Your student received acceptance to multiple colleges. What now?

In Spring of 2022, we were right where you are, times two. Our twins had anxiously awaited replies from about a dozen colleges between them, and by February, knew what their options were.

One twin was easy. She knew exactly where she was going after her tour of Samford University in Birmingham. Her sister, on the other hand, was in decision mode between two colleges for weeks. They were both big state schools, one with almost 40,000 enrolled students, and the other with more than 50,000 enrolled students.

Obviously, when making that college decision by college decision day, May 1st, one of the most important things to consider is costs and scholarships. Since that’s a given, I won’t go into it here.

But one major thing I will encourage is this – take your student to visit campuses in person, if you’re able, before they make their decision. And take the guided tour offered by the college, don’t just take a self-guided tour. The college’s tour guide will provide details about services and programs that you won’t learn on a self-guided tour. And if you’re lucky, you’ll get a tour guide who shares their own experiences with you, to give you and your student a better feel for the vibe of the college. All four of us (mom, dad, twins) agreed that the guided tours gave us a much better feel for each college and whether they would be a good fit for our student.

The second major thing I recommend might seem like a potential waste of money… and in the end, it may be. But trust me, it’s important. At many big state colleges, they don’t have quite enough on-campus housing to accommodate all the students.

Just plan to put deposits down for housing at your top couple of choices. You may lose $200 if your student chooses another college, but it’s important at some universities, to get on their lists early. One of my daughters attends the University of Texas at Austin. When she was accepted, she was still contemplating between two colleges. We put down her deposit as soon as she was accepted, which was already late in that university’s process. That decision saved us a huge headache when it came time for housing assignments. She was able to get a dorm room, while other late-registering students ended up having to search for off-campus apartments at the last minute. The university just ran out of campus housing.

There are tons of other things to think about, and you can read more about them here. https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/plan-for-college/after-youve-applied/you-got-accepted-now-what

Sooner than you think, you’ll be attending orientations, decorating dorm rooms, finding roommates, and making the big move. But for now, focus on the “decision.” It’s a big one for your student and they may need a little support in this area.

And in the next few months, once the decision is made, reach out to the College Care Package Company to send your student a College Decision care package full of university goodies. It will make their decision more real when they start drinking out of a branded water bottle and the banner is hung on their wall.