Episode 12: How to Compare College Offers and Choose the Right College
Episode Description:
College acceptances are in. Now comes a decision that may be even harder than applying: Where are you actually going to go?
In Episode 12 of Drop In, Lisa and Josh break down how to compare college offers, look beyond rankings and name recognition, and make a final college decision based on what actually matters for the next four years of your life.
Because the goal was never to collect the most impressive acceptance. The goal is to find the college where you can learn, grow, find your people, explore new opportunities, and actually be happy on a random Tuesday in February.
Lisa and Josh walk through the factors families should compare before committing, including financial aid and merit scholarships, academic opportunities, honors colleges, class size, campus culture, location, and the overall student experience.
They also explain why admitted student days can be so valuable. Visiting a campus after you have been admitted is different from touring as a prospective student. Now you can stop asking, “Can I get in?” and start asking the much more important question: “Can I see myself living here?”
If your family is comparing the actual numbers, our companion guide on how to compare college offers and make the final call before May 1st takes a deeper look at financial aid, academic fit, campus culture, location, and how to organize multiple college acceptances before making your decision.
And remember that the biggest scholarship offer is not automatically the least expensive option. Families need to look at the actual cost of attendance, grants and scholarships, renewal requirements, housing, travel, and other expenses before deciding which offer provides the best value.
Lisa and Josh also tackle one of their favorite college counseling conversations: prestige versus fit.
The college with the biggest name is not automatically the best college for your student. A smaller school, an honors college, a stronger scholarship, smaller classes, better access to professors, or simply a campus that feels more like you may ultimately provide a much better college experience.
In this episode:
How to compare multiple college acceptances
What to look for in financial aid and merit scholarship offers
Why the least expensive college may not have the lowest sticker price
How honors colleges can change the comparison
Why admitted student days matter
What to ask current students when revisiting a campus
How to compare academic programs, class sizes, and opportunities
Why prestige and rankings should not make the decision for you
How parents can help without turning their preferences into their student's decision
What to do when two colleges both feel like great options
Why imagining an ordinary Tuesday may tell you more than another ranking
How to confidently make your final college choice and own it
Ultimately, you do not owe anyone an explanation for choosing the college with the better scholarship, the honors program, the smaller name, or simply the place that feels more like you.
At some point, you have to stop choosing for the reaction other people might have and start choosing for the life you are actually going to live.
Then own it. Be proud of it. Buy the sweatshirt.
Need help comparing college offers or figuring out which school is truly the right fit? Connect with Lisa and Josh at Decision Drop to talk about how we can help your family make the final call..
#CollegeAdmissions #CollegeDecision #CollegeOffers #FinancialAid #MeritScholarships #CollegeFit #CollegeDecisionDay #CollegeCounseling #DecisionDrop #DropInPodcast
🎙️ Also available on: Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music | iHeart
Top Questions Answered in this Episode
How do you compare college offers before making a final decision?
Start by comparing the factors that will actually shape your four-year experience: total cost after grants and scholarships, academic opportunities, strength of your intended program, class sizes, access to professors, campus culture, location, housing, extracurricular opportunities, and how comfortable you feel on campus. Rankings and name recognition can be part of the conversation, but they should not make the decision for you.
How should you compare financial aid offers from different colleges?
Do not compare only the scholarship amount. Compare what your family will actually need to pay at each college after grants and scholarships are applied. Include tuition, housing, meals, fees, books, transportation, and other expenses. You should also check whether merit scholarships renew automatically or require a particular GPA or other conditions.
Are admitted student days worth attending?
Yes, especially when you are deciding between colleges. An admitted student day can feel very different from a regular campus tour because you are no longer imagining whether you might attend. You are evaluating the school as a real option. Attend classes if possible, explore the campus beyond the official tour, eat in the dining hall, talk with current students, and ask yourself whether you can realistically picture living there.
Should you choose a more prestigious college if another school is a better fit?
Not necessarily. Prestige does not tell you where a particular student will thrive. A college with less name recognition may offer smaller classes, stronger access to professors, an honors college, better undergraduate research opportunities, a more affordable price, or a campus environment that better matches the student. The best college is the one that best fits the student, not the one that gets the biggest reaction from other people.
How important is an honors college when comparing college offers?
An honors college can significantly change a student's experience at a larger university. Depending on the program, honors students may receive smaller classes, priority registration, specialized advising, honors housing, research opportunities, or greater access to faculty. Families should compare the actual benefits of the honors program rather than focusing only on the university's overall size or reputation.
What should you do if two colleges both feel like good choices?
Once you have compared academics, cost, opportunities, and campus life, stop trying to find a mathematically perfect answer. Imagine yourself several weeks into freshman year on an ordinary Tuesday with no football game, admitted student event, or special activity happening. Where can you more easily picture yourself going to class, finding your people, spending your free time, and building a life? Sometimes that ordinary-day test reveals what another spreadsheet cannot.
How much should parents influence a student's college decision?
Parents should absolutely participate in conversations about affordability, logistics, and major family considerations, but the student will be the one living at the college. Parents should be careful not to let their own attachment to prestige, an alma mater, or what other people may think become the student's reason for choosing a school. The goal is to help the student make an informed decision they can genuinely own.
When do students have to make their final college decision?
Many colleges use May 1 as the traditional enrollment deadline, although individual college deadlines can vary. Students should check every acceptance letter and portal carefully for enrollment, housing, scholarship, and honors-program deadlines. Do not assume every deadline is the same.
Chapters
00:00 – Choosing Between College Offers: The Decision Is Finally Yours
02:53 – Start With Fit: Revisit Campuses as an Admitted Student
05:18 – Prestige vs. Fit: Choose Where You’ll Actually Thrive
08:01 – Financial Aid Offers: Grants, Scholarships, Loans & Real Cost
11:00 – Merit Aid: When the “Hidden Gem” Changes the Math
13:56 – Honors Colleges & Building Your Real Finalist List
16:28 – May 1, Deposits, Declining Offers & Celebrating
18:00 – Hot Take or Hard Truth: The Sweatshirt Name Isn’t the Point
20:05 – Drop the Mic: Choose the Life, Not the Reaction
22:52 – Next Week: How Much Should Parents Help?
Read the Full Episode Transcript
Josh (00:21)
Every week we drop the noise.
Lisa (00:22)
Drop the stress.
Josh (00:23)
And drop some knowledge.
Lisa (00:24)
Welcome to the Drop In, the College Admissions podcast by Decision Drop. If you want to learn more about our services or have Josh and I guide your family through this process personally, please head over to decisiondrop.com and check us out. And please do not forget to like and subscribe.
Josh (00:42)
I'm Josh.
Lisa (00:43)
I'm Lisa. Let's go!
Lisa
I love that every week.
Josh (00:48)
It is starting to get problematic how close to the screen you're getting.
Lisa (00:53)
Why are you always a fun killer, Josh?
Josh (00:56)
I'm not a fun killer. It's just, you know, at some point you're gonna come through that screen. So, which could be, you know...
Lisa (01:00)
Sure.
Josh (01:01)
Useful. Anyway, all right, Lisa. So we are on episode 12.
Lisa (01:06)
Mm-hmm.
Josh (01:07)
We're back with the what to do during application season series. And honestly, the...
Lisa (01:11)
Mm-hmm.
Josh (01:11)
Part we've arrived at now is the fun part.
Lisa (01:14)
It is the fun part. Yay, kiddos. Welcome. Okay, so let's just picture this. Let's fast forward to a few months. The acceptances are in. The financial aid letters are just piling up. And after all of the waiting and the researching and the applying and the stressing, the decision is finally yours.
Josh (01:35)
Yeah, and that's a real shift, right? Because this whole time, other people have been deciding about you. So admissions officers, admissions committees, so that whole situation's flipped. You're the one who's holding the offers, and you now get to decide what you want to do.
Lisa (01:49)
So we thought today, this episode, we're going to lead with love. See what I did there? Call back to last week. Thank...
Josh (01:56)
Nice call. Nice callback. Nice callback.
Lisa (01:58)
You, thank you, thank you. And we do not want to undersell what a gift the decision to finally being yours, right? So if you are sitting there with more than one great option, this is a wonderful, hard-earned problem to have. So first, congratulations.
Josh (02:16)
Yeah, exactly. Congratulations from me as well. But this is still a real decision, as Lisa mentioned, and it's a big one. So today...
Lisa (02:23)
Mm-hmm.
Josh (02:24)
We're going to get into how you actually compare your offers, in terms of deciding about fit and money, and how you can make the final call by May 1st without losing your mind.
Lisa (02:33)
Okay, let's get into it.
Josh (02:36)
Okay, so maybe we can have you lean back from the camera. Anyway...
Lisa (02:42)
This is the same. Is this really the same effect? Like let's get into it. No, it's not. In... okay...
Josh (02:50)
Okay, we'll... okay.
Lisa (02:51)
Let's get into it. Is that better?
Josh (02:53)
Okay, we'll figure that out off air. Anyway, all right, so Lisa, we're gonna start with two big pieces here. Because they're...
Lisa (02:59)
Mm-hmm.
Josh (02:59)
Different and students have got to weigh both of them. So there's the idea of fit and then there's...
Lisa (03:05)
Mm-hmm.
Josh (03:05)
Finances. And the mistake that sometimes we see a lot of families make when they're in this process is that they fixate on one of them and they ignore the other.
Lisa (03:13)
So let's take fit first because in a weird way, you've already done a lot of this work. So everything we've talked about when we built your list. The size, the location, the culture, the academics, finding your place, all of that comes roaring back because now it's real. These are the schools that actually want you.
Josh (03:36)
Yeah, but it's a little different now though. Because before, when we were building that list and we were kind of talking about things and even when you were applying to college, you were just imagining yourself at these schools. So now with offers in hand, you can actually go to those schools and stand on the campus as an admitted student. That's literally what those admitted student days are for. And it hits a little differently when you're standing on campus with an offer of admission versus before when you were just a prospective student.
Lisa (04:02)
True, because this is the part that those campus visits or admitted student days, they are very valuable because admitted student day is a completely different experience from a regular tour. And listen, take it from an ex-tour guide. I know, shocker. I'm not sure how many of y'all had Lisa being a 40 Acres tour guide on your bingo card. Or maybe you did, maybe it's not shocking.
Lisa
But they are completely different because now you're not being sold on the campus. You got...
Josh (04:33)
Mm-hmm.
Lisa (04:33)
In. They already want you. Now you are going to evaluate them. So walk on campus. Sit in a class, eat at the dining hall, talk to an actual current student, not just the polished tour guides.
Lisa
Just gonna toot my own horn. But picture what it's actually like on a random Tuesday when you're there.
Josh (04:55)
Pay attention to how you feel, not just what you think. So we've worked with students who walk onto campuses that they were sure about, and when they got there, the vibe was just a little off. The atmosphere...
Lisa (05:04)
Mm.
Josh (05:05)
Wasn't... they weren't feeling it. It wasn't their cup of tea. And then we've had students who walked onto campuses that maybe they were a little unsure about and they felt at home right away. So that's a gut reaction. So you should pay attention to it.
Lisa (05:18)
And this is where the whole prestige versus fit conversation gets very real. Because we are not talking hypothetically anymore, y'all. You may actually be sitting there with an acceptance from a big-name school that everybody knows, and then one from a school that only half of your friend group knows, or maybe half of them have never even heard of it. And now you have to choose not which sounds better or sounds more impressive.
Lisa
It's the school that actually is the place that's better for you.
Josh (05:47)
Yeah, Lisa, this is an important point. So we want to talk about this directly because it is one of the hardest parts of the evaluation process in the whole process, right? So let's say a student gets into a big-name school like Boston University, and also they get into a smaller school like Denison University, which is in Ohio. So it's a great liberal arts...
Lisa (06:05)
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Josh (06:06)
College that a lot of families outside the Midwest have probably never really heard of.
Lisa (06:11)
And on paper, when people ask you where you got in, BU probably wins the name recognition contest every time. But that is not the question here. The question is where will that specific student, you, actually thrive?
Lisa
Where will you get the smaller classes or the professor who knows your name? Or that research opportunity as a sophomore instead of having to wait until the end of your junior year or beginning of your senior year?
Josh (06:39)
For some students, a school like Denison might be the better fit for them. It's not the consolation prize in terms of the name recognition contest, but it's the better fit. And if you're someone who's going to thrive with a professor who actually knows your name, you might do way better than getting lost in a 300-person lecture hall.
Lisa (06:57)
Now, okay, I do think that we also need to be fair though. Because the reverse can absolutely be true. Some kiddos walk onto a huge campus where a lot of things are going on and a million things are happening, and they think, yep, this is exactly where I need to be and where I want to be. They want that energy, they want those options, they want that big-school experience, they want the rah-rah.
Lisa
And that's great. That might be your fit. That was my fit, that is the point. The point is not...
Josh (07:27)
Yeah.
Lisa (07:28)
That smaller is better or that the big-name school is somehow the wrong choice. The point is that the name on that sweatshirt cannot be the reason that you chose that university. Because once your parents drive away, kiddo...
Lisa
And that is where you are actually going to live and go to class and make friends and spend the next four years. Fit is what's going to matter.
Josh (07:52)
This is where you're gonna live for the next four years. That's super important because that's what matters. Your happiness...
Lisa (07:57)
Mm-hmm.
Josh (07:58)
Over the course of those next four years really matters.
Lisa (08:01)
Right! Your happiness matters. Remember that, y'all. Okay, so now let's talk about the other huge piece. Money. Because a college decision that ignores the financial reality is not a real decision, y'all. That is a wish.
Josh (08:17)
Yeah, and so this is another complicated part of that final decision-making process, and it's where sometimes students and families can get a little tripped up because financial aid letters sometimes can be confusing. So unfortunately...
Lisa (08:28)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Josh (08:29)
And I wish this were true, but it is not, there is no standard format for financial aid award letters. Every school does it differently, and honestly, some of them present the numbers in a way that can be a little misleading for students and families if you don't really look beyond...
Lisa (08:46)
So here's the single most important skill in reading an aid letter. You have to separate the money that is actually going to help you from the money that just looks like help. So you have grants and scholarships. Those are gift aid. That is money you do not have to pay back. That's the real deal. Loans, on the other hand, are not aid.
Lisa
Loans are debt with a friendly font, I like to say.
Josh (09:12)
Mm-hmm.
Lisa (09:12)
And work study, that is money that you have to earn by working a job. So circling back to my ex-tour-guide days, that was actually my work-study job that I had in Austin. And I loved it, y'all. If you can find a job on campus, do it. That is one piece of big advice after getting into a school. Y'all, get a job on campus. Because think about this. Jobs on campus, your employer is more likely going to know what's going on on campus. Potentially you could be off on holidays or maybe work not as much on holidays. You don't have to go far from class or the dorm.
Lisa
It is super convenient for multiple reasons.
Josh (09:53)
And your breakdown of the financial aid terms that will show up on these packages, it matters a lot because a school can advertise this big aid package that's actually mostly loans, which is not aid, which is debt, and it can look way more generous than a smaller package from another school that's mostly grants, which are gift...
Lisa (10:12)
True.
Josh (10:12)
Aid and money that you don't have to pay back. So students and families, you can't just look at the headline number. You've got to see what those numbers are actually made of.
Lisa (10:21)
Because that number, it actually matters in your net cost. So the total cost of attendance. So you've got tuition, you have fees, you have housing, you have food, you have travel, you have books, all of it. Minus only the gift aid, the grants and scholarships, remember, you don't have to pay back. So that's your real out-of-pocket number. Calculate that for every school, and then now you are comparing apples to apples.
Josh (10:45)
Exactly. And students and families don't forget travel and all the hidden costs. So...
Lisa (10:49)
Mm.
Josh (10:51)
A school that's a flight away means multiple plane tickets a year and those can add up fast. And that is not always reflected in financial aid letters.
Lisa (11:00)
Right, it's not really the sticker price, y'all. Like they'll give you a price, but there's a lot of hidden fees. So try to calculate that too. Okay, so now let's talk about merit aid, because this is where some of those hidden gem schools can get really interesting. So you have a school that you may not have known about six months ago actually come back with a scholarship that changes the entire conversation.
Lisa
And then that is where fit, prestige, and what your family is actually going to pay all start crashing into one.
Josh (11:29)
Yeah, exactly. And so here's something that every family should know. So the most selective, most famous schools, like your Harvards, your Stanfords...
Josh
They basically don't give merit aid because they don't have to. They've got way more top students applying than they need. So it's need-based aid only, pretty much.
Lisa (11:46)
But the schools that are trying to attract high-achieving students, often excellent schools that rank a bit lower, or maybe they're terrific regional schools, they use those merit scholarships aggressively to pull in strong students who might otherwise go somewhere else that they deem more famous.
Josh (12:06)
The University of Alabama is a classic example of this, right? So one of the things that they do very well is they actually publish a pretty transparent scholarship ladder. So your GPA, yeah, your GPA...
Lisa (12:15)
I think it's one of the best. Yes. Mm-hmm.
Josh (12:17)
And test scores translate into a specific predictable award. So in some cases, that can be full tuition for high-stat out-of-state students. So you can basically know what you're worth to them before you even commit.
Lisa (12:29)
And then I think Tulane, so we have a public school, now let's have a private school. They're another great example. They award the Paul Tulane Award, that can cover full tuition for exceptional students.
Lisa
And then there are national programs like the Stamps Scholarship, and that's offered at a wide range of partner schools. They can cover full tuition plus room and board plus enrichment funding. All of it.
Josh (12:49)
Exactly. And so now we're at this point where there's a strategic vision that families...
Lisa (12:55)
Mm.
Josh (12:55)
Will need to kind of sit with, right? Because sometimes...
Lisa (12:57)
Mm-hmm.
Josh (12:58)
The smartest financial move is what you might call trading down for money. So...
Lisa (13:03)
Mm.
Josh (13:03)
You have a student who could get into a higher-ranked school, but they take the full ride or close to it in a slightly less selective school instead. And they come up with a great education, a great experience, and zero to very little debt.
Lisa (13:15)
And whether that trade is right is deeply personal, kiddo. Remember that. It depends on the student, the major, the career path, the family's whole financial picture. And for some families, that debt-free path is life-changing. It's a gift. And that would be an obvious yes. And for others, a specific program at a pricier school is genuinely worth it. There is no universal answer.
Lisa
We keep coming back to it depends, y'all. It depends still when we are talking about what school you're going to go to after you get in. But you cannot make that call wisely unless you are looking at the real numbers, honestly.
Josh (13:56)
Yeah, exactly, Lisa. And there's one more sort of underrated angle for students and families to consider. Honors colleges at big public universities. So...
Lisa (14:06)
Mm-hmm.
Josh (14:06)
You could get into an honors college at schools like University of South Carolina or Arizona State, and suddenly at these really big schools, you've got smaller classes, you've got priority registration, you've got better housing, and a lot of real scholarship money on top of that. So it's basically like a small college experience tucked inside of a big state university and often at a heavily discounted price.
Lisa (14:31)
Right, y'all, I would dare to say that honors colleges, it's one of the best-kept secrets in this whole process. You get the best of both worlds and often for a fraction of the cost of a private school. So do not overlook those.
Josh (14:44)
Okay. So we have weighed fit. We've asked families to do the real math on money. So...
Lisa (14:49)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Josh (14:50)
We've done all these things. So how do we actually make the final call?
Lisa (14:53)
Here's the framework that we want y'all to think about. First, get yourself down to the real finalists. So really look at your schools. Truly say, okay, I had six schools that I got into, and these are my top three. So number one, schools you can actually see yourself attending, and that your family can actually afford.
Lisa
Because that is a big deal, y'all. Let's be honest, kiddo. If a school is not financially realistic, it is not really a finalist, no matter how much you love it. So unless your family has looked at those numbers together and understands exactly what the choice means and has decided with their eyes wide open that that cost is worth it, it's not worth it.
Josh (15:38)
And so then once you've got your affordable, good-fit finalists, so this is where you can finally start to, Lisa mentioned that lead with love. Now you get to lead with your heart. So 'cause at this point you've earned that, right? So...
Lisa (15:48)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Josh (15:51)
If everything works on paper and it works with a budget, you should go with the one that feels most like home. So this is where that gut feeling can get a vote in, because you've already done the hard part.
Lisa (16:02)
And we want to give families permission for something. It is completely okay for that final decision to come down to this feeling that Josh is talking about. It's okay for it to come down to leading with your heart. Because once you've confirmed that the fit is right and the money makes sense, choosing the place that just feels right, that is not irresponsible. It's actually wisdom. You're gonna live there for four years. Of course it matters how it feels.
Josh (16:28)
And one practical reminder as...
Lisa (16:30)
Mm.
Josh (16:30)
You're making these decisions and things. The deposit deadline is almost always May first. So it's National College...
Lisa (16:34)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Josh (16:37)
Decision Day. Put that on your calendar, set some reminders, because you don't want to miss that. So you put your...
Lisa (16:42)
Maybe on your spreadsheet, you could put... on your spreadsheet.
Josh (16:44)
Of course. This is where you put your deposit down at the school to lock in your spot. And then once you've committed, you do the kind thing we always ask our students and decline offers that you may be holding at other schools so those spots can open up for kids on the waitlist.
Lisa (16:59)
Y'all just pay it forward because someone's waiting on that spot and if you're not gonna use it, it is such the kind thing to do to go ahead and turn it loose.
Josh (17:06)
Exactly.
Josh
And then once all that's done, and from Lisa and I both, celebrate.
Lisa (17:12)
Mm-hmm.
Josh (17:13)
You know, you've already celebrated at different points, right? You celebrated when you got your acceptances, you celebrated throughout the process, and now that you've made the hard decision to decide on where you're gonna spend the next four years, celebrate. You did it. The whole thing...
Lisa (17:25)
Mm-hmm. You did it.
Josh (17:28)
Let yourself feel what you've accomplished looking back on where you started at the beginning of senior year to where you are now.
Lisa (17:34)
Perfect. I love it. Celebrate. Now I feel like, you know, on the Common App when the students submit and then you get the confetti guns.
Josh (17:40)
Yeah.
Lisa (17:40)
You know, and then you get to hit it again and you get more confetti. I feel like this is where we also should have the confetti guns. Like celebrate.
Josh (17:45)
Or we could, you know, we could have that song on a cel... you know, celebrate good times. No, okay. Anyway...
Lisa (17:51)
I like the confetti gun.
Josh (17:52)
I'm gonna go with it. We have to figure this out. Anyway, we're gonna move on from that to our Hot Take or Hard Truth segment. So Lisa, why don't...
Lisa (17:59)
Okay.
Josh (17:59)
You go ahead?
Lisa (18:00)
All right. Here we go. This is a big one, y'all. The name on the sweatshirt is one of the least important parts of this decision that you are going to make, kiddo. I truly mean that. Four years from now.
Lisa
Nobody at your first job is going to care that everyone in your hometown was impressed by where you went to college. They're going to care about who you became while you were there. Did you grow up? Did you take advantage of what's around you? Did you build relationships? Did you leave confident and ready for whatever comes next? Did you?
Lisa
So choose the place where you can actually see yourself thriving. Not the...
Josh (18:39)
Mm-hmm.
Lisa (18:40)
Place that gets the biggest reaction when somebody asks you where you're going. Because that reaction, it is going to last about 30 seconds. You have to live there for four years and sometimes longer. So keep that in mind.
Josh (18:55)
Okay, so my hot take is the money version of what you just said. So students...
Lisa (18:59)
Mm, okay.
Josh (19:00)
And parents, so a dream school you can't actually afford can turn into a really long financial reality. And we know that's not the fun part of the conversation. Nobody wants to get an acceptance that they're thrilled with and they have to immediately start doing math on loan payments and all these other things. But...
Josh
You gotta look at the whole picture, students. If one school's asking your family to take on serious debt and another school you genuinely like is offering you real merit money, that difference does matter. Not just today...
Lisa (19:27)
Mm-hmm.
Josh (19:28)
As Lisa mentioned earlier, it matters when you graduate. It matters when you want to move to a new city or take a job you actually love instead of the one that just pays the bills, or go to graduate school, or just...
Lisa (19:38)
Mm.
Josh (19:38)
Have some breathing room financially in your 20s. There's...
Lisa (19:41)
Mm.
Josh (19:42)
No trophy for picking the most expensive acceptance.
Josh
Choosing the school that gives you a great education, a great experience, and more financial freedom afterwards, that's not settling, students. Sometimes, just take the win.
Lisa (19:53)
And kiddos, if a school comes back and you love it and they come back with a full ride, that is not your backup plan. That is a jackpot.
Josh (20:03)
Jackpot for real.
Lisa (20:05)
Every time. Okay, so it's Drop the Mic, Josh. What do you got?
Josh (20:10)
Okay, so my final thought for students this week. The goal here was never to collect the most impressive acceptance. It was never about the school name that gets the biggest reaction when you tell people where you're going. It was about finding the place where the next four years of your actual life are good. So...
Josh
When you're making this call, try to separate the name from the experience. Students, ask yourself:
Josh
Where do I see myself actually learning, growing, finding my people, trying new stuff, and being happy on that random Tuesday in February that Lisa mentioned earlier? Then...
Lisa (20:41)
Mm.
Josh (20:41)
Go to that place. Proudly. You don't owe anybody an explanation for picking the school with the better scholarship or the honors college or the smaller name or just a place that felt more like you.
Josh
At some point, you've got to stop choosing for the reaction other people might have and start choosing for the life you're actually going to live. And once you make that call, own it. Be proud of it. Buy the sweatshirt. Put it on. Get excited. Because you didn't just earn an acceptance. You earned the chance to choose what comes next in your life.
Lisa (21:13)
That, Josh, yes. You chose this, y'all. You earned it. Woo, man, how am I gonna follow that? Okay, this is what I want every family to carry out of this episode. When you get all the way down to that final "where am I actually gonna go?" decision, I want you to look for two things. Number one, does this place fit my kid?
Lisa
And number two, does it work for our family financially? You get those two things right, there is really no wrong left. So maybe it is the less famous school. Maybe it is that honors college at a big state university, or maybe it is the school that offered the scholarship that made everybody at the kitchen table just take an exhale at the same time. Just a little, right?
Lisa
Any of those can be the right answer. So do the real math. Go back and visit if you possibly can. Picture an ordinary Thursday there, not just Admitted Students' Day, and then trust what you have learned. Kiddos...
Josh (22:14)
Mm.
Lisa (22:16)
You have spent this entire process figuring out who you are, what matters, and what you actually need from a college.
Lisa
This is the moment that you get to use all of it. Choose the place where you can grow and choose the place where you can belong. Choose the place that works for the people who love you and are helping all of this be possible. That is not settling. That is actually the whole point.
Josh (22:45)
Hey, that was pretty good. Pretty good.
Lisa (22:46)
Whew. Listen, that was a really hard thing to follow you, so thank you. I will take that compliment.
Josh (22:52)
All right, so before we get out of here, next week...
Lisa (22:54)
Mm-hmm.
Josh (22:55)
On Drop In. So parents, listen up, we're turning the spotlight on y'all.
Lisa (23:02)
Parents, it's your turn.
Josh (23:05)
Yes, yes, and we're tackling a question almost every parent wrestles with. How much help is too much help? Should...
Lisa (23:12)
Mm.
Josh (23:12)
I be editing this essay? Should I be...
Lisa (23:14)
Mm.
Josh (23:15)
Filling out parts of the Common App for my kid? How much...
Lisa (23:17)
Mm.
Josh (23:18)
Reminding is helpful before it turns into managing? And...
Lisa (23:20)
Hmm.
Josh (23:21)
Where's that line exactly between supporting your kid and just taking...
Lisa (23:24)
Mm.
Josh (23:25)
Over the process?
Lisa (23:25)
Because y'all, there is a line. And parents, I know you are doing this because you love your kiddo and you want to help. But sometimes the most loving thing you can do is back up a little and let them actually own it. So we're gonna talk about your role, what it actually should be, where your help truly matters, and where you need to let your kid do the work. Even when you know, and we know, that...
Lisa
It could have been done faster.
Josh (23:55)
Yeah.
Lisa (23:58)
Absolutely one thousand percent.
Josh (24:00)
So if you're a parent going through this right now, next week's definitely for you. Maybe you could...
Lisa (24:04)
Mm.
Josh (24:05)
Also send it to other college parents in the group chat as well.
Lisa (24:08)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. We would love that. And think about it this way. We might just save a few family arguments with this one. So be sure to tune in.
Josh (24:16)
Yep. That's next week on Drop In.
Lisa (24:18)
So we are Decision Drop. Remember, we are making your college journey collaborative, simple, and most importantly, yours. And if your kiddo is sitting there with multiple offers trying to figure out which school actually fits, what the financial aid letter really means, or whether that bigger name is worth the bigger price tag, Josh and I can help. So head over to decisiondrop.com and check us out.
Josh (24:41)
All right, y'all, thanks for dropping in and don't forget to like and subscribe. We'll see y'all next week.
Lisa (24:46)
Bye.
