How many colleges did your child apply to?

Parents Forum
21

<p>Our older son applied to 8 schools. He had top scores and top grades so he basically had 6 reaches for everyone and 2 safeties. He got into 2 reaches and 2 safeties.</p>

<p>Younger son applied to 7. Might have applied to more, but he got into a reach EA and decided he didn’t need 2 safeties. He had 5 reaches, 1 matchy-reach and 1 safety. He got into 2 reaches, 1 reachy-match, and 1 safety. His official GPA was bumped up a lot by almost perfect grades in orchestra, so we weren’t sure exactly how to judge his chances. </p>

<p>I think if you have a safety (or preferably 2) that you really like it doesn’t matter how many schools you apply to. My younger son really, really liked his safety, so we felt comfortable with the rest of his list.</p>

22

<p>D2 applied to seven universities and one service academy. She has an appointment to the academy and acceptances from what were a match and a safety. She was deferred at the school she applied to early, so we are waiting to hear from five schools in March.</p>

<p>As she started working on applications, she self-selected schools she decided she wouldn’t go to. I was expecting she would apply to at least 10.</p>

<p>Of the three acceptances she has, the service academy would be her first choice.</p>

23

<p>S1 (mega scores, decent GPA, insanely tough schedule, huge ECs/awards) had nine schools on the list the fall of senior year. Got into two of his top three choices EA and then dropped three (a reach, match and likely), added one mega reach. Actually submitted seven apps. In reality, by late December there were four schools still seriously in play, though we wanted to see how FA/merit would play out. He got into all four he really wanted. In retrospect there were two more he could have dropped in December, a deferral and the last-minute mega-reach.</p>

<p>The list:
1 – in-state flagship (admissions likely, decent chance for merit)
6 – reaches for everyone, all privates, all but one research universities, some with merit possibilities
1 – OOS flagship (dropped after EA)
2 – reaches (dropped after EA)</p>

<p>Results:<br>
4 acceptances (1 full ride @ flagship, 1 LAC reach w/small merit (30% acceptance), 1 mega reach w/merit (24% three years ago), 1 mega reach w/o merit (11% accepted), one waitlist (14% acceptance), 2 rejections (19% and 7% acceptance) </p>

<p>S2 (high SAT, 3.5 UW/4.24 W, full IB, interesting activities) had eleven schools on the list. We weren’t sure how the GPA/grade gap would play out. He busted his tail writing essays for his top two choices, both of which were reachy, but not impossible. Got into one of those EA in December, and subsequently dropped three schools and added a mega reach. Actually submitted eight apps. In retrospect, should not have bothered with the mega reach and could have dropped one or two in addition to the others he dropped. </p>

<p>The list:<br>
1 – in-state flagship (admissions likely, decent chance for merit)
1 – OOS
1 – private likely, decent chance for merit
4 – LACs (dropped one after EA, rest were reaches)
4 – private research universities, all reaches to varying degrees</p>

<p>Results:
4 acceptances (flagship & private likely, both with merit $$, acceptance rates in the 30s), 2 research universities (reaches, 17.6% and 24% accepted last year)
2 waitlists (both LACs, 19% and 26% last year)
2 rejections (both accept <20% of applicants)</p>

<p>FA/merit $$ was not a make-or-break deal for us. Each S really honed in on their favorite choices and made convincing cases for admission.</p>

<p>We know kids who did 20+ apps and were not happy with the results. They were spread way too thin. We know kids who applied to a state school plus 6-8 schools with acceptance rates under 15% (even kids with mega stats, GPAs and ECs) and/or were an overrepresented demographic at the schools to which they applied, and they had very mixed results, too.</p>

<p>We were lucky both kids had definite ideas about what they wanted and were able to find the schools that really clicked for them. The apps they sent that didn’t have that “I belong HERE” vibe did not fare so well, and I’m pretty convinced that at least in our family, the schools that rejected my kids knew exactly what they were doing.</p>

24

<p>GC at D’12’s school said most kids apply to 6-8, but that the kids with high gpa and SATs who want to apply to the highly competitive schoos should apply to more. She said that one student applied to 18 " and that was too many." There you have it . . . one GC’s opinion.</p>

25

<p>I applied to 10 schools and a lot of my friends had a similar number as well. I didn’t find the applications that demanding and figured I should apply to a good number of match schools and see which is best once decisions come in (along with the best financial/merit aid packages). </p>

<p>Some of my other friends applied to a large amount of reach schools to hopefully increase their chances in making one or more of the top tier schools with only 1-2 safety options.</p>

<p>One of my very qualified friends applied to 23 schools (most of them among the top schools) to “keep his options open.” I think it becomes ridiculous at that point.</p>

26

<p>mtnmomma, to answer your question, he applied to Alabama for the scholarship opportunity. What is ELC??</p>

27

<p>My son applied to 10 schools with acceptance rates ranging from 7-25% plus the state flagship which has an outstanding program in his intended major. This may turn out to be a bit of overkill, but you only really get one shot at this and all of the schools selected had multiple attributes which would make them good fits (although the subset of attributes for any given school was usually different).</p>

28

<p>Tacoma, Five years ago our daughter applied to only three schools. U of San Diego, Santa Clara University, and University of South Carolina. She had done a lot of research into her college application list and this was it. Her top choice (and where she graduated from in June) was Santa Clara. We insisted that she apply to at least one school that was closer to home…just in case. She obliged and also added a reach school (she had wanted to do this but hadn’t originally). </p>

<p>I gotta say…in retrospect…it was a waste of time and money having her add those last two schools. She didn’t get accepted at the reach, and while she got accepted to the “closer to home school” she did NOT change her mind about going to college far away.</p>

<p>She applied EA to USD and SCU and South Carolina had rolling admissions at the time. She had all these acceptances with her financial aid by mid January.</p>

<p>Honestly if you have been prudent about your lists, adding schools is not necessary. Without knowing your son’s stats, it’s very hard to say whether acceptances are realistic to the schools on his list…or not.</p>

29

<p>My son applied to 7, I believe. That was in 2005. This school year, my D applied to 10. So far, 1 deferral, 7 acceptances, and two will announce in March. In terms of merit aid, significant merit aid at all schools that have announced awards so far. She applied to:</p>

<pre><code> 1 state school (acceptance)
1 reach for everyone school (deferred)
2 research universities (accepted)
6 LACs (4 acceptances, 2 we are still waiting on)
</code></pre>

30

<p>Last year my son applied to 13 (3 of them UC’s). He had a guaranteed acceptance at UCSB due to ELC. He was rejected at 3 (all of them reaches), waitlisted at 5 and accepted to 5 (including the UC’s). The waitlists were the most surprising by the numbers they seemed like good fit. But he treated those like rejections and in the end came down to a UC and an out of state liberal arts that offered good merit aid. He chose the out of state which has been a great fit.</p>

31

<p>militarymom- congrats on the high number of acceptances your daughter recieved!</p>

32

<p>My son’s stats qualify him for the school’s he applied for, but so do many other applicants. It’s becoming even more difficult to get accepted here in California. </p>

<p>He has the following:
4.4 GPA weighted
3.8 GPA unweighted
30 ACT
2010 SAT</p>

33

<p>S1 applied to three schools…all safeties
S2 applied to two schools…one safety,one match</p>

<p>Both were accepted to all and the waiting was over by Thanksgiving of senior year.</p>

34

<p>Both of my daughter’s were accepted ED. They each also submitted aps to any school on their list that offered rolling or EA admissions. Each had at least one acceptance in hand before they heard from the ED school. Each one planned to submit 2-3 more applications if they weren’t accepted to the ED school.</p>

<p>D1 applied to 4 schools: 1 ED Reach, 1 EA Matches, 1 EA Reach, 1 EA Safety
D2 applied to 5 schools: 1 ED Match, 2 Rolling safeties, 2 EA Matches</p>

35

<p>My D applied to 11 schools. This was just about the right number as we could not tell for sure what were matches and what were safeties by her gpa as her school’s program is odd, and grade deflation is rampant. While we might have changed which schools she applied to, the allocation of matches and overall number was right for us.
So based on what we know right now-
applied 3 reaches/mega reaches- have not heard from 2 but was denied ED at one. D has since decided she does not want to go to one of the megareaches even if admitted.
matches- 5 - got into 3 already, waiting on 2. One is private, the other is a State Uni.
safeties- 3- got into 2 of them, the other one, a state Uni, have not heard yet.</p>

36

<p>D applied to 5 ,accepted to 4 .My suggestion is to apply to a school early ,with rolling admissions .My D knew in Sept. that she could attend St .Andrews in Scotland ,so she was much more relaxed about the whole game . Good luck !!</p>

37

<p>TacomaJoe, the UC president sent a letter out a couple of weeks ago saying that students not admitted to the UCs for which they applied would be considered for others. That could be a way to increase the pool for Merced, but it also might be a way to deal with the large number of apps. Your s’s GPA is competitive for SD – UCLA might be a little more tricky – so perhaps it’s too soon to start worrying. </p>

<p>ELC is “eligible in the local context” – and it’s a designation given to the top 4 percent of students at each high school for their UC GPA, and it guarantees admission to a UC campus.</p>

38

<p>So what do you folks consider reach and match schools these days? </p>

<p>My son has a 36.0 ACT, 240 PSAT (no SAT taken), class rank of 1 in 400, with 8 APs under his belt by the end of sophomore year. Ten years ago, I would have considered any school a match. Today, we couldn’t be sure, which is why he ended up completing 10 applications. Because he’s a 3-year graduate, his ECs have been limited to a handful – which I think is probably to his disadvantage – although he does hold leadership positions. </p>

<p>We thought of colleges with 20%+ acceptance rates as matches and ones below 15% as reaches, with the few in-between as a toss-up. Is this a realistic assessment nowadays or have I just become paranoid from reading too much CC?</p>

39

<p>5 years ago, our son received a rolling admission acceptance and scholarship to our excellent State Flagship in October, which influenced the number and types of his other applications.
In addition to the state school:
1 match, 1 near reach, 3 Reach-For-Everyone schools</p>

<p>He attended the “near reach” school.</p>

40

<p>S1 applied to 10, but that included 2 apps. for California system (so one app.), and 2 were through Common app. and didn’t require supplements (or fees!). We also have a high SAT but with lower gpa (3.82), so felt it was necessary to apply to that many. </p>

<p>I want to tell you a happy outcome of my nephew who chose to apply to only 3 schools. My sister was also really concerned when he didn’t get into 2 of them. The “choice” was essentially made for him. He attended Ohio University and he’s been on Dean’s list ever since (he’s a second year). He is on a full ride and plans to head to law school afterwards. It turned out to be fine that he only got into the one --he LOVES his school!</p>