From: stank@cbnewsl.cb.att.com (Stan Krieger)
Newsgroups: alt.parents-teens
Subject: Re: selecting a college
Date: 9 Sep 92 14:40:49 GMT
Organization: Summit NJ

>Just thought I'd ask this wise group's opinion:
>
>My 17-year-old h.s. senior wants to apply to one college for "early decision"
>entrance.  That means that when she submits her application (deadline: oct 15)
>she promises to attend THAT college next fall if they accept her right away.
>
>I think she'd be better off applying to at least several different colleges,
>waiting to see where she's accepted, & THEN making a commitment about attending
>(next april or so) the one that looks most attractive to her.
>
>As a college professor, I think that "early decision" entrance applications are
>99% to the benefit of the institution (i.e., they can be sure of who's coming)
>and only 1% (if at all) to the benefit of the student.
>
>Interested in the collective wisdom of this group...

I went through this 3 years ago, and will be going through it again
next year.

The main thing we looked for in choosing a college was to have our
daughter discuss what she was looking for in a college, and we discussed
what we would like.  Once we got agreement, we were able to start
looking.  Typical of the factors we used, and who knows if they are
the "correct" ones are-

   1.	Can she major in what she wants, and is there enough programs
	so that she can change her major if she wants.

   2.	What is the availability of on-campus housing?

   3.	What is the cost (the difference between state schools and
	private colleges is staggering)?

   4.	What are the policies for parking students' cars on campus?

   5.	Are the necessary social-religious organzations active at
	the college?

   6.	Is there a maximum practical distance from home that the college
	should be?  (We requested 3 hours or less, so that moving her in
	and out doesn't become a chore, it's easy enough to get home
	from if desired, and it's easy enough for us to get there in
	case of emergency or crisis).

I know many will disagree here, but I felt that "quality of education"
factors are a kind of a crapshoot anyway.  Anyone in an accredited school
should be able to get the desired education.

Finally a word or "early decision".  All I remember about them when I
was applying to colleges 28 years ago were that they were something
of a status symbol.  In other words, it wasn't enough that neighbor's
brainchild got accepted to the first choice college; the one upmanship
was that brainchild got an "early decision".

Finally, just some thoughts on early-decision, etc.-

    1.	What difference does it really make?  It's almost as though
	the student is giving the college the opportunity to offer
	acceptanace on a take-it-or-leave-it basis.  Unless a student
	can get an early acceptance who otherwise wouldn't be admitted,
	why bother?

    2.	The schools my daughter applied to 3 years ago (mostly
	public colleges) all had a policy of rolling acceptances
	anyway (I guess this means that they know who they will
	accept and who they will reject, so except for those in
	the middle, they can give a decision within a month), so
	there was no wait until March or April; she had her first
	acceptance (at #2 choice) by December.

	The only possible "problem" with this policy is that #1 choice,
	which accepted her in late January, wanted a decision by March
	15; I guess so that they know how many of those "in the middle"
	they can accept.  Obviously this was no problem with us, but 
	I don't know if they'd give an extension to the first Saturday
	in May, if asked (in case a student's #1 choice hadn't come
	in yet), but even if not, all of $100 is at risk to guarantee
	a spot somewhere, which is trivial compared to the total cost
	of college.
-- 
Stan Krieger                     All opinions, advice, or suggestions, even
AT&T UNIX System Laboratories    if related to my employment, are my own.
Summit, NJ
smk@usl.com