nytraveler

SD State is the Harvard of the West? I thought that was Stanford!

girlonthego

They are all great schools! My only offer of advice is that unless your child has a definite idea that she wants Harvard no matter what,then do the Early Action vs Early Decision. I found both of my kids started senior year of high school with one idea and ended senior year with a completely different idea and school.
My one wanted a small 5000 population school and wound up at a large state university with over 25000 students and loved it. The larger school suited her personality, but she had her early mind set on a small school.

travelgourmet

There is this also...you know surely the excellent colleges in most every state, California included. So is there really any reason you should consider just big name ones? And another thing to ponder: for a college education, is a big university better than a smaller liberal arts one?

In addition to the obvious advantages from having Harvard or MIT or Yale on your resume, recent trends at the in terms of financial aid have made many elite schools incredible bargains. And, yes, anybody that tells you it doesn't matter where you went to school is lying. one shouldn't go to a school they hate just for the name, but they should be aware of just how valuable a Harvard or MIT or Yale degree is.

gail

Since you are getting a lot of life-advice for your daughter and asked a travel question, I will continue with my transportation answer above (Amtrak RT to New Haven and air RT Calif to Boston)

Your hotel in Cambridge is fine for your Boston area stay - convenient to the MBTA Red Line. You might get the Uber phone app and use that for any time you want a taxi-type transportation option; last month when adult str visited we used it many times and I was surprised how easy and inexpensive it was. I also would never call Harvard Square "gritty" - it is crowded, urban, busy - but safe, attractive and filled with restaurants and stores of many types. Continuous residential areas are very, very pricey.

I am not very familiar with New Haven - I suggest you start another thread asking about New Haven accommodations, restaurants - referencing Amtrak and Yale since some may be more convenient to these than others.

travelerfromtx

vistala, I can't help with the travel planning on this trip, but I thought I would try to help clear up some of the EA questions. You are correct about the Early Action plans for some schools. Some highly selective schools' Early Action plans are restrictive in that you can not apply to any other private school Early Action. These Restrictive Early Action plans are also known as Single Choice Early Action (SCEA). SCEA isn't a binding decision however like Early Decision. Harvard, Yale and Stanford have SCEA plans, MIT does not. MIT's Early Action plan allows you to apply to as many other schools Early Action admissions as you would like. Of course, if you apply SCEA somewhere, you couldn't apply EA to MIT.

The College Confidential forums have a wealth of information on the college application processes for different schools. I discovered them after we were already done with the application process, but I wish I would have found it sooner. I think they've already helped us prepare for the freshman year.

http://www.collegeconfidential.com/

Family_5

Hello Vistala, first please check the college tour schedule of the colleges you plan to visit. The schedule fills up fast during Spring Break week. And some colleges have different schedule for different school (liberal arts, or engineer, or business). So depending on the tours, you can work out the itinerary.
Best of luck and enjoy the journey! We are on our third & last college journey. Yes, it is stressful but also very exciting.
While you are in Boston, or New Haven, check out a few colleges...not just Harvard, MIT and Yale. And if possible, tour during school days, so you can get a feel of the campus, the students...Go eat in their cafeteria...Look around the students & the vibe there!

marvelousmouse

I can't really help with with those specific colleges. But I will say what I thought I wanted at 18 was not what I turned into at 25. I had a definitely liberal arts focus at 18. Thought I wanted a small, rural school. Thought I had no interest in sciences at all. My parents let me direct the college hunting. If I had to be 18 again (what an awful thought) I'd go back and look at the widest variety of colleges possible. So I'd say she should look at as much variety as possible in terms of student body size, location, offered programs, etc. And even though you think she'll adjust to the winters- definitely try to take her on visit to that area in the winter. There's a difference between intellectually knowing it's cold and understanding just how many layers you'll be wearing in the winter- and wanting to live in that environment. People can adjust to anything, but it doesn't mean they would choose to.

Family_5

I agree with marvelousmouse! Look at variety of colleges & at the end try to stick to 9 colleges: 3 reach, 3 target (50% chance get in) & 3 safety.
I guess vistala want to use SpringBreak this year to tour colleges, but I agree that at one point before she makes the final decision, she should go during the winter!
And yes, as parents, we guide them; but we also want to get their input as much as we can....since that teaching them to start doing their own research to see what they like, what interests them...and start speaking up, advocating for themselves.
My 3rd child is also a junior this year...so I can relate very well..

nytraveler

I would hope that the student has more than "input", after all they will be the one living there.

When our DDs were looking we certainly were ready to discuss things with them - but their counsellor knew a lot more about specific current admission criteria than we did and there are several student web sites (that they should be searching) that talks abut the experience in each school from the students point of view (often very different from parents).

We basically limited ourselves to commenting on aspects of the experience that they might want to consider (since they were big city kids we strongly suggested that younger DD spend a few days in a small town she was considering a school in - and after 3 days she decided it just wouldn't work for her.

And while they both looked at CA schools (we said they should consider) they decided to stay in the east.