But yes: how you operate, how you think, how well you communicate, how you contribute in your own world, what your potential could be and how you could grow their vision. I was talking about showing interest. Knowing the school is one way. Knowing the school is (for our gunners here, present or future) a lot more than cruising through the app and assuming when they pin them up on the (proverbial) dartboard, you have the same shot the other 20k kids have. They don’t pick at random.
As for baloney, he has what he hoped for. We don’t know what got him the Cornell offer, but he did. But shotgunning reminds me of those folks who empty their savings, believing if they could just buy one more lottery ticket, it would be the winner. The lesson isn’t just keep adding more college names to the CA. It’s choose wisely. Know what you offer them and what they offer you.
@CaliCash Just because Cornell wouldn’t be in the 10 schools I would apply to should I be limited to that number, does NOT imply that it isn’t in the top 10 schools I would GO to. If I were limited to applying to 10 schools, I would have to include safeties and matches that I wouldn’t want to go to as much as I want to go to Cornell.
Someone alluded to Baloney’s and my acceptances as low tier. I’m sorry, but since when are UCLA, UCSD, UCSB, UCI, UCD (especially with regents for some of these), Georgia tech, and Boston college low tier.
Also, someone asked if I’m happy with my acceptances. I’m going for an impacted major, so I’m surprised I got into many of the college I got into; I’m happy.
In the end, satisfied is all that matters. Just don’t go promoting shotgunning as some special edge. You didn’t get in because you applied to some magic number. You got in because something struck those colleges as the right match. Maybe you did add some last minute college. Nothing special in that. Just applying isn’t why you got in.
I agree with @redpoodles You should’ve divvied them up. I was told eight schools-the amount I applied to-was a lot. By the way @redpoodles I have a red poodle too!
I’m bored and I’ve read this whole thread, and to be honest, it made me laugh watching people trying to find fault with the shotgunning technique. If you have parents that care about college and will help you visit every small college out there that you think is just the best at everything for the child that can only ever go to a few select parameters for school, then sure, I advocate and hope that you’ll apply to just a few schools.
But for the rest of us? I wrote every single one of my Ivy league essays the EVENING they were due. That means I wrote Upenn’s on the 5th, because it was due then, and Cornell’s on the 2nd, because likewise, it was due then and not a day after.
When I ask myself where I want to go to school, my answer to myself is, “no idea.” Because I’ve always been someone that really craves intellectual growth around me, but is really too lazy to have great grades or research colleges, I applied to the Ivies and Stanford, and that’s it, apart from conservatories for music. It was probably my music that got me my one acceptance, too. But I got in.
Same with Baloney. He’s not misinformed like me, and he at least knows what he’s getting into. An acceptance at any of those schools he hasn’t turned upside down until every last drop of trivia has come out of them would not mean that he’s being immature, but rather that he just wants to give himself the greatest opportunity for acceptance. And he did, because he got into Cornell (CCA granted).
At then end of the day, Baloney is graduating Ivy, and all the people yelling at him/her are either jealous or trying to belittle him for not doing it “their way.” I’m confident if I’d only chosen only one or two of the Ivies to apply to, I wouldn’t have gotten in, just the same.
I actually think Cornell is a good match for @Baloney1011 just based on what I know about Cornell and what we’ve seen of Baloney’s personality! Best wishes, I hope you are happy there!
@cptofthehouse points out the real problem with shotgunning…it’s just too hard to get everything right at every school. Still, it is possible to do it, and to have good results as Baloney, @IAmTheGOAT and @redpoodles have done. It’s just not really an approach to recommend to everyone! It’s just far too much work.
@redpoodles Your story is so much like ours! We absolutely needed merit aid, also because of a funky financial situation, so we applied to 14 schools. We did have success, but it was horribly stressful managing everything, getting essays in, applying for special programs, showing interest and even traveling to interviews, etc… But we felt we had no choice, so we did it, and my son ended up with 5 affordable offers, one of which is a fantastic full-ride that he will probably be taking. And my younger son is like yours too…won’t be taking this approach, and for the same reasons! LOL Oh, and we have a poodle! Haha! But not a red one, he’s silver and white mixed (a parti-poodle). Congratulations on your daughter’s success.
My son shotgunned and we are pleased with the outcome. He was a low GPA, high stats kid. He was rejected by many “lower tier” schools than the final 2 he ended up choosing between. He is going to Columbia; had to choose between Rice and Columbia. He loved both schools. Columbia would have been on our short list but Rice wasn’t. We can’t exactly bank on getting into Columbia. I didn’t think he’d get into most of the reaches, very few kids do. But as I’ve said, we just need him to get into one or two. One or two excellent choices is a success imo.
Congrats to Baloney and Iamthegoat on achieving their results! I read the threads of kids who were shut out of all the top schools in great misery despite great stats and grades and wonder if Baloney and Goat could have been those kids if they had only applied to 8-10 schools… or even 14-15. I personally think they could have and they averted that outcome.
@1203southview - would you mind clarifying what you mean by “low GPA, high stats” in the context of Columbia and Rice admission? And also, did Rice offer merit aid?
@fretfulmother: Nope, no merit aid from Rice… due to the low GPA, I’m sure. He had UW GPA of 3.6 and weighted was 3.9, perfect ACT score (with no prep), National Merit Finalist with PSAT of above 230, good AP and SAT 2 scores; not earth shattering but respectable. A handwritten note from the Columbia local admissions rep in a letter to him really pushed Columbia ahead. The tone of the note was so energized and excited and the admissions rep stated that he spoke about him at length to the committee and felt it was a perfect fit. I think my son’s essay helped portray who he is in a way that impressed those particular schools.
^while that is very true and is true in this case, his GPA was truly low relative to all other accepted students to top 20 schools from his school. Average GPA of students from his school accepted to schools of this caliber was 4.29 to 4.48. It really is a very rigorous school and tough academic peer group though. It is a small, private prep school and out of 90 students, there were 6 National Merit finalists (6 times what one would expect). If he had gone to a normal school, he might have ended up with a much higher GPA. We are lucky 2 great schools saw past the GPA, many didn’t.
Oh, and we have a poodle! Haha! But not a red one, he’s silver and white mixed (a parti-poodle). Congratulations on your daughter’s success.