How many college applications are too many?

Applying to College
61

<p>Many of the top schools do not allow supplemental material beyond what they specifically require in their common app supplement. Stanford, for one, does not permit even a resume. No arts supplements are allowed unless you have won national or international awards. They do allow one optional recommendation, beyond the two faculty and one counselor recs. Thus the applicant needs to tailor the short essays to the school.<br>
Of course the personal statement essay can be used for almost all colleges and all of the common app ones. Chicago wants to weed out those who are not truly interested. Although they are moving to the common app next year, as is Stanford for 2009 admissions, I have no doubt the supplements will continue to reflect the personality of the school. The stated reason for going to the common app has been to de-stress the application process. </p>

<p>I do not suggest applicants change their personalities to make themselves attractive to a particular college, I suggest that applicants apply to schools in which they are truly interested. The school should fit the student and not the other way around. A 17 year old is likely to change and may be attracted to a wide variety of colleges. So my mantra for my children has been to apply to enough colleges so you have some choices in April. But I am, in the interests of sanity, limiting younger S to 10 colleges and will not allow him to get sucked into applying to colleges merely based on perceived prestige. I truly believe Ad Coms are able to see through the bs and discern true interest. Now some students they accept regardless, such as the academic, athletic or artistic stars. And they will battle for these students. For example, Duke had the Duke Up Close program in shich the give early writes to top students and fly them in for a weekend to try to make them love Duke before they receive acceptances from other top schools. For most though, they look for applicants who love the college and show in their applications that they will contribute to the college.</p>

62

<p>I understand how a school doesn't care how *much *you want to go there, but for at least a school like Chicago, it's important that you like the idea of the school, not just that you score well and test well and have done some things outside of class.</p>

<p>In my limited experience with how Chicago admissions works (namely, looking at the cohort that applied from my high school), they have admitted students whom they know would be happy there and have denied students who, even with top scores and grades, even with grades and scores higher than mine, would be unhappy at Chicago. </p>

<p>I think that "happiness" is pretty correlative to the uncommon questions-- if you like answering the questions, you'll like going here. Or if you, like one of my very very very smart friends, find you can't answer them, then you know this school is not for you. (He would have been very unhappy here, and he had a lot of other great colleges to choose from anyway).</p>

<p>Hence, Chicago is preserving their essay questions in a supplement to the common app. This is a great thing, because it simplifies the application process logistics for students, parents, and counselors while still requiring the same level of challenge and bafflement. I also find it funny that the changeover is met with some disgust by the student body, at the thought that we are losing our "originality." But hey, we're still putting you through the same obstacle course.</p>

<p>But let's expand this to non-Chicago schools; and let's expand this to your emotional health too. Other schools will want to see that you've considered them thoughtfully, if only because a thoughtful response will be more interesting to read than a vague one. </p>

<p>I've read many "Why Chicago?" essays in my days here on CC and some of them are incredibly rich with details and explanations, others are vague and sloppy in comparison. If I were an admissions counselor, I'd definitely be pulled in by the rich and detailed essays rather than the sloppy and vague ones. </p>

<p>I just feel like the more schools you apply to the more stressful the application process is, and the less you feel like you're in control. When you choose which schools you want to consider more carefully, you are also thinking a lot about what kind of school you would like to attend. When you have an articulated list of things you want in a school, you can also more easily find non-reach equivalents for that "dream school." I've looked into a lot of colleges that I would have loved to attend and would have been match/low matches for me.</p>

63

<p>"By the way, I applied to ten schools on fee waiver, and I only got accepted to 2."</p>

<p>So depending on which ones they were, the 2-2-2 approach might not have worked very well for you. A couple of points: I would suggest that you shouldn't apply to a particular reach if you wouldn't go there over one of your matches. But I would argue with the idea that you will be happy or a good fit at only a limited number of reaches. If your primary criterion is going to a school where the student body is highly accomplished accademically, there are (at least) several dozen schools that will fit this criterion. But I do think that it's a mistake to choose your reaches by just looking at the top 5, or 10, or 15 schools in the USNWR list. Thus, for example, if you would fit better at Rice than at Cornell, make Rice one of your reaches, and not Cornell.</p>

64

<p>unalove;</p>

<p>I am quite familiar with UChicago as a number of students from our HS apply there every year. In our area, it attracts a very specific type of candidate, strong academically, often interested in the sciences, who may not always have the math and science awards for a good shot at a school like MIT or Caltech. Sometimes, but more infrequenty it is the applicant's first choice. Despite the somewhat higher admission rates, the applicant pool is quite self-selecting and Chicago is certainly not a safety for anyone. </p>

<p>I can't say that they admitted students which they believed would be happy there. U. Chicago is not known as a warm and cozy place. They seemed to look for the very intellectually curious and those that showed that trait were often admitted. This is in contrast to MIT for instance, where passion only takes you so far. They look for creativity, and more specifically for demonstrations of that creativity. Both Chicago and MIT are examples of schools where applications need to be well thought out. MIT has no plans to switch over to the common app. But in either case, I don't believe you can influence the decision process very much by crafting your application to fit a certain mold. You either have what they look for, and can back it up, or you don't. Even then, both schools have many more more highly qualified applicants than available slots and many are rejected for no other reason than that they have filled the class. </p>

<p>I also agree with previous posters that if you don't plan to apply to highly selective colleges, there is no need to hedge your bets with many applications.</p>

65

<p>
[quote]
So depending on which ones they were, the 2-2-2 approach might not have worked very well for you.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Well it's turning out wonderfully, but I was <em>this</em> close where I would have had a single "option" of attending a school I would have been miserable at. And even after acceptance, I was worried I would have to turn down my current choice for financial aid reasons. For those applying on fee waiver (like I did), more safeties for financial aid options can't hurt.</p>

66

<p>It really depends on you and your family and your school. Your school might limit your apps and you would then have to toe the line or negotiate with them about that. The cost of the apps can be an issue. Also how many apps can you handle? You still have to keep up your grades, your ECs, etc as well as fill out the apps, keep track of them, and vist/interview. If you are very organized, you can do more.</p>

<p>I had all of my kids apply very early some schools with rolling/EA policies to see where they stood. If they got into one of those schools they liked, then they could cut the list considerably. My oldest son got into BC which was for him a very acceptable, happy choice. So he could then go all super reach for him since he was really set at that level. He also had a couple of safeties in his pocket at that time, and a highly selective school deferral which was a message to him that the top school were going to be a tough go,which he knew but it was confirmed. I suggest getting the apps done and ready to go BEFORE you hear from the early schools so you don't ruin your family's holiday season.
My kids applied to 10 schools on average, but only one app is needed for the multiple state schools, and the common app also covered a number of schools. There are also some "quick apps" that can be done on line sometimes without a fee that are not difficult to complete. Be careful about common app or other supplements,however. One time my son filled out a "quick app" at the last minute only to find out that the supplement was a bear. Also keep in mind that some of the smaller schools, even if they are not that selective will take demonstrated interest, visits and interviews into account so you are not done with the school after you send out the app.</p>

67

<p>I am going to add that there are situations where a lot of apps make sense. If you need financial aid, if you are applying to a very competitive program, you may need more schools than most kids. In these cases, a couple of good admission/financial safeties are invaluable.</p>

68

<p>^^ Aye aye, captain. (Sorry, had to).</p>

<p>Cellardweller--</p>

<p>I did not craft my essays for Chicago to fit a certain mold. I crafted them to fit me. I am an intense person who is (or could be) passionate about almost anything-- I make myself happy by throwing myself into something, by having lots of long conversations over coffee, and by keeping a stack of books from the library by my bed. I also was at times disrespectful and rebellious over the things I was told I should be doing, because I only believed in doing things because I wanted to do them. Practice for the SAT's? Nah. Study for tomorrow's test? I'd rather read Virginia Woolf or watch Family Guy.</p>

<p>That's not me being the person I think colleges want me to see, that's me being the person I am. I made sure that the good side of me came out in my college applications, and I mentioned elsewhere that high school wasn't about the grades, without coming out and saying, "Hey, admissions office, I've never studied for a test in my entire life!" (something that's still true).</p>

<p>Anyway, my thoughts were, if college admissions officers didn't like the me I presented them with, I wanted to tell them three words: one an verb, one a possessive pronoun, one a direct object ;-).</p>

<p>I bring this all up because I think that a) my honest presentation of myself was probably the push that came to the shove (I was in range for Chicago, but not outstanding), and because b) I think it takes a lot of time, energy, and thought into making a good college essay that's about you. It's true that that you (both you you and college applicant version of you) can fit in at a lot of colleges, that the you that could fit in at Harvard is the you that could fit in at any number of great schools, but again, with all of these supplements to do, the you that might come in in one essay gets diluted in another. I was juggling about 8 or 10 different written pieces from August to December 19 (when I got in EA and tore my other apps up) and I found getting all of those pieces to sound like me very hard.</p>

<p>To bring my point home, a little anecdote: a dear friend of mine cast his net wide and shallow. One safety, no real matches, a lot of reaches. Dear friend did not cure cancer, did not win an Olympic Medal, but rather he is just one of the best people on earth, and he is the best person on earth in a very quiet and understated kind of way-- he doesn't think it's right to be showy about what he's suffered or how absolutely brilliant he is. So understated that he appears to be the classic bright, well-rounded kid-- the kid that most colleges like but don't find the space to admit.</p>

<p>Because my friend is so careful, though, he wrote really excellent, heartfelt supplementary essays that really let him shine through. He even wrote careful essays for one elite college's very, very unpleasant supplemental. April came around and he got some rejections, a few acceptances, and a full tuition from the elite college. They even called him to tell him how much they loved his essays and how what he wrote for their pernicious supplemental essays was such a big factor of why they chose him.</p>

69

<p>which college has an unpleasant supplemental?</p>

70

<p>^ Stanford, IMO.</p>

71

<p>omg stanford's supplement was horrendous...</p>

<p>but i feel liek they put SO much weight on those weird questions.</p>

72

<p>^ I concur</p>

73

<p>I'm an advocate of the 3-3-3 strategy.
3 high quality safety schools.
3 matches, top universities/LACs
3 super reaches</p>

74

<p>1 safety
2 matches
3 reaches</p>

75

<p>try to find some schools to apply early action to and some schools (like the University of Wisconsin for example) that have deadlines in february. this way you can space out your applications and if you get into your early schools and decide you like them better than your later-deadline schools, then you won't have to apply to as many.
I applied to seven. I was going to do nine or ten but it became impossible. Or maybe i was just lazy. :D</p>

76

<p>Only apply to the schools that you REALLY would actually want to go to. That said, I applied to 10 schools, and I would have liked to go to any of them. The fact that I got into most all of the schools really didn't make my life any more enjoyable come May 1. Save yourself multiple headaches. Apply to 5-6 TOPS. (Spreading out your applications between EA and RD is good highly advisable as well)</p>

77

<p>I feel like there's only 1-2 colleges that you truly want to go to, so I find it hard to believe that you really wanted to go to 10 schools.</p>

78

<p>Try to get fee waivers at the schools. Safety schools usually give 'em out for going to special events and such, be sure to check. I have fee waivers for about 5 colleges that I like.</p>

79

<p>Choose your safeties wisely, research them well, show them you care -- they are the most likely schools that a student will end up enrolling at. I think tokenadult and Chedva have done a great job stressing the importance of safeties. </p>

<p>Given the increase in apps, what was a safety two years ago might not be one this year. </p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

80

<p>"and just a quick question... what top 35 college is the most unpredictable in their admissions? like what college in that USNews Range would give somebody underqualified the best chance of getting in according to high SAT scores and low GPA? (seeing what others i can add to my rankings)"</p>

<p>i can't give you a definitive list, but here are a couple i know of that have surprised people (not necessarily all top 35):
-vandy (my valedictorian friend who was waitlisted at amherst and williams and stanford, and got into northwestern and washington and lee and uva echols didn't get in)
-nyu (both ways - i've known kids to get in who should not have and kids who got rejected that were more qualified. it all depends on the school of nyu you apply to.)
-usc
-tulane
-middlebury
-william and mary
-duke
-wash u
-georgetown</p>