Decisions & Commitments

You’ve applied, you’ve waited, and now the decisions are arriving. This might be the hardest part of the entire process — not because the work is difficult, but because the stakes feel enormous. You’re choosing where to spend the next four years of your life.

The good news: there’s no single “right” school. There are many schools where you’ll thrive. The goal is to choose the one that fits best across the dimensions that matter most to you.

🔄 Quick Recall: In the previous lesson, you learned to compare financial aid packages and appeal offers. Now you’ll combine financial information with academic fit, campus culture, and career outcomes to make your final decision.

Building Your Decision Framework

The Weighted Decision Matrix

When you’re comparing 3-5 schools across dozens of factors, your brain can’t process it all simultaneously. A decision matrix makes the comparison structured.

Help me build a college decision matrix:

My final schools:
1. [School A] — [brief note: why I like it]
2. [School B] — [brief note]
3. [School C] — [brief note]

Criteria I care about (I'll rate importance 1-10):
- Net cost after aid: [importance 1-10]
- Strength of [my major] program: [importance]
- Location/distance from home: [importance]
- Campus culture/social fit: [importance]
- Career outcomes (internships, job placement): [importance]
- Class size / student-faculty ratio: [importance]
- Specific opportunity: [e.g., research lab, study abroad, sport] [importance]

For each school, help me:
1. Score each criterion 1-10 based on my research
2. Calculate weighted scores
3. Identify the top 2-3 trade-offs (where schools differ most)
4. Flag any deal-breakers I might be overlooking

The matrix doesn’t make the decision — you do. But it shows you exactly what you’re trading off.

✅ Quick Check: Your matrix shows School A scoring highest overall, but School B wins on cost by a large margin. You feel drawn to School A but worried about the money. What should you do? (Answer: Calculate the exact cost difference over 4 years, convert it to monthly loan payments, and compare it to expected starting salary for your major. If the difference is $20,000 total ($200/month after graduation) and School A leads to $10,000/year higher starting salary, the math favors School A. If the difference is $80,000 total ($800/month), the math changes significantly. Make the trade-off explicit in dollars.)

Early Decision vs. Regular Decision

Understanding application strategies helps you plan timing.

Should you apply Early Decision?

Help me decide if Early Decision is right for me:

My top choice school: [name]
Their ED acceptance rate: [if known]
Their RD acceptance rate: [if known]
My financial situation: [need significant aid / can pay / somewhere between]
My application readiness: [ready now / need more time for essays/scores]

Evaluate:
1. Is this school clearly my #1, or am I hoping ED gives me a boost?
2. Can my family afford this school WITHOUT comparing aid offers?
3. Am I giving up leverage by not being able to compare offers?
4. Is my application as strong as it will be, or would waiting improve it?
5. What's my realistic admission probability ED vs. RD?

The ED trade-off: Higher acceptance rates in exchange for losing the ability to compare financial offers. Only use ED if: (1) the school is clearly your first choice, (2) you’ve run the Net Price Calculator and the estimated cost is manageable, and (3) your application is ready by November.

After Decisions Arrive

Handling Multiple Acceptances

Help me process my college decisions:

Accepted: [list schools + financial aid offered]
Waitlisted: [list schools]
Denied: [list schools]

For my accepted schools, help me:
1. Create a comparison table with net cost, program strength, and fit
2. Identify what additional information I need before deciding
3. Draft questions to ask current students or admissions
4. Set a decision timeline (May 1 deadline)

For waitlisted schools:
1. Should I stay on the waitlist? (factors to consider)
2. Draft a letter of continued interest
3. What are realistic chances based on school's waitlist history?

Handling Rejections

Rejections are normal — even students admitted to Harvard are rejected by other Ivies. A rejection is one committee’s decision on one day. It says nothing about your worth.

If you’re rejected from every school on your list: this is why safety schools matter. Community college → transfer is a viable, financially smart path that thousands of successful people have taken.

The Commitment Checklist

Once you’ve decided:

1. Submit your enrollment deposit by May 1 (the National Candidates Reply Date)
2. Withdraw from other schools — do this promptly so waitlisted students can get your spot
3. Decline waitlist spots at schools you wouldn’t attend even if accepted
4. Accept your financial aid package and complete any additional paperwork
5. Send thank-you notes to recommenders with your college news
6. Complete housing forms, orientation registration, and course placement by their deadlines

Create a post-decision checklist for [school name]:

I've committed on: [date]
Move-in date: [if known]

Help me track:
1. All deadlines between now and move-in
2. Forms to complete (housing, health, orientation, placement tests)
3. Financial tasks (accept aid, set up payment plan, find remaining scholarships)
4. Social preparation (roommate matching, class of [year] groups)
5. Academic preparation (placement tests, AP credit submission, course registration)

Practice Exercise

1. Build a weighted decision matrix for your top 3 schools — which criteria do you weight highest? (The weighting tells you as much as the scores)
2. Calculate the exact 4-year net cost for each school, including estimated loan payments after graduation
3. Talk to a current student at your top choice — ask what surprised them most about the school

Key Takeaways

• Use a weighted decision matrix to compare schools — it makes trade-offs explicit instead of swirling in your head
• Convert cost differences to monthly loan payments and compare to expected starting salaries — this makes abstract numbers feel real
• Early Decision offers higher acceptance rates but sacrifices your ability to compare financial aid — only use it for a clear first choice you can afford
• After committing, withdraw from other schools promptly — this is courteous and opens spots for waitlisted students
• Rejections are normal and say nothing about your worth — even the strongest applicants are rejected from competitive schools
• The “best” school is the one that fits best on the criteria that matter most to you, not the one with the highest ranking

Up Next

In the final lesson, you’ll pull everything together into a complete application plan — a timeline, checklist, and strategy document that keeps you on track from first essay draft to final commitment.