S15: 1 safety with auto merit
D16: 4 safeties with merit
S20: 3 safeties with auto merit; 1 match/low reach; 1 or 2 far reaches. (I think this website is affecting our progression; wonder what will happen with our last kid!)
@Kayak24 I recognize your name from the class of 2018. I hope you and the children are doing well.
Son has applied to 7 State Flagships schools (one is our competitive In-State) as EA and all seem to be matches and low/medium reaches. He is interested in Business which can be more competitive at some of these schools.
Already got accepted to one of the OOS schools and he is waiting on the others ( Rolling all the way through Feb) He feels much much better that he got the monkey off his back “I am going to college”. However, I am more like “not so fast. Show me the $$$$$$$” LOL!
We learned a lot from our D18 and this whole application madness. At the time, she had applied to one safety or “freebie” admissions very early in the game and as excited and it was at the time, it quickly became an afterthought, especially once some of the more competitive notifications started to roll in. S20 currently has two very safety schools in mind just in case they are needed later on in the process. He does not feel the need to spend the resources at this time.
I honestly believe financials can tilt the process one way or the other. Our daughter is currently a sophomore at Ohio State. At the time she submitted her applications, OSU was not very high on her list due to the unknown financial possibilities. Basically one of those applications where the student seems to match but she would have to win the “lottery” in order to be able to attend. The process has a mind of its own and you really do not know how it is all going to play out until you are in the process. The key here is to make sure to do the research and get yourself in the game.
S20 is currently applying to 6 schools.
1 Safety
3 Matches to High Matches
2 “Dream” schools High Match to Reach
I have no idea what a “dream” school is. The kid has not even been there, to begin with. I think some of these kids chatter among themselves in order to come up with whatever nonsense gets them an edge. As has been suggested, the financial packages will probably dictate many of these decisions
Twin 1
12 schools
4-5 reaches (got in all but 2)
4-5 matches (accepted to all)
3-4 safeties - why so many safeties? Looking for merit
Twin 2
13 schools
4 -5 reaches (got in all but 2)
2-3 matches (accepted to all)
6 safeties - looking for merit, wanted to go to big state school which were mostly safeties with his stats
First timers. They both definitely applied to too many schools, but we were really “feeling our way” through the process with 2 high stat kids looking for merit who were not good at whittling down their lists!
Kids are really happy with their outcomes - DD ended up at top 10 school with some merit/some FA. DS ended up at big state school with full COA scholarship. However, it was a very draining and stressful process. For next kid, I will definitely push for less applications.
Three sons, first applied to 2, both matches, second, started three, two reaches, but got a full ride to the third and was his first choice, so never completed the process on the other two. Third applying to 3, but only because we are making him apply to two safeties just in case.
Have our first child going through the process right now. She decided to apply to 3 schools (1 ED, 2EA) down from a planned list of 8-9 schools at the beginning of the summer.
Her list of requirements is/was fairly specific (and we were looking for merit money which reduces the number of schools that would work - even with the ‘right’ scores/stats). She is also the kind of kid who wants to be done with the process sooner rather than later so she can concentrate on enjoying the rest of her senior year.
Already received one acceptance (with very nice merit award of over 50% the COA plus an invitation to the next round of an additional competitive merit award) and just waiting for the ED decision (which gave a financial pre-read allowing us to let her apply ED). Third school basically out of the running as it was in third position going into the process. Had a total of 5 essays/supplements, though she is still going back and forth on whether to create/submit an arts supplement for two of the schools (to compete for music scholarships). Jury still out on that one, and she has until January, I believe, to submit if she chooses.
All three schools were matches, she decided she could put a “safety” application in RD if it was necessary. She chose not to apply to any ‘reaches’ as our budget was primary (full pay family not willing to pay full price), and she decided she didn’t want to apply to “financial reach” schools she liked, get accepted and not be able to attend based on finances.
D14 applied to 1 match and 1 safety. She is/was not a motivated student and our state flagship (safety) was highly ranked for her prospective major. There was no need to look around.
D19 was accepted by her top choice reach school. Had she been rejected, there were 3 other reaches, 1 match, and 1 safety on her list.
Deleted
Eldest 1 Safety, 0 Match, 10 Reach - my favorite strategy
Middle 4 Safety, 3 Match, 3 Reach - not a smart strategy, wasting apps on Safeties
Youngest 1 Safety, 2 Match, 4 Reach
D20 is planning on applying to 16 schools. 14 chosen by her and 2 in-state universities (1 fit and 1 safety) that mom requested so that she’ll have a school that is definitely affordable. Of the 14: 7 are reaches due to very low admissions rates, 1 is international and a reach but great merit if she gets in, 3 fits, and 3 safeties. She wants to attend a small LAC far from home. Affordability will be key.
Reading these posts, I can’t help think what the CC reaction would have been to my application strategy many years ago: 3 schools - MIT, Yale, CMU, all regular decision.
I don’t think I fully understood the process at the time - there may have been a safety valve of applying to Rutgers (in-state state school) over the summer if I was 0-for3.
Now my D17s 8 schools seems below average.
DS16: 6 schools, 1 reach (financial rejection), 3 matches, 2 safeties. Admitted to all. Got the big scholarship and attends a safety that has been an excellent fit.
DD20: 6 schools- 5 EA and 1 RD. The plan all along has been 2 reaches, 2 matches and 2 safeties. Based on academics only I think she has applied to closer to 1 reach, 2 matches, 3 safeties but in the middle of the night when I think about the limits on OOS admittance and how amazing applicants are now with ECs it becomes 3 reaches, 2 matches, 1 safety.
Only time will tell!
Kid #1 (Senior this year)
1 Reach (applied ED)
1 Maybe
2 Safeties (already accepted to 1)
Kid #2 (is gonna have a ROUGH time)
17 BSMD schools
10 Regular
-4 reach (T20)
-4 probably
-2 safeties
Hoping two each (twins) - one ED very competitive, reach for everyone LAC each and one EA.
Preparing for ED2, obviously one each if this comes to pass, same level LAC.
RD two safeties. Six or Seven (maybe more as the deadline looms and panic sets in, who knows?) reaches.
Eldest, two years ago, similar profile kid. One safety, one match, ten reaches. Awful, I’m loathe to call it strategy, lets call it an awful way to go about it. Things worked out wonderfully but I would not recommend. I didn’t understand ED at the time, I didn’t realize you could back out if the money wasn’t right. I thought committing actually meant committing.
my daughter: 11 on list. Has applied to 7 so far: 1 ED, 4 EA’s, 1 rolling which she has already been accepted to (Pitt), and also McGill.
Depending on what happens with the ED school, she will either be done, or will send out 4 more.
she says there are some kids in her high school who are applying to 30 or more colleges, which is ridiculous. these are the top students, and they apply to lots of schools they have no intention of going to. this hurts the average student and has to be discouraged. there needs to be a limit set.
D21: Between 15-19 probably. She is in a unique situation – homeschooled straight-A student (thus far…though there’s a strong possibility she’ll end up with a B in AP Physics 1 this year) with all classes having been outsourced to reputable online providers and in-person classes at local colleges. Classes are almost all AP or college level as she is academically advanced and did high school level work while in her middle school years. Unique and publicized extracurriculars that will likely make her stand out…but they aren’t recruitable sports. National and regional awards for her extracurriculars and volunteer work. SAT scores in the 1400s, not sure she can get up to 1500s. White girl from the northeast, which is not helpful, but full pay, which might be helpful.
She has one safety she wouldn’t mind attending, seven matches, four reaches, and seven “lotto” schools (acceptance rates under 10%…I am encouraging her to drop at least a few of these). We have visited all of them at least twice thus far, and D21 will interview at many of them this spring. Since she is homeschooled, we have no Naviance data to use to try to figure out her chances. We do know where she falls so far within each school’s test score data and general acceptance rates for females. Acceptances for homeschoolers can be difficult to predict (at least for us), so D21 wants to cast a wide net. She genuinely likes each of the schools on her list, all but three are an excellent fit in terms of what she’s looking for and the environment she likes, and she has a few clear favorites. She’ll likely submit an ED application to one of them once she figures out which is her ultimate favorite.
Current plan for D20 is 20.
4 safeties (accepted to 2 so far)
3 matches.
13 reaches.
D16 applied to 9: 1 safety, 1 match, 1 high reach, and the rest low reaches. Got in everywhere except waitlisted at one of the low reaches. Attends another of the low reaches, with generous merit aid.
S20 applying to 2 matches, 1 low reach, and 5 international that could go any direction. His “safety” is to go to community college (where he already attends as a full time DE student).
We have 4 kids and last one just finished the process.
1: one low-reach ED -- accepted and done
2: one low-reach ED -- accepted and done
3: 13 (5 reach, 5 match, and 3 safety) -- accepted to one reach and attending there
4: 11 (actually I'd classify them as 6 art colleges, 2 LACs, and 3 publics.) -- accepted to 9 of these and attending the reach art college.)
All 4 kids very happy with their outcome.
In hindsight, 13 and 11 apps were a lot of work. But at the time there was a lot of uncertainty for these two kids so we had to cast a wide net. For kid #3, he had very high scores but only ‘good’ GPA, APs, and ECs. He was rejected by high-reach Ivy ED and deferred at a match EA. So we knew he had to apply to many during RD. He was even rejected by one school we thought was a safety! Sometimes very hard to predict.
For kid #4, she was uncertain on the type of school she’d be happiest at, and her stats were only medium-good. Fortunately she had an early rolling acceptance at a public that ultimately was her #2 choice. So again a wide net, but happy outcome.
My biggest suggestion is to do early apps. Rolling and EA can give you an early celebration and negate the need for later safeties. ED is great if your child has a definite #1 and the finances are workable.
For those whose kids applied to a lot of schools (like 12+) was there a lot of struggling to decide between them later if you had a lot of acceptances? We’re struggling a lot with just a few, but maybe when the financial aid packages come out it will be easier.