Seth Godin says that when you're making a decision based on little or no information, like picking between four or five great colleges who've accepted you, flipping a coin is the only way to make sure you don't waste time and money trying to find certainty where there won't be any.
Or consider the dilemma of the lucky high school student with five colleges to choose from. UVM or Oberlin or Bowdoin or Wesleyan or who knows what famous schools. Once you’ve narrowed it down and all you’re left with is a hunch, once there are no data points to give you a rational way to pick, stop worrying. Stop analyzing. Don’t waste $4,000 and a month of anxiety visiting the schools again. The data you’ll collect (one lucky meeting, one good day of weather) is just not relevant to making an intelligent decision. Any non-fact based research is designed to help you feel better about your decision, not to help you make a more effective decision…When there isn’t enough data, when there can’t be enough data, insist on the flip…By refusing to lie to yourself, by not telling yourself a fable to make the decision easier, you'll understand quite clearly when you're winging it…Once you embrace this idea, it’s a lot easier not to second guess your decisions–and if you're applying to college, you’ll free up enough time to write a novel before you even matriculate."
I'm not sure that I'd pick a college based on a coin flip (or that the choices need to be famous schools). But I do know that making spreadsheets of data, or constructing lists of pros and cons, rarely gets a senior closer to feeling certain about the college you're picking to attend. It's important for seniors to understand that big decisions in life always come with some uncertainty. No college is perfect, and it will be up to you to make your college experience what you want it to be.
So if you've got good choices, celebrate your situation. Use whatever real information you have on hand, like who gave you more financial aid or whether or not a school has the major you want. Get advice from your counselor, parents and other people you trust. Then listen to your gut and pick. Don't necessarily expect to be certain.