<ol>
<li><p>I haven't done all of my essays yet, but it depends on if I really care about the school (or if it's a safety) and how confident I am about it. Usually I have at least one person read at least every essay.</p></li>
<li><p>Many of my schools are reach schools (IMO), but I really do love all of them. Even right now, I have a hard time trying to choose what I would want as my first choice! So, as long as you're truly applying and putting your heart into it, rather than just "applying to see if you can get in," I think it's fine to apply to many reach schools.</p></li>
<li><p>All transcripts are sent and soon my standardized testing scores will be, but I've been sending all of my applications at different dates. If all goes well, all of my applications will be handed in by Christmas.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Handyandy, believe it or not, some people actually value their education more than anything else in the college selection process. Applying to a lot of reach schools increases the chance of a student getting the best education possible. I applied to 14 schools, so I'm very sorry for wanting to get a great education.</p>
<p>I'm applying to 11
addemdum: Am I really passionate about all 11? no. I'd say I have no clue why I'm applying to 2 of them which I will never go to, but they are safeties. as for the other 9, yes I have really researched them a lot and I would really happy at any of them.
here's the breakdown, 2 safeties for full ride, everything else is saftey/match for admissions. most are matches for some scholarship money. 3 reaches for scholarship money/medical program.</p>
<p>i have written half a dozen polished essays, and reuse them a lot, especially by combining and mixing and adding a little to this and that and general tweaking. I usually get several teachers, several friends, and one good adult friend to look at almost all the major ones before sending. others' feedback can be really useful, even if they only point out minor suggestions</p>
<p>as far as procrastination, it varies a lot. sometimes i send half a month in advance. Sometimes i send a couple days in advance. A couple times I've hung onto the deadline by my fingernails.</p>
<p>As for applying to a bunch of schools, I think it is definitely worth it becuase you increase your chances and you simply have a lot more options in the end. I'm looking for merit $ money so i need to maximize my chances for that at a number of schools. however, for a most people (normal people, not crazy ppl on CC), it is generally unnecessary to apply to more than 5.</p>
<p>Kids end up applying to a bunch of hard schools, not caring much about any of them, save one or two. They only want to get into a "competitive" (read: prestigious) school; it doesn't matter which one. They have no passion for the schools they applied to, they just want to apply to competitive schools. </p>
<p>As the old Tennyson quote states, I think it would be better to find those 2-3 schools (they don't even have to be reaches) that you really love, apply to them, be rejected, and end up at State U than to apply to a bunch of big name schools and get into the one you're lukewarm about that decided to accept you. At least in the first case, you put a little heart into the decision.</p>
<p>Nobody is saying that this is country is not free. However, you must admit that what you are doing is unethical, uncompassionate and perhaps disrespectful to others. Remember that other people have as much passion for your "safety school" as you do for your dream school. </p>
<p>
[quote]
Honestly, I have so much to worry about with my college applications that I don't need to worry about someone else
[/quote]
</p>
<p>BS.Again, Look at the comment above. </p>
<p>
[quote]
I think you should only apply to the schools you are really passionate about. You can't honestly be passionate about 20 schools.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I totally agree. I think you should apply to MAXIMUM 10 schools (perhaps 5 reaches, 3 matches, 2 safeties.) But of course that is not enough for the arrogant, pretentious, and elevated egos of a good portion of CCers. Aside from this topic, I'm sure you (a good portion of CCers) have the right to be disrespectful other people because they are not as "smart" as you are or as you claim to be.</p>
<p>What exactly is wrong with wanting to get into a prestigious school? Prestige is undeniably a factor in choosing schools for many of us; it matters. I can't believe some of you are looking down on us for wanting to get into a great school. Believe it or not, some of us like the idea of getting into a great school so we can get a great and unparalleled education. Schools with big names have those big names for a reason.</p>
<p>Applying to many schools is not disrespectful to other applicants. The reason someone applies to a school is because he/she would want to spend 4 years of his/her life there. That's like saying to someone "Oh, how dare you apply to school X as a safety! You'll probably never go there, and you're taking the spot of person Y who would be more willing to go there!" People need options if they don't get into their college of choice.</p>
<p>Honestly, I think you should stop calling us arrogant and take a look at yourselves and your self-righteous ideologies before you try to judge us.</p>
<p>I haven't applied to all the schools; but I am only applying to 8 schools.</p>
<p>2 Reach
3 Match
2 Safety</p>
<p>There's nothing wrong with wanting to go to a prestigious school. It's when the prestige clouds one's vision that things get messy. As I said before, I think it's better to apply to 3 schools (hard to get into or not) that you truly feel passion for than to sell out to 10 schools that you don't care about.</p>
<p>I'm applying to 11 schools (have done about half the applications so far). Personally, I'm in a position where my middle-range schools ARE my reach schools (if that makes any sense), so I'm applying to 8 top-tier schools, 1 second-tier school (but it's nearly top-tier for what I want to study), and two state schools with good reputations (one has an Honors College and one basically IS an honors college) and lots of money to throw around (one gave my older brother - who didn't even have my grades or scores - a free ride + stipend; the other has offered me a $17.5k-per-year scholarship before financial aid is even factored in).</p>
<p>Sorry that was such a long sentence :-p</p>
<p>I'm applying to 12-14.</p>
<p>1) I'm planning to have one or two people read over all my essays. Not the short answers though.</p>
<p>2) Yes. I really don't think there's anything to lose, and you may be surprised in the end. As long as your teachers don't get ****ed off at you for making them write 10+ letters, I say go for it.</p>
<p>3) The day before haha.</p>
<p>Once again, boo-hoo-hoo to you people crying about "OMG U STOLE HIS SPOT U STUPID NOOB" - because you know what? If you want to help random people, then go through all your possessions out your window because your eating up valuble posessions that others could be using, but YOUR SO GREEDY AND R LIVING LIFE!! Besides, those people would have gotten rejected anyway simply because they are unqualified and if you apply and get it, then you deserve that spot, and the college agrees with you 100%.</p>
<p>Also, most people DONT want to go to community college. Community college is filled with high school dropouts and people with F- averages, and do you think they want to go there? Obviously not, why would anyone want to walk into those dreaded halls of crap? The overwhelming majority of Community College people DONT want to be there, and only the select minority of people seek to simply transfer into a better university and save money by going to CC. This is undisputable.</p>
<p>There's nothing wrong with wanting to get a better education. If you follow your philosophy of "U STEALING HIS SPOT", why not just quit and become a homeless bum? Because if you get a job, your ruining someone elses life because he could have that job, so lets just never get a job shall we?</p>
<p>Apply to as many schools as you want, its 100% just and fair, and anyone who tells you different clearly has no understanding of the good reasons for doing so. People are free in this country to do whatever they want - this isn't Soviet Russia or the PRC.</p>
<p>Quote:
Honestly, I have so much to worry about with my college applications that I don't need to worry about someone else
BS.Again, Look at the comment above.</p>
<p>How is what I said BS?</p>
<p>If you live your life considering all the chances you're taking away from others, you'll never get anything accomplished for yourself. If I apply to randomschoolx and get accepted over someone that randomschoolx was his or her first choice, then that's life. You never know what goes on in admissions. Maybe if I hadn't been accepted, the next girl in the application pile might have been. She might not end up going either. It's just too many uncontrolled variables to take into consideration. All I'm saying is; decide what you want when it comes to your college choices, and apply to the schools that fit those decisions, regardless of what they are. Ultimately, deciding which college to attend is about your happiness. Its not up to you to take into account the happiness of the rest of the class of 2008.</p>
<p>Plus, the person who got rejected from randomschoolx might need to fall back on one of the schools he or she hadn't considered her top choice. Having more options in this case is certainly extremely valuble. Who knows? Maybe the person you took the spot away from goes to their local state school and meets their future spouse. You might have done them the biggest favor in the world. The point is, there's absolutely know way of knowing, and the only way to make decisions regarding college without going absolutely insane is to concentrate on YOU.</p>
<p>RootBeerCaesar and Seniors2008, exactly.</p>
<p>I bet the people who disagree with us would be in completely different positions if they were in our shoes, especially with college admissions becoming exponentially more selective each year.</p>
<p>I agree with the above statements. When one applies to many reach schools, it's completely acceptable. As for the case of many match schools, maybe one should decide whether he or she can narrow down the list just a little.</p>
<p>In the long run, you're not really even taking anyone's spot because you can only go to 1 school, and, when you do, you leave the rest of your schools open to people on the waitlist. For the people who were rejected, they would have received that decision regardless of whether someone had "taken their spot" or not. </p>
<p>Now, a negative result from applying to many schools is that you're contributing to a vicious cycle. Since so many students are applying to so many schools, it makes competition stronger. Thus, with competition so strong, students apply to even more schools. Not good. =</p>
<p>
[quote]
I bet the people who disagree with us would be in completely different positions if they were in our shoes, especially with college admissions becoming exponentially more selective each year.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Hmm... I'm probably not quite in your shoes, considering I'm not doing the runaround for half of the "top 20" schools in America. However, I have a feeling our shoes are quite similar. I am applying to 3 of those schools, despite the fact that they are "top 20." I visited all three of them, completely fell in love with one, felt extremely at home at the other two. My financial situation is nothing spectacular; I'll be a need-based candidate for all my schools. I have great test scores, grades, etc. I'd likely be a competitive candidate for most of the top 20, but what's the point?</p>
<p>The way I see it, in all your college search, there has to be a school that stands above the others in terms of what you want. It matches your criteria for "fit," academics, social life, spirit, athletics, and even prestige. Once you found that school, you compared all the other schools to it. Some come real close, others don't. Eventually, you start to have a ranking of preference. By about 4 or 5 down that list of schools, you'll start to realize that those schools aren't very much like that school at the top.</p>
<p>First of all, Rootbeer, you are rediculous. I don't know how when you quote us we become so dumb. Plus...what you said about CC's is completely wrong. If someone wouldn't want to be there, then they wouldn't go there. You don't have to go to a CC. "Dreaded halls of crap"...wow, narcissism at its highest. </p>
<p>I think one important thing to remember is that living one's life for others does not lead homelessness, nor unhappiness, nor failure, nor not going to an Ivy League School (who's attraction, I don't understand). The greatest leaders ever lived life for others, so don't forget those less fortunate than you who cannot even fathom going to an Ivy League School, yet you **** on their attendance of a community college.</p>
<p>RememberMe1990 demonstrated how to make a good arguement...he makes a good point.</p>
<p>And Yoshikiu, I am in your shoes, just as Handyandy is. Just because we disagree with you doesn't mean we aren't experiencing the same thing as you; we just percieve our situation differently than you.</p>
<p>Applying to more than 12 is a waste.</p>
<p>There's no right or wrong answer. It's all subject to opinion, what's right for one person isn't necessarily the best for another. 10 is more than enough for me, but I don't have a problem with anyone applying to 20, I'm also not worried that anyone is taking "my spot" by applying to more schools. In the end you can only enroll in one school, regardless if you apply to 4 or 20, and the 3 or 19 offers you can't accept will be passed on to someone else.</p>
<p>Wow, I didn't know there'd be so many responses!</p>
<p>
[quote]
People don't apply to dozens of match or safety schools. People apply to a lot of reach schools, because they know they'll be rejected at 90% of them, so they hope to get into one. Its a 'crapshoot', and u have a higher chance obviously of getting in if u roll the dice one more time. Duh.</p>
<p>Seniors2008 has the perfect position on the topic.
[/quote]
:)</p>
<p>
[quote]
Kids apply to schools half-heartedly. I find it hard to believe that someone can be genuinely interested in 20 schools, or even 5-10 reach schools.
[/quote]
some of us don't have the chance to tour all univs that we would like to? really, all I have is CC, and everyone's interpretation of a school slightly differs.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Many of my schools are reach schools (IMO), but I really do love all of them. Even right now, I have a hard time trying to choose what I would want as my first choice! So, as long as you're truly applying and putting your heart into it, rather than just "applying to see if you can get in," I think it's fine to apply to many reach schools.
[/quote]
Same here!</p>
<p>
[quote]
Kids end up applying to a bunch of hard schools, not caring much about any of them, save one or two. They only want to get into a "competitive" (read: prestigious) school; it doesn't matter which one. They have no passion for the schools they applied to, they just want to apply to competitive schools.
[/quote]
Ah yes, but not everyone :p</p>
<p>
[quote]
Aside from this topic, I'm sure you (a good portion of CCers) have the right to be disrespectful other people because they are not as "smart" as you are or as you claim to be.
[/quote]
???</p>
<p>
[quote]
Schools with big names have those big names for a reason.
[/quote]
I agree</p>
<p>
[quote]
Also, most people DONT want to go to community college. Community college is filled with high school dropouts and people with F- averages, and do you think they want to go there? Obviously not, why would anyone want to walk into those dreaded halls of crap? The overwhelming majority of Community College people DONT want to be there, and only the select minority of people seek to simply transfer into a better university and save money by going to CC. This is undisputable.
[/quote]
there are $$ issues too, one of my close friends who moved away will attend a CC simply because rarely anyone in his area attends a 4-year. but I agree with some of the other stuff you mentioned.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I visited all three of them, completely fell in love with one, felt extremely at home at the other two.
[/quote]
What if you visited more potential schools you might 'fall in love' with? What if you haven't had the chance to visit schools farther away? Most of the stuff we hear about colleges are positive anyway, so some of us really have a hard time picking from all the great ones out there.</p>
<p>I guessed JustLookin summarized most of it ;)</p>
<p>I am applying to 11 schools.</p>
<ol>
<li>Did you have a few ppl look over ALL of your essays?</li>
</ol>
<p>Since I have not finished writing all of my essays, I obviously cannot fully answer this question, but I plan to have at least 1 or 2 people read my essays before I send them out.</p>
<ol>
<li>Do you recommend applying to a bunch of reach (dream) schools? assuming one has enough safe/match schools and has the $$</li>
</ol>
<p>Assuming that the applicant has the time and energy to apply, I don't see why not. If the school is definitely someplace where the applicant would like to go, I think that the admissions committee will see his/her commitment. The worst they can say is no. </p>
<ol>
<li>Usually, how many days before the deadline did you send it in?</li>
</ol>
<p>Haha, I guess I'm pretty bad compared to other people, but I sent my applications in a day or a few days before the deadline.</p>
<p>In response to the ongoing debate in this thread, I guess I am somewhat of a minority. It's true I am applying to more than 10 schools. It's also true that I do not wish to attend each one equally. But my main goal in applying to 11 schools is really to try to get scholarship and move away from home. In contrast to other people who might have applied to more than 10 schools, most of my schools were match-safeties or safeties out of San Diego (my home town), with 2-3 match-reaches/reaches. My rationale in doing this is not to take spots away from other applicants but to greaten my odds at receiving scholarships. I would love to go a small college out of state, but my parents cannot afford $40K+ a year, so I am forced to seek out schools which are more likely to offer me scholarship money. I truly don't believe that I am preventing someone else from getting in, as I purposely selected schools at which I have an above-average GPA/SAT score. People who didn't get in to the schools I am applying to wouldn't have gotten in even if I hadn't applied. Colleges already accept more students that they can realistically enroll, so, in this way, applicants receive some kind of break. On the other hand, students fight tooth and nail to get into schools like the Ivies and Stanford, so theoretically every application matters. But it's also hard to say since no one can really say who "should" or shouldn't have gotten in.</p>
<p>Also as a side note. I have visited 2 of the 11 colleges to which I am applying. Most of my information on schools comes from sites like CC, Princeton Review, college websites etc. How can you say I don't have the right to apply and get in to these colleges because I like, or even express a mild interest in, what I can read or see about them? I'm sorry if I haven't had a poster of my favorite school posted on my wall since freshman year. If I want options, I will go out of my way, and maybe step on some toes (which I genuinely believe I am NOT doing), to make sure I have options.</p>