decisions, decisions!

In December, I wrote to this group about Son#1's (S1) interest in
deferring enrollment for one year following high-school graduation.
The admission-application process was intense for him, mostly because
he was playing "merit aid bingo" -- looking for excellent schools that
also offered merit aid. He completed applications to nine schools,
plus several more separate merit-aid applications, and, combined with
a heavy academic load, the process was grueling for him.

A recap of his stats, for those who are curious: 1590 SATI (in one
sitting at 15), mid-to-high 700's SATIIs, top 1% in class, National
Merit Finalist, 4's and 5's on 7 AP exams taken as a HS freshman and
sophomore, and 17 classes at neighboring Big State U, including five
classes cross-listed as graduate-level classes, college GPA in the 3.9
range. Participated in foreign exchange, studied eight foreign
languages, is fluent in two and conversational in several others.
Played a varsity sport for four years, was captain of his team this
year, is a tutor for basic through AP-level classes.

Now that the college offers are in, S1 is highly conflicted. He's
been on a couple of merit-aid interview sessions and has returned
excited about going to college next year; deferred enrollment appears
to be off the table for him now. But now he's in turmoil, trying to
decide what path to take next. He was accepted everywhere he applied:
Emory, Duke, Harvard, Hopkins, Rochester, UNC Chapel Hill, Vanderbilt,
WashU, Yale. One school offered a four-year, full-ride scholarship,
two offered full tuition, another invited him for an interview for a
full-tuition scholarship, but he had a conflict and couldn't attend.
(WashU declined to consider him for merit aid and is no longer under
his consideration.) Additionally, he's a semifinalist for an
externally funded scholarship/job combo similar to ROTC -- full
tuition at any school, summer job, and after-graduation committment.
Although we do not qualify for need-based aid (silly me, I've been a
value-conscious saver all my life!), we've offered S1 a generous
tuition "allowance" that he can either spend on college tuition or, if
he uses merit aid, use for his future however he wants to.

He's in the throes of trying to decide what to do. He wants a good
fit, but he's not sure he'll recognize it. There seem to be too many
trade-offs for him to clearly evaluate everything. Full ride at
College X, no strings attached? Yale or Harvard, but a committment
after graduation, which is so far in his future that he's unsure about
signing on? Yale seems to be his top choice -- "on paper," at least,
although he's yet to visit. Harvard appeals to his 16-year-old sense
of name recognition, but imho would not be as good a fit as some of
the other schools. Still, there's that "H-bomb" effect (as his
interviewer put it -- S1 really connected with his Harvard alumni
interviewer). He wonders if he does not attend Harvard or Yale, will
he always regret it? When so many kids would give just about anything
to get in at these schools, could he just walk away? Will the
intellectual stimulation be noticeably different among his various
choices? (He's beginning to notice that now, at Big State U, although
there's still some intellectual headroom since he's taking classes
with students so much older than himself). He's excited, he's scared,
he's overjoyed, he's confused; he needs to decide by May 1 -- oy!

Maggie

PS He wants to know who you think he should invite to the prom, too

Maggie, wow, he's a monster! The question that leaped to my mind when
I read your post was -- what does he want to study? That should be a
factor. I would also suggest that he attempt to evaluate his relative
interest in the schools *without* the financial factor, and see if
that helps. He can factor it back in later.

Ah, such problems.
Congratuations.

Anne