<p>Of my D’s 8 schools, I consider all but two of them true safeties. She should get into all 8, but 2 will likely be unaffordable. Although only 3 on the list are <em>guaranteed</em> affordable (the two state schools, and one commutable private), I do think it’s fair to call six of them safeties because the probability of merit bringing the remaining three into the affordable range has to be close to 100%. </p>
<p>I do think safety sometimes implies “less desirable”, but with my D, I don’t think that’s the case. It’s true in her case that there’s one school in particular that’s more desirable, but it’s also likely that she won’t get the merit money there to make that school feasible. But she almost certainly will have six solid choices from which to choose. If we imagine all the money on the six safeties being equal, two of them rise to the top. But any one of the other four safeties could offer a much sweeter deal and so we won’t know until every offer is on the table. At Pitt, for instance, we’re only on the hook for room and board, which makes it pretty good, but it’s so low on her list that a 20k school will probably pass it. There are only three schools on her safety list for which my husband and I would be willing to go to the top of our budget, but I think our D only feels that way about two of them. </p>
<p>Unless you’re totally and completely in love with your safety, I think it’s much more important to cast a very wide net for safety schools than it is to apply to a bunch of reach schools.</p>
<p>Son applied to 2 safeties, 3 matches, and 6 reaches (2 super reach). He got both safeties with merit, 2 of the 3 matches, and 1 of his 6 reach schools. He is attending his reach school and loves it.</p>
<p>Daughter will probably do the same, though maybe a couple more reaches.</p>
<p>Couldn’t someone in such a situation just put in total income and assets of both parents added together into an NPC to get a reasonable estimate for a school that uses NCP information? Also, don’t some NPCs ask if the parents are divorced and question for each parent’s income and assets in that case?</p>
<p>I haven’t seen the latter - that would be ideal.</p>
<p>For the former, no, not really. Schools treat NCP income differently, for one. They don’t just take the two numbers and add them, some may weight the CP’s more and the NCP’s less, for instance. There are two households being maintained so I doubt they’d just say “mom makes $50K and Dad makes $50K so we’re treating this like we would a married couple’s $100K income” (though some may do that - we don’t know). </p>
<p>Also, if the estimate for each parent includes Pell or state or other federal grants, well, the student can only get one of those, not one for each parent.</p>
<p>Even those not-great scenarios assume the student knows what the NCP’s info is, of course. That can be another wrinkle - the Profile NCP form is private, neither the student nor the CP can see it. A good NCP will tell the kid the basic info, of course, but then you’re back to the not-great scenarios above.</p>
<p>A final variable is if the NCP is not cooperative. Some schools might grant a waiver while some don’t, and that can make a huge difference in aid.</p>
<p>the “reliable” (safety), match and reach definitions need to include financial consideration. A true reliable choice is both academically and financially in the wheel house. Or, you distinguish between the 2.</p>
<p>So many consider schools “matches” or “safeties” without investigating their merit award history or whether they are CSS Profile schools or FAFSA (Federal) method only. And then, of course, there’s the whole debate over what you’re willing to pay vs. what that school (or method) determines your ability to be.</p>
<p>13.
First batch 6: 1 ED (hear by 12/5), 2 Rolling (by 1/31), 1 Priority (by 12/5), 2 EA (by 12/18)
Second batch 4 – All RD; to be sent by 12/18
Third batch 3 – only if needed</p>
<p><quote>Couldn’t someone in such a situation just put in total income and assets of both parents added together into an NPC to get a reasonable estimate for a school that uses NCP information? Also, don’t some NPCs ask if the parents are divorced and question for each parent’s income and assets in that case?</quote></p>
<p>I do this, but my ex-husband has zero assets. He has no income, no job, doesn’t own anything. He stands to inherit some stocks and money when his parents and childless aunt pass away, but they are all hanging in there (his dad and aunt are both in their 80s, his mom is in her late 70s). I expect that even if he had that money in hand, I would never get him to fill out a form - he has depressive schizo affective disorder and is seriously paranoid about sharing information.</p>
<p>D’s father hasn’t offered financial information since the paternity papers were drawn up right after her birth 17 years ago. I’ve never taken him back to court to increase child support (this would have exposed his income to me) since that agreement. So, yea, he made $75K that year and is in the same union federal job…I could guestimate how much he makes now, even add what I think his wife makes at a bank and probably get an “idea”. But I would have no idea how much he has in retirement or home equity or more personal stuff. So, no, I can’t get a realistic idea of his true financial picture.</p>
<p>How many is too many is not the same for grad school vs. undergrad, and even between types of grad school… even so, med school hopefuls tend to apply to more schools, whereas an overly high number is usually a sign of poor research for law school.</p>
<p>DD applied to two, a safety and a match. Due to her major and the distance she was willing to travel from home, there were four schools that were accredited in her major. One was a small all girls school and one was more of a commuter school. They came off the list immediately. She liked both schools she applied to and got into both. They are state flagships, so even if she decides to change majors there are plenty of choices without having to transfer. Due to her stats we, and her guidance counselor, tried to talk her into applying to at least one reach, but she was adamant that there was no point since she knew she’d get into one of her schools and there were no reaches that met her criteria.</p>
<p>I thought applying to 12 colleges this year was crazy… I’ve only applied to about half of them so far and it has already cost several hundred in application fees. </p>
<p>I am applying to 11 PhD programs; getting all supporting documents, and tests done has already cost me over $1,500 (however, take in account that I am an international student and, due to my homeland’s native language, I need to take the TOEFL and to have transcripts translated) and I haven’t submitted one of them yet due to some research-related issue.</p>
<p>Because application processes cost so much in the first place, we feel emotionally involved in the entire process.</p>
<p>I have 16 colleges that I’m applying to. However, if I get into my top choice, I won’t apply to about 7-9 of them. I know it’s a ton, but I’m paying special attention to each of them to make sure my supplements are polished with no typos, and I make sure to show interest at all of them whenever I can.</p>
<p>I think D arrived independently at CRD’s method. She has nine on her list. She sent out six applications by Nov 1st. So far, she has been admitted to two with merit. With these in her pocket, she’s decided to drop one application because even though it would be close to a free ride and she would be readily admitted, she would not choose it over her acceptances. She’s on the fence on another school and she still wants to apply to the last school. I’m fine with her applying to one or two more schools or just saying, “that’s it. No more applications.”</p>
<p>It’s such a fluid process that I can see people applying to one, two, five, or yes, 12, 15 schools.</p>
<p>The college prep process has cost very little up to this point; no Saturday school for test prep, no private tutoring, no “consultants” other than what is here for free at CC so I have no problem with paying for as many schools and sending test scores as it takes to help him get into the best school he can. I expect my net cost will be about $1000-1500 for app fees and scores sending. (does not include travel costs of checking out schools)</p>
<p>I think the the question of how many schools to apply to is very dependent on your situation. My S ended up applying to 20. He was able to handle the apps, we were able to handle the cost and he very happily ended up at a LAC ranked in the 30’s nationally, which is a great fit, with a close to full tuition merit scholarship. Except for one of the safeties, which was our state flagship with a full ride merit scholarship for NMS, I think he would have been happy at any of the places where he applied. (Unfortunately he’s one of those kids who really does better in a smaller environment!)</p>
<p>Our daughter applied to 15 schools. It was strategic on her and our part. Her list was reach heavy and safety heavy. One of the reaches was a last minute throw in on her part, otherwise it would have been 14 schools.
2 SUNY’s that were safeties. (accepted at both)
4 Ivy’s (accepted at 2, rejected at 2)
3 top five LAC’s ( accepted at 1, waitlisted at 2)
1 top 20 National University (waitlisted)
2 top 50 National University’s (accepted to both with significant merit aid)
3 top 40 LAC’s (accepted to all with significant merit aid)
Our strategy was based on academic opportunity and financial considerations.</p>