@PurpleTitan would you mind explaining what you mean by “likely admission to WashU if you hit some other slightly easier criteria?” I was under the impression that Wash U is highly selective and am curious about what criteria you are referring to. Thanks
@finnb: I meant under WashU’s 3-2 engineering program, where if you get a 3.25 overall GPA and 3.25 science and math GPA at a partner LAC, you likely can transfer in to an engineering major at WashU.
Can schools see how many schools a kid applied to? 36 is extreme. But maybe she’ll “win” which for her would seem to be an acceptance to a highly ranked school. She might even get lots of financial aid from somewhere unexpected.
Colleges are concerned about yield. If a college consistently admits kids from Y HS but no one ever comes, that college will be loath to admit kids from that school. It’s also a well-known fact that colleges review all the applications from a particular HS together. They say it’s because it helps speed up their process, but we all also know that diversity is important to colleges, so I bet they pay attention to not admitting too many kids from any particular HS.
At my D’s HS the GC is very concerned about long-term relationships with the various colleges and encourages kids who know where they want to go to apply ED. She also won’t send out more than 10 transcripts unless she has a sit-down meeting with the student and parents about why an exception should be made and they carefully review the student’s college list together. I think if push came to shove she’d have to send out as many as the family wants, but it would be made clear to them that they are doing this at the expense of the other kids.
The whole idea of a scoreboard is totally outrageous to me. These kids are under so much pressure and so anxious already. This has to ratchet that up by a couple of notches. That’s crazy.
It isn’t enough to have a favorite school or two or three, to be highly qualified, to write awesome applications. Given the way the numbers go anymore, top schools ultimately turn away more highly qualified students than they have room to accept. If someone has the energy, resources and desire to apply to that many schools in hope of landing a golden ticket, that is entirely their right. The only control an applicant has over the process is to increase their chances by applying to more places. An awesome application with awesome credentials sadly is not enough.
I know of many (private) schools where there is a limit to how many colleges a student may apply. For most, that number is 15.
I’m not sure I understand why everyone gets upset over that number of applications. The school that one attends absolutely DOES matter, and there’s no guarantee of getting into upper-tier schools, even with perfect stats. You never know what a school is looking for. I say apply to as many colleges as your budget allows, especially reach schools. Kids work hard for the opportunities they apply for. Never settle. 30+ is ok, as long as most are reach. 1-2 safeties, 1-2 matches.
Some HS charge a fee (for example, for transcript) after certain number of applications to discourage students applying to too many schools. At the same time, it does use schools’ resources for college application.
My DS’s school also has a “college board” in the main lobby. Not high tech electronic board; just a simple cork board with college names. When a student get admitted to a school, he/she can add a star to the college; when he/she decide to attend a college, he/she write his/her name next to the star. It does create pressure for kids, but on the other hand, it’s a good research tool, especially for underclassmen. Better than Naviance, since you can put a name and face to the admission decision.
@VegasRoller I agree with everything you wrote, assuming that a student is so inclined, but I also believe that there can be advantages to not attending the most arse-busting college to which one can be admitted, especially for STEM majors. Malcolm Gladwell has written an essay on this topic that you can google to locate.
@VegasRoller: It’s not so much being upset for most people as seeing it as a misguided strategy.
Yes, the school you go to does matter (though not as much as the individual him/herself, believe it or not, at least in the US).
Do you seriously think that someone applying to 36 schools can put in the time, energy and effort to make as compelling applications and do as much research to see that all 36 schools are a good fit and can do as good a job selling themselves to all 36 schools as someone who applies to 6-8 schools? Remember that these really aren’t lottery tickets. The quality of the total application package matters.
@Purple Titan. Yes, I do believe a motivated student can do it. And, writing multiple essays can help guide a student’s thought process on future essays, making them better. My DS did most of the work this summer, starting with essays to safeties and matches, and then refining for reaches. I think 6-8 schools is too few. Forgive my Vegas reference, but “you have to play to win.” In this case, for a student who worked extremely hard who is not willing to settle for a lower-tier school, apply to as many reaches (assuming major and fit are correct) as budget allows.
@BasicOhioParent. Agreed. It’s all about the quality of the Program. For instance, Dartmouth’s engineering program is one of the finest because it’s flexible and draws innovation from other disciplines. GT is also outstanding, as are many other schools. All seem to be getting more competitive though.
I would say after several matches plus 1-2 safeties, one may add a reasonable number of reaches as long as budget and time allows. Do not dilute the effort too much that affect the quality of the essays or increase the chance of error on other applications. Only 1-2 matches is not enough and that would limit your choices in comparing financial aid packages. The goal is to have a few admissions on hand by May 1 unless you are very satisfy with the first admission and financial aid is not a concern. With the average cost of $100 per school for application fee, scores, and transcript, one must be rich to apply to 30+ schools. Applying to reach schools is not really like playing lotto. Good candidates would be admitted by several while poor candidates would be rejected from all. By submitting lower quality essay and making mistakes on applications, it can turn a good applicant into a poor candidate. Many students got deferred or rejected simply due to the lack of content in the “why this school” essay. It will take time to research the school to write a good essay for that prompt.
College admission from college to college does seem to be less than perfectly correlated because of the weight of the subjective elements, so by applying to more colleges, an applicant does improve his/her odds of acceptance. However, the incremental improvement in this probability diminishes quickly as the number of applications increase. That is, the probability of being accepted by one of the 36 colleges is not much better than if the number were 30 or 25 (or even 20).
My own son applied to 23 schools; however, keep in mind that a student can apply to multiple schools on one app such as CSU/UC schools (he applied to 8 of those). Furthermore, being that he was homeschooled and had some great strengths and great weaknesses, we were very unsure where he’d get in, if anywhere. Finally, since he was in great need of financial aid and his majors-of-choice were unusual, he ended up applying to colleges that admitted between 5-90% of students. My dad paid for the fees since he was a Pell Grant recipient that year.
I worked with a student last year who applied to probably 40 schools. Again, the student had a very unconventional background, and the family was really worried about where the student would get in.
Normally, the students I work with apply to between 10-15 schools. This year, many more applied ED/EA, but several had to scramble when the deferral came. Tricky business this college admissions game.
I’m glad I’ve read thru the various posts, and took a few days before responding. That’s because my first response would have been, “ARE THEY NUTS? 36 SCHOOLS?” After thinking about it, I’ve softened my opinion. However, my advice to the OP hasn’t changed – which is that it’s really not of his/her concern how many schools someone else applies to. As a good friend says to her kids, “You focus on you, not them.” I totally get why it bothers you, but You Focus on You. I’m glad you asked CC for thoughts because it’s a safe, reasonable venue to go to. Hope you are getting the kind of support and feedback that is helpful.
Now, I’ve rounded a corner on this one. If someone wants to apply to 36 schools, it’s their choice. If they want to spend $3k on SAT and application fees, it’s their choice. (I certainly wouldn’t do it just for the cost of it, but…) If they want to appear on the Today Show with their crazy list of “Accepted to all 36 schools” and gain 15 seconds of fame, that’s their business. I think 10-15 schools is fine: 25% reaches, 25% safeties and 50% matches (that range from high match to low match – slide rule scaling). Of course, my own kid did not necessarily follow this… but maybe it’ll be helpful for others in the future! 
One reason why my D didn’t follow is that she got into one of her faves during the EA round, with a great merit scholarship. So, she dropped several schools (fifth, sixth, lower choices) and stuck with 2,3,4. Net net, she applied to only 4 schools. She’s into one of her faves, and waiting to hear from two others to compare financial packages. Rejected from an ED school, which in hindsight is totally ok. And yes, we paid for SAT scores to be sent to 8 schools, but i don’t really care now since she’s happy to be admitted to a favorite school.
Not all kids want to apply to that many schools. Others feel they have to or need to (financial, odds of getting in, etc.). What’s best for you isn’t necessarily what’s best for the kid sitting next to you. So, here it goes again: You focus on you. Best of luck and hope all works out for you!
Has anyone applied to 30+ schools and felt that your decision to send out that many applications was justified? Or know of someone who had good reason to do so? I’m just trying to understand why that many applications would be sensible in any context.
It’s all very well to talk about safeties, reaches, and matches, but for a high-stats student nowadays, there ARE NO matches, only safeties and reaches. If a straight-A multiple-APs high-test-score National Merit Finalist is looking for colleges where the majority of students have similar qualifications, he or she finds that all they get is a golden lottery ticket. Hence, many applications.
One answer for finding a match may be the honors colleges at state universities. Of course many of those require a second application!
Everyone seems so weirded out by the electronic board. We have something similar at my school- if you want, and many do, you fill iut a form saying where you got accepted and they put the college logo with your name under it on a big college board in the main hall and give you a shoutout in the email newsletter. I like seeing where my classmates got in no matter the prestige, I think it’s interesting.