<p>Other than an in-state safety, is there a non-financial reason to apply to a wide variety of types of schools? In other words, if your dc realized s/he liked small LACs, did they pretty much only apply to small LACs? Could cut the other way if your dc realized s/he wanted Big State U with football, etc. </p>
<p>Do dc apply to a variety of types of schools because they are still not sure what type they want?</p>
<p>I was just thinking about this in conjunction with the thread about applying to 30+ colleges.</p>
<p>It depends. I had the opportunity to visit different types of schools (UNC to Haverford) and decided I preferred small LACs better than a giant school. So by application time, I only applied to those types of schools. </p>
<p>If you haven’t had the time to visit/are still indecisive, it would make sense. After acceptance you can visit to make a final decision.</p>
<p>My D applied to what I would consider something of a mixture, but had some logic to what might seem like an unusual mix of schools. One of her applications (and early acceptances) is to a university with 5,000 undergrads and double that in grad students. She applied because of their reputation as a deeply intellectual school – it was more about that than any other factor. Her visit to campus had confirmed this impression, so it wasn’t just from hearsay.</p>
<p>She also applied to a STEM LAC that is part of a larger campus. It is the only STEM school she applied to. She does want to major in a STEM subject, but isn’t sure she wants a truly STEM school. This one was a sort of hybrid. She also likes their weather. :)</p>
<p>She has a women’s college on her list (one). She liked it when we visited, and it is decent in her major. It would be considered an LAC.</p>
<p>And she has 5 other LACs on her list for various reasons (strong intellectual focus, strong in her major, and/or she just really liked the campus/vibe when we visited).</p>
<p>So she had specific reasons for applying to each school. I assume most students would have a list of criteria that can’t be met by any one school, and may lead them to an application list that looks eclectic at best. We felt that D did not have to choose at application time between her preferences, as long as she had some solid reasons for each school on the list. She is going to have some interesting decisions to make in April, I think!</p>
<p>D1 applied only to very small LACs within a certain distance from home. Her search was very limited due to wanting kind of an unusual major. There seemed to be just two schools offering the major, very small LACs (mostly Catholic schools) and very large publics, usually the state school housing the medical school. D absolutely did not want big state U, so why make her apply.</p>
<p>D2 has also said absolutely not to big state U. I will not force her to apply. There are smaller schools that can serve as financial safeties.</p>
<p>My daughter applied to a strange mix: one tiny LAC, one small university, four medium to large OOS state schools, two medium private universities, and our in-state flagship. She is a senior at an OOS state university.</p>
<p>Yes, my oldest wanted a college with about 2500 students and did not apply to any of our in-state publics which are all significantly larger than 2500 kids. My youngest is still mulling over whether to go ‘small’ or go ‘big’. He picked 5 large universities and 3 smaller primarily undergrad schools with around 3500 students where he applied. He’s in at 3 of the 5 large universities and has heard back with an accept from 1 of the small schools. There is one small school he really likes much better than the other two and that will probably determine his choice.</p>
<p>If your child is interested in a specific major or field of study that is only offered at a few schools or is only strong at a few schools, s/he might need to consider a greater variety of schools. The desire to enter merit scholarship competitions might also drive his or her application approach.</p>
<p>Our kids mostly applied to schools with populations under 7000 for UG. They had no interest in mega U’s and wanted to be in a rural or suburban setting, no big towns. It’ sure make the search process easier knowing that. They gravitated toward the 2500 and under populations with 2 schools in the 7K range.</p>
<p>D1: University of Washington, Western Washington U., Gonzaga, Carroll College, University of Portland. Size range from 40,000 down to 1500 students.</p>
<p>D2: University of Washington, Notre Dame, Gonzaga, University of San Diego, University of Portland, Whitman College. Size range about the same.</p>
<p>D3: Washington State University, Central Washington University, Gonzaga, Pacific Lutheran University, University of Oregon, Oregon State University. </p>
<p>They applied to the different sizes, types of schools because certain aspects appealed to them, and the other things (rural/urban etc.) weren’t so important to them. Eldest ended up at the UW, because big school football etc., Greek life appealed to her, after having gone to a small all-girls high school. She didn’t decide, however, until the last day of April, and a bad experiece with her mentor at admitted students event at one of the others probably tipped the balance. </p>
<p>D2 is at Gonzaga and loves it. </p>
<p>D3 hasn’t decided. She has the clearest idea of career path, so the programs at the schools will have more influence.</p>
<p>DD initially applied to only three schools. Two were catholic universities that really were demographically very similar. She applied to one HUGE OOS public university (where she garnered excellent merit aid which included in state tuition status). All three were really safety schools admissions wise. At the 11th hour she added a very small LAC reach, and a similarly small close to home safety.</p>
<p>Yes, a wide variety. And in the end, he was choosing between a 2,000-student LAC more than a thousand miles away and a 48,000-student in-state uni.</p>
<p>Mine, too. I found it interesting to see the final two standing, but I guess it really wasn’t a surprise. It felt like he was really making a decision about what kind of college life he wanted – smaller classes, more a life of the mind vs. lots of school spirit, close to home. The small school academically felt more comfortable in that he went to a small HS but being in another part of the country seemed to be more of a risk. I’m glad he chose what he did.</p>
<p>My older son was looking for high powered STEM schools with reasonable computer science. Size went from Caltech (900) to midsize universities. Harvard was the least STEM of them, I made him apply because as a double legacy (and very strong student) I thought he had a better than average chance of being accepted.</p>
<p>Younger son applied to mostly midsize universities in residential neighborhoods near or in large cities. Vassar was the only LAC he applied to, basically in case he decided LACs were a better fit and that he didn’t actually mind that it was smaller than his high school. It was one of the first schools he applied to and he’d liked it enough that he actually thought about applying ED until he got more interested in International Relations.</p>
<p>Our D applied to a handful of schools that had a strong program in her STEM major. All were state universities with the exception of one private college. They ranged in size from small to large. She didn’t apply to any LACs.</p>
<p>If you have your safety(ies) nailed down, then it is a question of what you are aiming for in terms of a school. Although my kid applied to a lot of schools, not a single one was an LAC or small. There was no interest in them. </p>
<p>I know people who applied to both Harvard and Williams and went to Williams because Harvard did not admit them (rank/prestige was important to them).</p>
<p>Oldest knew he wanted a small school and only applied to them.</p>
<p>Middle was more flexible and found pros in many different types, so had a variety at the end. He picked the small/medium sized research U over a large research U.</p>
<p>Youngest wants small, so will be applying that way.</p>
<p>Except for a safety, I see no need to “make” them apply anywhere. Visits prior to applications can adjust the application list by type.</p>
<p>Oldest D went by location - after her local rolling admission safety (Pitt) she wanted to be in Boston or DC, so she applied to BU, BC, Tufts, Georgetown, GW, and American. Rejected by Tufts and Georgetown, attended GWU, was very happy with her choice. Although these schools are quite different, when she first visited, she thought she could be happy at any of them. I think the accepted student days in April are what clarified her final choice.</p>
<p>Son didn’t care about anything but who had his major. Applied to RIT (attending), Drexel (rolling admit safety), and RPI.</p>
<p>Youngest D applied to LAC’s and a few smallish U’s, several the same as intparent’s D I think, she wants an intellectual atmosphere. Also used same safety as oldest D.</p>
<p>I agree with that, and we never had a “fight” over the safety school since our state flagship is not really a “safety” type of university so the kids just picked one they liked where they were at the very top of admitted students and that I knew we could afford to count as their safety.</p>