<p>With the majority of the local senior HS class attending in state universities, I don’t really see the point of applying to many schools. It looks like parents in our area are very concerned about tuition costs. What is most important is having at least 2 safety schools to apply to and finding the safeties are the hardest part.</p>
<p>yabeyabe - I did send Rabbi Palley at Susquehanna a message on Facebook. I also saw that one of the Hillel students attended the same hs in NJ that I did - so I sent her a message as well. I’m hoping that we can get someone from Hillel to meet with us when we visit Susquehanna in September.</p>
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<p>you do not need a different teacher’s recommendation for each school – the teacher can send the same recommendation to each school applied to. even schools that don’t use the common application and have their own forms will generally accept a copy of a general narrative attached to their form.</p>
<p>which doesn’t mean that 12 applications isn’t still an awful lot.
personally, i don’t think there is a magic number that is correct. they just have to be the right mix of schools so that there is not undue disappointment in april.</p>
<p>mdcissp - I agree with you that the safeties are crucial and picking them is the hardest part of the process. I think some people do not put enough time and attention into the selection of their safety schools. Then, when that is what they are forced to pick from - they are not happy. Right now - I’m thinking Towson, maybe Tampa, maybe York, maybe Eckerd - I’m not sure if I can safely consider College of Charleston a safety for S2 yet. </p>
<p>Yabeyabe - rather than 4, 4, and 4 - I see it like a pyramid - the safety schools form the base and should be plentiful - maybe 4-5. Match schools in the middle - maybe 3-4 and maybe 1-3 reach schools at the top. That’s just me - I know opinions on this will vary considerably.</p>
<p>I heard about the acceptance problem Rockville Mom describes. This situation tends to happen to bright kids who only apply to reach schools. Most important is to apply to at least 2 real, true safeties. I think 2 safeties, 2 match, and 2 reach is plenty of schools.
The problem in Maryland is the only “safeties” are the local community college, Frostburg (not interested, low graduation rate) and maybe Salisbury. Some of the small private universities might be safeties (Ex. Stevenson in Baltimore). Towson is a “match” and UMBC and UMDCP are “reach”.</p>
<p>Having in state safeties are crucial. If the OOS safeties are expensive and merit aid is always a big question mark, then make sure you have at least 2 in state safeties. Towson is not really a safety anymore because there are so many OOS students applying (and Towson likes OOS-they bring in extra revenue from higher OOS tuition).</p>
<p>Speaking of safeties, I know Connecticut is a bit out of the target area but have you considered University of Hartford or Quinnipiac (maybe a match)? Both draw heavily from the Long Island area. University of Hartford gives generous merit aid in some of their schools. There are many synagogues in both West Hartford and Hamden. I think some of the merit money at U of Hartford can be had with a 28 on the ACT but check the website. Quinnipiac is right at the base of the Sleeping Giant State Park with a great view of the mountain.</p>
<p>I think that if a student wants to apply to several reach schools this will up the number of applications needed. Depending on the student it is difficult to put a limit on this. I do think it is probably more of an issue with A/A+ students than B/B+ students since many of the schools these students may want to go to are reaches for most everyone who applies. If the student is applying to match/safety schools then it is easier to get by with less. In Texas with the top 10% law many students apply to just one school. I have to say I was envious of the simplicity for those set on going to their dream state school. </p>
<p>I love the idea of broadening the discussion to include California and the south west!</p>
<p>chemusic - thanks for your suggestions. I believe Hartford and Quinnipiac have been suggested before - I’m not sure about CT - but am keeping them in mind.</p>
<p>Spectrum2 - I agree with you on the reaches. For a top student who wants Ivy League or Amherst, Duke, etc., - it probably does make sense to apply to 10-12 or more reaches - maybe they will be accepted at one. I don’t see that being an issue with a B student. Frankly, I’m not really into reaches for my son. I don’t want him at a school that he just barely got into - I’d rather he be at a school where he is in the top half of the freshman class - I think that is better for him academically.</p>
<p>Rockville Mom is being very smart about finding good fit for her son.</p>
<p>mdcissp - all I can say is that I am trying! 
I know I have mentioned before that S1’s process did not go well. And while it ended up ok and he is very happy at his college - I think I made some really basic mistakes that I am trying so hard to avoid with S2.</p>
<p>S1 only applied to 6 schools and was accepted at 4. He really should have applied to more schools - but we were having trouble finding options that met his criteria and then we simply ran out of time. One acceptance was a safety that he really did not want to attend (big mistake there), one acceptance he loved but we could not afford - very expensive OOS university (huge mistake there), so in the end - he really had only 2 acceptances to choose from. Like I said, he is happy where he is - but that winter of his senior year was just awful - it was one of the most stressful, miserable periods in my life. So, for those of you who think I obsess too much (which I do) - that’s why. I really want to be able to say that I learned from the mistakes made with S1 and that S2’s process will be smoother and less stressful - dare I say it - even fun and uplifting.</p>
<p>RVM: I agree with you although there are many schools less well known than the ones you listed that also have admission statistics below 20%. In that regard it is tougher at the top. I don’t see S2 applying to many if any reaches. But…</p>
<p>since Emory has come up a few times on this thread especially the Oxford program I just went to the Emory website to look at admission to the business school. This is another one of those schools where applications are after enrollment in the college. Students don’t apply until they are a semester away from Junior status. The website says that the class is 500 students and that 90% of the class is from Emory/Oxford. I couldn’t find any indication of the percentage of Emory/Oxford students that apply and are admitted. Their business school is very highly ranked so I expect admission would be difficult. The weather would work though :)</p>
<p>Rockville Mom: Now that you know the outcome for S1, do you honestly think there were better choices that should have been applied to? My point is perhaps the current choice is really the best choice for your S1. The problem senior year comes when other students start bragging about their acceptances (early decision and the like) that make students who wait until March or April for their acceptances a very stressful wait. This is not related to the number of applicants Rather, this is related to applying to at least one or two safety schools on rolling admissions and know the outcome in the fall–even if it is not the right school an acceptance in hand feels good. I did not want my older son applying early decision because I think this hurts the aid process. I think the other possible “mistake” was not listening close enough to my son’s preferences and just having him apply to schools which were great schools, but not really the schools he wanted to attend, just to have more possible choices at the end. What is important is to listen to your child and watch the reaction to the school. I am a little concerned about JMU in your case because of the additional application late in the game to competitive B-school-- and the fact that your son likes JMU. I hope you find some other schools besides JMU. I think you would worry endlessly about JMU because of the risk involved with applying to competitive B-school there.</p>
<p>RVM: Our messages crossposted but I too felt the pain with S1, and it did turn out fine in the end. </p>
<p>I however find that with all that I learned with S1, S2 poses and entirely different set of challenges so I feel that I am back to square one.</p>
<p>My impression of Emory is that it is for “A” students. I agree that the location is great and certainly plenty of Jewish kids - I just don’t see my son being able to be accepted there. I know some students who might be a little lower stat do Oxford/Emory - but I just don’t know much about that option. I also could be completely wrong here - but from what I have heard - Emory is a very tough, academically focused school - with not much going on in the “fun” department. I’m trying to watch out for the schools that have a strong party school reputation, but at the same time, it is college, I want him to have a blast.</p>
<p>I should have mentioned that I did not read the whole thread - sorry for the duplication about Quinnipiac and University of Hartford.</p>
<p>I think the child’s temperament and style impact whether they feel comfortable and work best in a high match or a reach school if they can get in and that sometimes changes as they go through high school. I think it is wise that you will keep a few carefully chosen high matches/low reaches in the mix because you can’t predict how your son will develop over the next months.</p>
<p>mdcissp - one of the big mistakes we made with S1 was having only one EA school and one rolling - which he applied late to and did not hear from until March. You are absolutely right in that he could have applied to a few more schools and still be attending Wake Forest - which is fine - he’s really happy there - but it would have made such a big difference to have 2 or 3 acceptances by 12/31. Waiting until March 30th for good news was beyond stressful.</p>
<p>I’m not completely opposed to JMU. I think that if he did not gain acceptance to the business school, he could major in sports mgmt or something else entirely and minor in business - and by taking those 10 classes freshman and sophomore year - he’d basically have most of the minor done - so it could still work out. It wouldn’t be my first choice - but he seemed to really like it. My plan for now is to see how the other visits go and if he still likes JMU in the spring - visit again while classes are in session and meet with a professor from the business school to learn more. Students at JMU seem really pleased with their experience and the retention and graduation rates are very good. It is an easy drive for us and is affordable. So, I’m ok with JMU for now.</p>
<p>Having a “blast” is really all about social fit and fun activities, particularly on the week-ends. At the same time, I stress staying away from schools where there is heavy drinking. Rockville Mom: Make sure you check out the activities both Hillel, Sports, and anything else your son might enjoy so that he gets a balanced college experience.</p>
<p>In my son’s case, he wants academic fit, quiet dorm room, and reallly good food (not the fast food junk that is prevalent). He is very fit and health oriented. Not interested in parties.</p>
<p>chemusic - please don’t apologize for repeating anything - I repeat myself all the time! This thread has moved so fast - I try to go back and re-read portions occasionally to refresh my aging brain!</p>
<p>I think your point about kids changing a lot during junior/senior year of hs is very valid. My son has shown me so far that when he feels the work is too challenging for him - he gets easily discouraged. He hates feeling “dumb” and I know it is hard for him to follow an older brother who is an amazing student. So, that is why I think he might be better off at a school where he is in the top half of the class and can feel like the “smart” one for a change. But this could certainly change - and if he identifies a high match/reach school that he wants to apply to - I’m fine with that - but it also diminishes his chances of getting merit aid - which could be a factor in our ability to afford a particular school. We’ll see how his ACT scores come out and how his junior grades are - and if he steps up his game - we will adjust his list accordingly.</p>
<p>Rockville Mom: I am very much interested in reading about your visits to other schools and your feedback in comparison to JMU.</p>
<p>I am actually very concerned about job placement record at the schools in mind because I am hearing these awful stories of kids graduating top schools and not finding jobs. I suggest you ask how many kids had job offers from the B- school at graduation. I noticed on another post elsewhere on CC that kids who graduated from Claremont McKenna in California, major in Finance and Economics, all had excellent jobs upon graduation. Towson, on the other hand, said 50% of its B- school undergrads had jobs at graduation last year. Not sure if this is good or not considering how bad the current economy is now.</p>
<p>In your case, main thing is to apply to at least 2 decent schools with early notification to lesson senior stress. However, the best school may be notification in March or April.</p>