Finish Line
Kesha (sans the $ masquerading as an S) just left town after her spotlight moment at Spring Fling. The pop diva serenaded the Jumbo throng with her hit “TiK ToK" as her finale on the President’s Lawn, and that song choice seems apropos as the clock winds down on the admissions process for the Class of 2019. Tick, tock (note the proper spelling) my friends: the Candidate’s Reply Date is less than 96 hours away…
For Regular Decision applicants mulling an enrollment decision—and more of you cling to this “pending” status than one might suspect at this late date—here’s my best advice: don’t over-think your decision. You’ve spent the better part of the past year in analytical mode. You've assessed and studied the various colleges on your list. The things that can be measured have been measured. A college couldn’t (shouldn’t!) be in your final round if it lacks the majors, programs, faculty and resources you seek. If cost is a determining factor, the numbers you need to make a decision should be available. In other words, you have all the data you can collect. And yet, you’re still pondering…
That means the more subjective part of the decision-making process awaits you: which one feels right? That’s a very personal perspective and no one else can answer the question for you. There are no numbers that can quantify the campus “vibe” or its comfort level for you. You have to follow your instincts.
Over the past two weeks, almost 1,000 accepted students and their parents joined us for of our three Jumbo Day programs. As I chatted with scores of visitors, most students with a choice to make were wrestling between two or three options that were more similar than not, at least in terms of academic quality. Happily—logically?—students with strong academic credentials were considering colleges and universities with strong academic reputations and opportunities. As the old saying goes, each was comparing an apple to an apple. There's not really an incorrect choice.
Sometimes, differences in scale (Tufts versus a small liberal arts college or a big state university versus Tufts) or geography ("Boston or Miami…?,” “California or New England…?”) framed the final choice, and those kind of characteristics represent truly different undergraduate experiences. In those instances, to keep my fruit metaphor going, the choice is between an apple and a kiwi: both are tasty but each is a decidedly different kind of fruit. Neither is “better” than the other; each has a different taste, color, texture, skin (shiny versus fuzzy!) and varying nutritional elements. You must honor your own tastes as you make a choice. Follow that logic as you assess the subjective, very personal dimension of your college choice.
Trust yourself. What’s your inner voice advising you to do? Listen to it. Push the button. And—either way—please let us know where you decide to enroll.