@GAcollegemom6 I’ve worked with college-bound students for several years and am always amazed and who does and does not get in. Often it can be down to no more than your essays resonating (or not) with whomever reads your file.
Maybe USC is protecting its yield.
Not surprising about USC at all having a couple there and following them and many kids for years, I personally know several accepted to tippy tops including Ivy’s and rejected by USC. Interesting article posted on USC forum, here’s is one of the quotes:
"Forget the myth that admission is all about the numbers. Says Timothy Brunold ’92, USC’s dean of admission: “This year, we turned away 3,000 people with 99th percentile test scores. We just don’t have enough room.”
https://tfm.usc.edu/a-guide-to-uscs-college-admissions-process
My kid had a 529 savings plan, so she had to use that money in-state. She applied to four schools. A reach school, two decent schools that we were pretty sure she’d get into, and one she would be almost certainly be accepted to. She was accepted by all of them, and went to the one that gave her the best aid (and was her reach dream-school).
S17 applied to 5, 2 private, 3 state, all safeties. He’s a relatively indifferent student and I decided not to waste time and effort on reach schools for him. He has been accepted at all 5.
D applied to 7 schools, one private, 4 state and 2 CUNY. She was denied from her reach SUNY school but got into the rest.
S is applying to six or so. 4-5 NMF schools, 1 local UC and his wildcard school, Tulane. The NMF schools are all safeties, the UC and Tulane are matches.
My daughter is applying to 16.
Duke
Cornell
Georgetown
George Washington
American
Maryland
Boston College
Boston University
Northeastern
Indiana University
Purdue
Miami OH
Butler
Case Western
Villanova
William and Mary.
So far she’s been accepted to IU Kelley, Purdue Krannert, Miami Farmer, Case Weatherhead, and Butler Lacey.
^^^Right there with you, mine applied to at least that many as well, casting a wide net.
The more I read the more I am amazed at the numbers! I get that chasing Merit Aid would up the numbers but the cost of applying to 10…15…!!! schools alone is significant. On top of AP exams, ACT, SAT subject tests, visits etc. I would have to guess the application fees alone could easily run close to $1000. I guess my biggest question is why multiple safety schools? if they are truly a safety it would be a pretty much guaranteed admission that was affordable. I know DD18 will hit 5-6 total but with exception of USNA they are all local and two will only be if she does not get into USNA in a search for Merit Aid. sorry not trying to change the topic but this really jumped out at me.
D applied to 7, which seems about “average” but the way she went about it was stressful.
Round 1 - UPenn ED (reach), State U EA for scholarship deadline (financial safety), Safety #1 (no cost to apply)
Deferred from Penn, which meant more apps to submit. However, within a week, the list of schools changed drastically. Schools with iffy financials and most reaches came off the list as well as a beloved LAC that just didn’t have the minor she wanted. We finally found what we thought was a good match school and she agreed to apply to a school of my choosing. This new list was finalized 48 hours before scholarship deadlines at two schools. Essays had to be written and apps were submitted close to midnight.
Round 2 - OOS Public (my choice), Safety #2, Reach #2, Match #1.
Results to date:
UPenn - Deferred
State U - Accepted to Honors with expected merit (but she hates the idea of being so close to home)
Safety # 1 - Accepted to Honors College with large merit (but off the list)
Safety # 2 - Accepted with large merit (highly considering)
OOS Public - Accepted (special program and Honors college) and in consideration for Stamps Scholarship (will attend if awarded Stamps)
Will hear from UPenn, Match and Reach #2 April 1.
I will laugh if she ends up at the school I made her apply to because I ended up attending the college my parents made me apply to (which is where I got the most money) even though it had originally been my 3rd choice.
My daughter applied to three, but started early with researching and touring her sophomore year. She knew which schools would give her merit aid based on test scores/GPA and narrowed in on schools that had a good dept in her major. I think if it could have she would have applied to only one. My son is a junior with a whole different range of schools. I could see him applying to seven or more…hoping he can make a decision when the time comes!
Why multiple safeties - for us, it’s because we haven’t visited yet. Also, kids change their minds. Multiple acceptances to safeties will give him more options.
I’d guess that after we visit, some of the safeties may fall off the list. Others, such as Michigan State and Tulane, are expensive enough to visit that we won’t go until after we have an acceptance, and hopefully an aid package, in hand.
My daughter applied to 13.
3 were free to apply
2 sent her letters making it free for her
We figure it worth the money considering many of them meet 100% financial need and $50 today could save $1000 tomorrow. Fingers crossed.
She lost steam by the 13th one, the one she just added because they made it free and it’s really close.
Looking back, we would do it the same. We visited 12, by car, and she interviewed at 7. The large number of safer options is for a chance of scholarships and or financial aid. She had a friend last year apply to 3 slight reaches and 1 safety, and is now attending the safety, so we didn’t want to be in the same situation.
4 Slight reaches
4 Matches
4 Safer options
1 Flagship State
She wouldn’t consider Skidmore for the longest time “I hate that name”, and after I told her it should be on her list at least 7 to 10 times, she eventually visited, interviewed and it’s near the top of her list. I least I was right once!
I applied to 10. 3 are private, the rest are public. They’re literally all over the country and I have no idea what I want, so it makes sense to me. I expected to get into at least half of them. So far I’ve heard back from and gotten into 8. I’ve pretty much ruled out 3 of them, but some fought decisions are ahead!
My D applied to 10 all private. 1 SCEA dream school (deferred), 3 matches RD, 1 safety RD, 3 high matches RD, and 2 reaches for everyone RD. I hope she gets in somewhere soon. She decided not to apply to another 3 reaches for everyone as the deadlines loomed. 1 match was added at the last minute.
My daughter ended up applying to 27. (Yes, completely insane!) As I said, she is our first child and this is my only experience with the college app process. We have learned many valuable lessons and will be able to better guide the next 5 kids.
So far she has only received acceptances - 23 of them (one school’s answer is due today, and if she’s accepted that will make 24).
So far, here are the stats of her acceptances:
Safety - 17 (she was chasing merit)
Low match - 2
Match - 3
High Match - 1
She applied RD to the other 4. 1 decision comes out tonight for one of them and the other 3 will have decisions out in late March - April 1st.
Waiting on:
Low Match - 1
High Match - 1
Reach - 2 (these are reaches for everyone, with very low acceptance rates so I am predicting she will not get in)
In hindsight, what I would have had her do differently is only apply to 5 of the safeties, skip the 2 low matches completely, only apply to 1 match, 2 high matches, 2 reaches (though the most wise thing would have been to skip both reaches, she just really didn’t want to do that - 1 has been her dream school her entire life.)
10 schools, although a high number, would have given her the same broad range of choices and merit opportunities at schools that she could see herself attending/are a good fit.
Lesson leaned! The best advice I can offer is: save your family’s sanity, your child’s time, and about 1k and hone in on the best 10 schools or less. It will make for a much easier and more enjoyable senior year.
Mine applied to 16 last year.
There were three super reaches (Stanford, Yale, Brown), three what he considered safeties, recognizing this is a disputed standard (F&M, Lafayette, Case Western – the latter at the last minute because they made it free and required no supplements, and he had friends there). (Case and Lafayette ended up offering huge merit scholarships too, FWIW). The rest ranged from regular reach to borderline reach to numerous matches. He was rejected at 4, waitlisted at 2 and accepted at the rest. One of the waitlists was at a Match (very small school), otherwise he got into all the matches and safeties and a few of the reaches. All this was RD.
With the exception of the Match waitlist one, you could have added 0.15 to his weighted GPA in Naviance and perfectly predicted where he got in or not.
D (Class of 2019) applied to 5: 1 in-state safety, 1 OOS safety (but wanted Honors College, which actually made it a match/reach); and 3 academic matches where merit was required to make them real options. All were EA so she had her acceptances, including merit awards, before Christmas. Tossed 2 due to cost/level of interest so she had three solid choices.
S (Class of 2021) applied to 6 schools: 1 in-state reach (which, ironically, was the safety for his much higher stats sister) and 5 matches. Again, all EA. Denied at the reach school; deferred at 2 schools until 1st semester grades; but fortunately was accepted to the other 3 by mid-December with sufficient merit to make them affordable. Thank goodness for those early replies, which took so much stress out of the process. He ended up withdrawing one of the deferred apps (it was his least favored school from the start) and we’ll see whether the last one is affordable.
I am happy to see the numbers coming down or at least it feels that was this year. A half decade or so ago the trend was to apply to an insane number of places. Senior year is so hard on the kids, they really don’t need to be confronted by a a daunting list of places to apply.