means they go directly into their major. Some majors are only direct admit, meaning if you don’t get in via admissions, you will probably not be able to do that major when you get to school. Other majors are easier to switch into down the road.
The whole process takes about a year of your life unless you apply early decision, which means you’re committed to that school if you get in. The twins wanted to see which colleges wanted them back and didn’t feel comfortable committing to a school in October, so they went regular decision.
They ended up with many lovely schools to choose from, and it has been difficult to narrow it down. They realize that life is a series of making hard choices and knowing all the other options you won’t get to take. If it helps anyone else, I found this article a good one in helping the twins realize that every choice is just a choice; not a statement on the other options but just a leap into the unknown that the option you’re taking is the best one insofar as you know at the moment.
What would be awesome is if there was a way to test drive each college for a month and then commit to one. It’s not possible — at least, not in the way I envision — so we’re doing the next best thing by taking a deep breath and hitting accept. Any day now.
9 comments
DC1 is committing today!
One benefit of lots of rejections and waitlists is that it’s pretty easy to narrow down to 3, then 2, then 1. It also helps that they’re all good options and it’s easy to satisfice. But I think DC1 ended up optimizing, at least in his mind.
It will be nice to stop getting all those emails from places he’s decided against.
Best wishes to all of you as they make their decisions!
Good luck! It sounds like such a stressful and lengthy process. I would love to know more about their decision-making process if they’re comfortable with you sharing – what they most wanted and how they weighed one against the others.
Did they consider going to the same place? I feel like that’s a whole extra layer for twins.
Decisions are hard. I’ll be thinking of the twins!!
The process there sounds a lot more complicated than it does in Canada — or did when I was off to university (admittedly, a — gulp — long time ago now!). Of course, there wasn’t much question of where I would be going — my parents couldn’t afford to send me too far away, so I just went to the closest big university — and to be honest, it was the only place I ever really considered going (and it was fine). I don’t think I even applied anywhere else. And back then, it didn’t take much in the way of GPA to get into the faculty of arts — it’s probably still easier than some faculties, but overall, things are a lot more competitive (and expensive!) now.
I’m sure there are lots of places that would be good choices in different ways. I’m with Turia; would love to know just how they made their decisions. Thinking of you all!
If you want to hear about someone else’s kid, we posted about my DC1’s choice today.
My child was all “I don’t care about PSATs!” and then they had a swatting call (at like…21 different schools, I think) at her school that day. One school in our area evacuated – hers decided it wasn’t a credible threat and just increased police presence. I hope she is more concerned with testing next year. Of course, she’s pretty well convinced she will get the veteran’s scholarship in our county to the well-regarded state school. I hope that works for her.
Good luck with choice – I’m sure it’s already made. And you’ve planned how to divide your weekends between the children. 🙂
I am really late in commenting on this post, but I hope both of your kids selected colleges that they will enjoy, and that will prepare them for their next steps. I know that this choice seemed monumental to me when I was their age, but as you say, it’s really just a step on the path. There’s no “right” or “wrong.”
PS Will they be attending different schools?