Thanks for all your comments regarding Daughter #1 and her equestrian team try out! As most of you know D#1 is in her senior year of high school and we are smack dab in the middle of the college application process. We are waiting to hear from one more school before she makes her decision. Her first choice is Stonehill and that is the only school we are waiting to hear from. She has been accepted to all the others – Alfred University, Nazareth, Lynchburg, Hartwick, Cazenovia, Geneseo and Cedar Crest. Yesterday she was at Cazenovia trying out for their equestrian team. Daughter #1 is an avid horseback rider and Cazenovia is renowned for its equine program. With that being said, I am surprised that this school is not her clear favorite. It is hard to get a sense of what she likes. She says that Stonehill is her favorite, yet she doesn’t seem totally hooked on it. It is also hard to make heads or tails of the school rankings – as we all know statistics can be worked to support any position. And D#1 is a very typical teenager in that she isn’t completely sure of what she wants to do.
So here we are, trying to guide her yet not wanting to make the decision for her. I suspect that in some way she would like to have the Boar and I tell her where to go – this would only lead to her having a lifetime pass to bitch about controlling parents.
It’s not easy to be a controlling parent – it’s a thankless position!
she wants to be a teacher she is very good in math and english, she loves to ride horses, excels at it and spends all available time at the barn ….. she’s your daughter what do you tell her?
purlingswine 
Having been in your position last year, I cannot tell you how difficult it was “not being in control”. Ultimately, express all the positives at all her choices and then tell her the ultimate choice is hers alone. If you make it and later she is not happy, you will be blamed. At 18 the colleges consider “her” to be in charge of her future. They will force “her” to make the choices. I died inside when the college politely told me it was no longer my business. Good luck. I hope she gets to my her decision with acceptions from all her school choices. Then it really will be her choice.
I definately think there are ways to “guide” her decisions…helping her to remember what is important to HER in this decision and you can be honest too that you don’t want to be blamed for any regrets!
There may be more to the indecision than she realizes…Hugs to you and her…and I am not not loving the new blog makeover. It’s too condensed or something…
Eh, I just have to say that, in my experience, #1 is much harder than #2. Not knowing exactly what she wanted to do, but knowing exactly where she wanted to go, I allowed her to choose. I wasn’t happy and she knew it — I told her that I’d support her decision but I didn’t have to be happy about it. Turns out that she wasn’t thrilled with her choice, either, and though it was a very costly lesson, I wouldn’t have done it any other way. I’m paying for it, but I’m not being blamed for it…
Given those bits of info, I’d suggest that she find a place where she can get a good education degree (and check out how well their career center places their students) and can continue the activity that she loves. Maybe if she just focused on those two points, it would make the decision easier? After all, to a large extent, the people she meets will be the “same” all over. I feel like I see the same “types” over and over and over again. I’ve had three girls in three seperate classes at three different levels who looked, sounded, acted and spoke alike…yikes!
My wife went to SUNY Geneseo. She loved it there. It’s a really nice area too.