Obviously you won’t get the FA package with acceptances if you do this, but it is not a problem to submit after the deadlines and after acceptances if you don’t mind waiting. With that number of applications if the OP ends up getting into most or all of them many will be quickly eliminated from serious consideration and there will be no need to see all those FA package. I just mention it as an option if money is a concern.
Pick1 is right about engineering schools. The OPs list and strategy to cut it is ridiculously arbitrary.
This also assumes FA isn’t a concern then when you are deciding among acceptances. Certainly with this OP’s family income FA is a concern!
There is another poster from CA who turned down UChicago and Cambridge (UK) for Dartmouth. Is profoundly unhappy with how insular, rural and cold it is, and is looking to transfer out. From the schools that poster is looking to transfer to, s/he seems a bit like you, OP: a very qualified student who is still really tied into the prestige of the school even though that approach failed the first time.
Please do yourself the favor of at least thinking through some of the most important variables. Other posters on this thread have pointed them out:
heavy core curriculum, v broader choices?
Big urban v Small urban v Suburban v Rural?
North v South?
Highly focused (HM, MIT, CalTech) or broader?
If you can’t sort the colleges into these broad categories just by looking at them, you don’t know enough about them to be applying to them.
If you haven’t though how much any of these categories matter to you, you don’t know enough about yourself to be applying to them. Obviously, you can’t know for certain about things you haven’t done- but you can think about how much that sort of thing tends to matter to you.
And note that those are easy, top-level categories. Here’s a harder one: although all of the schools on your list attract highly talented and motivated applicants, some of the schools on your list (JHU, MIT, Harvard come to mind) are more associated with highly driven students than others (say, Duke, Dartmouth, Yale, Vanderbilt, Penn). That is not a slam at either set- but perhaps one set is closer to you than the other?
As the other posters have said, the “why us” question is a good place to start shortening your list. Save at least $250 of your hard earned money for getting stuff for college. You will be glad to have it then!
@collegemom3717 's advice is excellent. I also sincerely believe that your chances of admission to any one of these schools will go up with a genuine, thoughtfully worded essay about why you want to go there. And it will go down with something that’s hasty and cookie-cutter. Do yourself (and everyone else) a favor and focus on putting together really great essays for the schools you feel are closest to what you really want. Once you figure that out.
You are getting some excellent advice here, OP. I would echo the sentiment that instead of spending time doing all those supplemental essays, spend those hours researching schools and defining which are best for YOU.
Part of your research should be running net price calculators! Being a QB finalist gives you an edge in RD – but if you have not been matched, you will get their regular fin aid. You will be surprised how much it can vary. In our case, the most generous QB school on S’s list costs $8 K less than the least generous QB school on his list.
Know your limit and no school which projects over that limit stays on the list. This includes subsidized loans only, by the way. This may eliminate some schools. Remember you will have many expenses for books, travel, etc., so don’t be tempted to go over what your family can realistically afford.
As a second step, I suggest you categorize by acceptance rate/your stats’ fit into top 25%. In other words, if a school has less than 15% acceptance rate, even if your stats are at the top, don’t get too confident. Try to pick a couple that have programs strong in your interests…that have excellent fin aid (see above)…and that have more generous acceptance rates.
Let us know how it goes!
Not at all. The CSS profile only requires a click when an acceptance rolls in and turn around on FA packages is quick.
The CSS Profile costs $ to submit. And some schools use first come first served for financial aid.
It was a battle to get my son to apply to four schools, and we aren’t even in the same state. I can’t imagine him or quite frankly anyone applying to so many schools.
I’d cut at least half, but if not, at least four or five. Do you genuinely want to go to all of those schools and do you think they can all provide an equally excellent education for your intended major? I question why so many schools, it seems like a major waste of time just for bragging rights, in all honesty.
Excellent advice for you on this thread. Apply to colleges that are the right fit for you, and will find you to be the right fit for them. Consider all the different aspects of each school such as size (big, medium or small), location (large city, small city, college town, rural), athletic-oriented or not, big on greek life or not, etc.
I find your statement of “I’ll probably be paying the fees with my internship money from the summer, not my parents money” somewhat flippant because that is money that could be used toward college in one form or another, even if it’s spending money for travel or other incidentals. You might enjoy a night out for pizza with friends sometime. Having some money saved up from your job will make things easier on your parents. I make too much money to even be considered for financial aid for my child, and I would never allow her to waste money like that. Waste not, want not!
I think it is statistically and logically the best approach to take toward college admissions. Hate the game, they’re the ones that choose to accept less than 20% to appear prestigious.
I’m also a QuestBridge Finalist applying to 17+ schools because of financial aid. Applying to 3-5 reaches is not safe enough for me because of each school’s selectivity and uncertainty. It’s not for bragging rights, as I really need to get into one of these schools if I want to be able to afford my education (not at a “safety”). Also, the QB RD application makes it easier because some QB schools don’t require additional supplements.
Lots of people responding to this thread COMPLETELY missed the fact the OP is a Questbridge finalist.
For these kids, either they get into ONE of these colleges, or they don’t get to a 4-year college at all AND being a QB finalist (meaning they’re among the top 10% of all high stats, lower-income kids who made it through the QB gauntlet) means they’re strongly encouraged to do such a thing in order to maximize chances. They don’t have to luxury to “like” a college or look for “fit”. They just hope to find one that’ll be affordable. And because the most generous colleges are also the most selective, that’s how it rolls for them.
It’s an insane amount of work, yes - even with the QB app.
But if you’re poor and want to graduate from college, lifting yourself and your family into middle class status, that’s what you have to do.
The alternative is not working that hard on multiple applications now and not being able to go (or attending a community college, which multiplies the risks of lower income students not graduating. The odds of the top 10% lower income students getting a 4-year degree if they start at a community college are lower than those of the BOTTOM 10% upper middle class students.)
When that’s your alternative, you put in as many applications as you can.
I agree. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with a wide net if you need significant aid. That’s not trophy hunting at all. You just need to make sure that the quality of your apps doesn’t suffer because of the quantity. I’m sure someone’s already said this, but you ought to be able to get fee waivers and save your money for other things. Good luck.
OP is a California resident who applied to several UCs and a few CSUs as well (with good in-state financial aid and strong engineering degree programs). So it is extremely unlikely for the OP to be completely shut out of four year schools. Even if the OP does start at community college (not likely), the transfer pathway starting in community college is well developed and well used in California. I.e. it is not like the state university and community college options are useless or unaffordable like in some other states.
“Fit” includes academics… the OP’s original list included Dartmouth, which is not particularly good for engineering majors (need >4 years for the ABET-accredited degree).
I didn’t object to the number of schools. Students who need to cast a wide net can and do apply to 20+ schools. It was the OP’s attitude of not researching the schools beyond their rankings and his proposed ‘copy-and-paste and edit a bit’ approach to the application process. He is, of course, more than welcome to do all he proposed but I’m skeptical he would get much out of the effort. If he’s not willing to put in a modicum of effort to even research the schools on his list, then why should they accept him?
^#54 I agree for this specific student because s/he lives in CA and has ELC so a guaranteed UC. Still many people completely forgot this is a QB student.
But where did the OP say they wanted to major in engineering?
55: yes, this concerns me more. However many QB applicants went through a workshop where they learn how to tailor some of their supplements, and the QB application bypasses some supplements in some cases.
Here is one argument:
My D had stats comparable to you. Top 1% in SAT, GPA, all 5s in AP … volunteer, clubs, sports …
Got in many big schools, USC, UMich … some scholarships but got rejected from Stan and NC. Hurt her ego quite a bit.
You may get rejected by many schools in your first post.
From post #10:
Oh, okay, in another thread.
Thus, I assume, why in the “order of priorities”, Dartmouth is last. And shouldn’t even be on the list indeed.
Thanks.