Am I Applying To Too Many "Ivies"?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>So I am going to be a senior next year and I have made a (tentative) college list for next year. </p>

<p>UW Madison
U Chicago
Harvard*
Brown*
Stanford
Yale*
MIT
Columbia*</p>

<ul>
<li>denotes "Ivy League" affiliation</li>
</ul>

<p>Someone told me that I was applying to too many Ivies... They told me that all the Ivy League schools communicate with each other, and I am less likely to be admitted if I apply to too many. It is very hard for me to narrow down my list though, since they are all great schools.</p>

<p>Basically, what I would like to know is if this is true? Thanks in advance for your help!</p>

2

<p>Don’t think so, I’ve never heard of that atleast. No harm in applying to them, if you get even one it’s amazing!</p>

3

<p>I don’t think four is too many as long is there is something you like about each school. I always think it is strange to see Columbia and Brown on the same list. Columbia has the core curriculum and Brown has the open curriculum. Most people don’t find both of those attractive.
Are you in state for Wisconsin? Seems like you need more safeties and matches on your list.
No, the ivies don’t talk to each other about applicants.</p>

4

<p>

Not only do that not talk to each other … it is illegal to do so. Schools can not (legally) communicate to other schools about applicants or financial aid.</p>

5

<p>You’re fine where you stand. Make sure to have some safeties on the list!</p>

6

<p>Apply to as many ivies as you like but your list does not have any safeties - you must add a few safeties!!</p>

7

<p>@prefect I have broad interests (in fields of science and humanities) and both Brown and Columbia let me explore those interests (It’s just that Columbia somewhat forces it, and Brown lets you do it on your own). Even though they seem to have opposite philosophies, I think they both are a good match for me. You’re not the first to find it interesting that I am applying that I’m applying to both schools.</p>

<p>Thanks for the feedback everyone! I am very glad that colleges are not allowed to talk to each other about applicants. It would be great if I could get into any one of my “reach” schools.</p>

<p>As for my safety school, its UW Madison. I am in-state so the tuition is very reasonable and I have a very good chance of getting in. I thought of applying to NYU or BU, but they are both very expensive and I think I can obtain a comparable education at Madison for a much better price.</p>

<p>Feel free to comment more about my choices. I really appreciate the feedback!</p>

8

<p>you are applying to way too many colleges where everyone, including you, has a 90-95%%+ chance of rejection, not acceptance. Dont think that your chances go up at one tip-top reach college by applying to even more of the same, as those who tried the same approach have discovered. you should have some match colleges where you have a reasonable chance of acceptance. Unless of course you would be happy to go to your safety.</p>

9

<p>I don’t know what your stats are, so I might not be the best judge, but I think it would be wise to add a safer safety to your list. I’ve heard that US Madison is a pretty selective school, so an extra backup could be a good idea, especially since every single one of your other colleges is ivy-level, if not an actual ivy. It’s always good to have more options too. If you got rejected/waitlisted from all of the top schools (not saying that will happen–I don’t even know what kind of student you are–but admissions at such a competitive level are somewhat random) it would be better to be able to choose between UW Madison and X other school in case you end up changing your mind about UW Madison or the other school gives you great merit aid/full ride or something like that. You don’t have to drop your dream schools, but another safety wouldn’t hurt, especially if it’s a school that doesn’t require an application fee, or a school that doesn’t require an essay (or both).</p>

10

<p>Also add some match schools - schools that you are pretty sure will offer you admission, where you fall in the middle 50% of applicants.</p>

11

<p>I don’t think you need more “safety” schools necessarily, especially if you’re fine with going to UW. UW-Madison has early action, right? So you should hear back from them before the deadline for most other universities. If you get in, you can just go for reaches. Otherwise you can look at other schools too. </p>

<p>If you like your state school, doing EA there (and doing EA at state schools shouldn’t conflict with EA or SCEA programs at Ivies and such) can save a lot of time/application fees.</p>

<p>If fees aren’t a concern, you could throw in another app to a different Big 10 school or something EA just to have some options.</p>

12

<p>You have one safety and a bunch of reaches, which all have very low acceptance rates. It’s probably a good idea to find a couple of matches to apply to also, just so that you are more likely to end up with a choice.</p>

13

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<p>Are you sure you can afford the seven privates on your list?</p>

14

<p>@fantasiekey: Here is a link to another post I made on the chances thread, so I guess it could give you an idea of my statistics. Obviously, it’s not a really good indicator of what type of overall student I am, but I guess it might help with test scores and such…</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1348515-chance-harvard-hopeful-schools-other-than-harvard.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1348515-chance-harvard-hopeful-schools-other-than-harvard.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Also, I am perfectly fine with going to UW Madison. I think that the education I could get there (especially in an honors program) would be comparable to other “match” schools I was going to put on my list. Plus, the price would be a lot better, and I would love to graduate with as little debt as possible.</p>

<p>@wellthatsokay: That sounds like a really great idea! I’ll have to look up the guidelines, but I think doing that will be OK. I was planning on applying to Harvard SCEA, and I think they allow you to apply to public schools EA as well.</p>

<p>@momrath: Harvard and Yale have very good need based financial aid, and MIT and Stanford have pretty good programs as well. You are right that Brown, Columbia, and UChicago don’t have very generous financial aid programs. Yet, I would rather go to those schools than NYU or BU (which costs about the same)…I guess I was weighing my desire to go to the school into their price as well. Very good point though, and it gives me something to consider.</p>

<p>I definitely understand that getting into many of those schools is a big stretch, but I don’t want to regret not trying to get in.</p>

<p>Thanks for the responses everyone! It is helping me narrow down my list of colleges before I start filling out applications in the fall.</p>

<p>Edit: Also, I might add University of Minnesota Twin Cities as my safety school. I just am unsure, since I don’t want to pay application fees to apply to a school that I really wouldn’t want to attend…but I guess going to any college is better than no college…</p>

15

<p>I think you are fine! I applied to four also, was admitted to two, and am matriculating to one in the fall!</p>

16

<p>Just wanted to chime in here and let you know that the Ivies will meet each other’s financial aid packages. Also, it was our experience that Columbia had quite good financial aid!</p>

17

<p>It would help if you gave us a bit on your academic, extracurricular, and socio-economic background. I was admitted into the 4 Ivies I applied to and am matriculating to one of them this fall (Harvard). If you’re a well-rounded applicant, your college list seems very reasonable.</p>

18

<p>No, don’t put a safety on your list if you really don’t want to go there. The point of a safety school is to find a school you’re likely to be admitted to that you really <em>would</em> like to attend…if you don’t get into your top choices. All schools on your list should be ones that you’d be content attending (as well as affordable) if you don’t get into the others.</p>

<p>Also, don’t confuse prestige with quality of education. Those schools have excellent programs - but so do many “lesser” schools. When looking at ivies, in some cases you may be paying more for the name/affiliation than a top quality education. This can still help with landing a job, but do not belittle UW - Madison, as this is an excellent school with a lot of top researchers in various fields teaching there. </p>

<p>If you think NYU and BU are too expensive, then the similar ivy schools will probably be, too. Especially since that indicates that your parents may not have a large amount to contribute (or perhaps do, but would prefer to save a little money).</p>

19

<p>NYU and BU are known to have much lower FA than the other schools. UChicago, Brown and Columbia still have amazing and nearly unmatched FA! UChicago gave me a great package that was equal to those from Pomona and Vassar.</p>

20

<p>I didn’t say "that Brown, Columbia, and UChicago don’t have very generous financial aid programs. " Actually, my belief is that if you qualify for need based financial aid your package will be more or less the same at all of the seven schools on your list. If you’re unsure, ask your parents to use an on-line calculator to get an idea of how much you would be eligible for. </p>

<p>I’m aware that NYU is stingy with need based aid, but I hadn’t heard that about BU. </p>

<p>Harvard’s SCEA rules are confusing to me. Under FAQs they say that you can’t apply to “another college’s EA program” then later they say you can. I guess the distinction is whether the college is private or public, but I’d call them to clarify.</p>

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<p>I also don’t have a problem with the strategy of applying to one solid safety and a lot of reaches, as long as you wouldn’t mind attending your safety (which appears to be true in your case). </p>

<p>There’s nothing in your profile that would keep you out of any of your choices – and a lot that would get you in – but, as you know, competition is fierce. You might want to add a few academically rigorous LACs. Williams comes to mind because they especially value academics + music and because of their rural location they have a hard time attracting and matriculating Asian Americans.</p>