College applications, check. Preliminary college visits, check. Acceptance letters, check. Financial aid packages — just beginning to trickle in. Now as I near the final stretch of the college selection process, I feel like I've finally gotten the hang of this thing. As May 1st looms ever closer, however, I feel a twinge of regret — like I've missed out on something. Perhaps I should've applied to more schools. Perhaps I should've considered some liberal arts colleges. Perhaps I should've

Nah. I just found the admissions statistics. Harvey Mudd College and Reed College are way too competitive. Plus, they're on the other side of the freakin' continent.

I'm good.

On another note, I was scanning through this book called Paying for College Without Going Broke (2006 edition, with a foreword by Bill Clinton!), and you should've seen this one section. It went something like

We are frequently amazed at how often families with high need choose an out-of-state public university as their safety school. For most families with an EFC of between $5,000 and $15,000, an out-of-state public university is the most expensive option they could possibly choose. Why? First, students from out-of-state are charged a lot more. Second, much of the financial aid at these schools is earmarked for in-state students [...]

Let's just say that a lot of face-palming went on that night.

Edit: Actually, my chances for Reed wouldn't have been too bad. I'm just sure they'd put me on academic probation after receiving the mid-year grade report.

And just for the record, my safety is in-state.