<p>I just realized reading this thread that my son may have chosen to apply to 2 NE schools (even though he says he wants to go farther away) because he wasn't sure at the beginning of senior year that he'd feel ready at the end of the year to be so far away.</p>
<p>First some quotes by goblue from other threads:</p>
<p>"My son graduated from Michigan last year, it was his first choice and he had the time of his life. My daughter will be going there in August - chose it over UNC - Chapel Hill and Penn State main campus. She got waitlisted by WashU, Georgetown and Wesleyan. It was a very tough and disappointing experience so I can totally empathize with you."</p>
<p>"...here is an example (posted on the College Search thread) that furthers my point - what kind of adult will this kid grow up to be and what parent would allow it, let alone pay for that many application fees ???</p>
<p>["i applied to 27, with the intent to apply to 49 schools, before my guidance office shut me down. i only really considered about 7 or 8 schools though. the real reason i applied to so many was because at my graduation ceremony, they read every acceptance, and ill be hijacking the graduation ceremony, when they read off over 25 acceptances and over a million dollars in scholarships awarded."]</p>
<p>"Do you think that kid whose parent posted on this thread with acceptances to Stanford, LSU, University of Oregon, USC, U of Michigan, Syracuse University, Lewis and Clark, Cornell, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Middlebury had any doubts about getting into at least an Ivy, Stanford or Middlebury ??? I doubt it and the kid had no intention of going to the other six institutions but yet kept six other students who would have been thrilled to be admitted from getting an acceptance letter. Don't you think one or two "safeties" or "matches" would be enough instead of being so piggish and self-centered ?"</p>
<p>Given the totally incendiary nature of this poster's record: the wording of this thread (it really was a retorical question, they already knew the answer), citing as an example an obviously off-base kid and singling out and questioning the motives of a poster that they don't even know and who has contributed positively to this community; I have no intention of trying to explain the number of schools my kid applied and was accepted to. Except to say: 11 for 11, no regrets and no excuses.</p>
<p>And that is very common for Seniors! Many start the year proclaiming that they are applying only to "far away" colleges, but as graduation draws near, and the reality of moving out and being on your own starts to sink in, being closer to home starts to look pretty good.</p>
<p>Question: do you think the number of excessive applications / student would go down if the common application was eliminated. I realize that not all colleges accept the common app and that applicants to particular colleges often have to answer additional essay questions specific to the college, but are some students taking advantage of the common app just to be able to apply to a large number of colleges?</p>
<p>Yes. </p>
<p>I have heard many posters say that they were turned off by Chicago's "annoying" essays. No doubt they were disgruntled because they couldn't "crank out another application with some cut and paste," as cellardweller put it.</p>
<p>Probably. ^^ [common app. vs. no common app]
Some would argue that would be a good thing; others, not. But I do think a good thing would be the following:</p>
<p>A ranking system (I don't much care if it's the oft-detested USNWR or some independent organization) for Colleges & U's with the best financial aid.</p>
<p>There such a major market vacuum here dying to be filled: a moderate-fee internet subscription service offering an information bank of f.a. -- cross-referenced by institution, % of COA, % non-loans, etc.</p>
<p>entomom - it was not a rHetorical question - I was truly interested in the perspective of others. For one thing, my daughter's school would definitely not allow students to apply to more than ten schools and five or six is about the average. I did not know that these forums where restricted to only the things that you and people like SpringfieldMom want to allow to be said (I suppose you haven't heard of the 1st and the 14th amendments but they have been around for quite awhile) - I guess some people don't want to think and "hear" the opinions of others, they just want to boast and make idle chatter. I read these forums once in awhile but don't make a hobby of it so I wouldn't even know how to snoop around and gather other peoples' postings. And yes, my daughter was waitlisted by three schools that she would have like to have been accepted by and possibly might have attended but ultimately is ending up at U of M in the honors program and believes that she will be very happy there despite some disappointment.</p>
<p>epiphany</p>
<p>I think you're right. Curm could probably do it in his sleep...</p>
<p>This is becoming the new "common wisdom." Can anyone speak to this from experience? I'm just not seeing it.</p>
<p>My son applied to only a few schools for freshman admission, having two EA acceptances in hand. He applied to one other quite safe school before receiving those and to one HYPSM. Accepted to 3 of 4, two with merit aid.</p>
<p>But.. as a "panic" sophomore transfer - due to Katrina - he seriously considered apps to 13 schools. Of those only four accepted the common app. And we are not talking all Ivies here - schools ranging from Purdue to Lehigh to UMiami, to Hopkins to Cornell to Stanford. Of the 4 that accepted the common app, 2 had supplements, each requiring or "recommending" extra essays, not interchangeable either.</p>
<p>Seems to me the schools that you can just "check off" on the common app - with no extra burdensome supplement or essays - are NOT the ones where all the frenzy is occuring.</p>
<p>Are kids really checking off 10, 11, 12, 13 schools on the common app from among those schools which accept 50-70% of the applicants?</p>
<p>I don't think the Common App has much to do with it.</p>
<p>I think most of the kids who apply to many schools - and my son did for transfer tho not for freshman admissions - have the myriad of legitimate concerns re lack of transparency in admissions criteria and/or financial package transparency.</p>
<p>goblue,
When you post on a public forum, that's what your comments are, public. I have no problem with anyone looking at any of mine. And I wouldn't consider it snooping, more like full disclosure. </p>
<p>If you are so interested in finding out other peoples views, you might consider not loading your questions with words such as: gluttony, piggish, self-centered, inconsiderate, irresponsible and ridiculous. That tends start the conversation off on a very bias footing.</p>
<p>My son applied to a variety of schools and programs - he needed to look for merit programs and/or schools with good financial aid. We weren't sure how FA would work out with Profile schools (and owning our home) so he also chose some FAFSA schools. goblue, it's hard to predict where a kid will be accepted, even those with top stats. You can't take anything for granted. There are many top ranked kids who didn't get into any of their preferred choices. </p>
<p>My son applied to 8 regular undergrad programs (ranging from Rutgers to Yale) and was accepted at 5. He liked UVA & UNC, but they didn't offer any $.</p>
<p>In addition, he applied to 4 combined undergrad/medical school programs. The acceptance rate of the combined programs is ridiculously low - worse than the Ivies. Back in the fall, he wasn't sure if he wanted to do a combined program but he wanted to consider those opportunities. As time passed, he decided he really valued the guaranteed aspect of the combined programs. He really liked UR's REMS when he interviewed there but they didn't accept him. He liked UMiami's program because it focused on his interest. He wasn't offered an interview. In the end, he was accepted to only one combined program. Luckily, it was his top choice. </p>
<p>So, he's deciding between that combined program and one of his other regular undergrad schools. Both gave him great FA. I'm glad he took some chances and had variety in his list - so he now has choices.</p>
<p>You know what.... if I had a crystal ball, I would have only applied to ONE college! But since that isn't the case I applied to 11.... ended up with 5 acceptances (only one with any financial aid), 4 rejections and 2 waitlists (one of those came as quite a surprise, I had it as a safety/match). In hindsight, I might have applied to a couple more schools EA, ( I only applied to one and was deferred ) that way, if I had been accepted to a college that was one of my top choices I would have called it a day!</p>
<p>I feel guilty constantly because I am one of the kids who applied to 11 places and was lucky enough to be accepted at 10 of them. I truly did have interest in each of the schools that I applied to, but I only applied to one safety. The majority of my schools, in my mind, were reaches. My counselor affirmed that opinion, as did many people on CC (and yes, I know, CC shouldn't be my authority). But I didn't apply 11 places with the intention of turning down 10 acceptances. In fact, it makes me feel sick. But I was somehow lucky enough to be accepted so many places and I can't do anything about that now. I certainly don't volunteer the information with anybody I know (in real life?).</p>
<p>I think my son only applied to two schools that took the Common App. naked, and at one RPI he didn't do it because they had an even simpler one which gave you an earlier than normal response. (Kind of like rolling admissions.) Two Caltech and Stanford had unique applications. He was able to reuse some essays while others he had to do from scratch for both of them. But with all the supplements, some of which asked the same questions as the regular part, (GRRR), kept him pretty busy.</p>
<p>Yes, I feel the same way. Compared to some applicants, I sometimes feel so sub-par. :/</p>