DS19 applied to one super safety where he claimed he would be happy to attend, and 5 reaches. Got into one of the reaches and is there now. For DD23 (DS21 is an athlete so his process will be totally different, sigh), we’ll probably go about it differently since one safety was not really an ideal strategy:
1-2 EA/Rolling that she likes and can hear from early - if she gets in, then no need to apply to a lot of schools RD, just a few reaches of she wants to
1 ED - if she can find a school she really wants to go to, then ED gives a significant admissions advantage at most schools so she will likely use that advantage
IF she gets rejected from the EA/ED schools, then she’ll have to apply to a bunch of safeties RD!
joining in a bit late My D20 is applying to 5, for now. All are matches or safeties - no reaches. 1 is a definite financial safety, the other 4 will only be doable if we get either significant merit aid or tuition exchange (I work for a university). there is a possibility she may put 2 more in RD over xmas break, but not definite. She is pretty much burnt out on the process at this point, and with an acceptance in hand to a school she is willing to go to and that we can afford, not feeling super motivated to continue applying elsewhere.
She applied EA to all of them. Has heard back already from the financial safety (accepted with merit aid that makes it completely doable). Although she’s likely to hear back on admission and FA from the rest by mid-January, we won’t hear about the Tuition Exchange until April 15th, at the earliest. Her first choice school is dependent upon that, so…
Sounds like my D20’s plan. She applied early to 2 schools and got in. It really eliminates the fear that she won’t get in any where. Also, it saves on time and money on apps to a bunch of safety schools that she wouldn’t consider over where she already got in.
On the other hand, she’s applying to 13 reaches, where her average chance to getting into each is only about 10%. However, applying to 13 should increase her chance of getting into at least 1 reach to 75%. (Not sure how accurate this is, but it is based on the probability formula of: (1-0.10)^13 = 75%. Well, now its time to figure what fees will be refundable, if she doesn’t go to the safety!
I see the numerical logic but I think the reality may be that you may get nothing. You could buy 100 lottery tickets and get nothing and buy just one and win.
@cshell2 Financial aid meant some schools she was accepted to were less viable than others. I think she had one or two favorites but ended up attending a school she hadn’t visited previously after doing an overnight there for accepted students.
If his first choice is really a safety (including assured to be affordable, including assured admission to major if applicable, and which he is happy to attend whether or not he gets into the honors program), then does he really need any other colleges on his application list?
There does not seem to be any point in applying to a college (whether reach, match, likely, or safety) that one would not choose over a safety that is already on the list (or which has already delivered an affordable admission offer).
Seems like really 1 safety, 0-1 match, and 13-14 reaches, since colleges where a scholarship is necessary for affordability should be assessed on the chance of getting the scholarship, not admission. Admission but too expensive = rejection.
Older son applied to five total: one ED & four EA. Was admitted to two of the EAs within a week of applying, so I guess they really were safety apps. Admitted to ED, so that was wonderfully easy.
Next son applied to 15 total, and it was a nightmare. Ten 3-10% admit rate schools/programs, three matches, and two safeties, although nothing was absolutely a sure thing. Was deferred from his SCEA app, which meant nine new apps to submit in last two weeks of December. Far too many essay prompts.
@cshell2 – Once all the decisions were in, my son narrowed the decision down to three contenders, and then two finalists fairly easily. He was able to revisit the two, spending a couple of days on campus attending both organized Accepted Student days and informally attending a full day of classes. He had a week off from school in April, so he had time for a deep dive.
@ucbalumnus - ^ Your summary is basically correct. Being in GA, we knew he had an affordable safety in UGA and given his stats, GaTech was pretty likely but not a given (that was affordable too). The other 14 were essentially reaches.
@ucbalumnus You and my S20 are in agreement. Our concern is that when March rolls around and many of his friends are weighing options, he will regret not applying to at least one or two more. Or, he could be grateful he doesn’t have to go through that hand wringing. We are certainly grateful he has a safety we can all agree is a great option. But I will admit there is a part of me which just wants to know…would he have gotten into…? But that’s my problem, not his. Maybe come the last two weeks in 2019 he will get an itch to apply to a couple of reaches - he does have a couple he loved. In the overall scheme of things, we certainly have nothing to complain about. But that never stops me from complaining anyway.
S20 applied to 7 colleges so far:
1 reach (applied ED)
2 safeties (both EA)
4 targets (all EA)
If he doesn’t get accepted to his reach ED college, he’ll apply to two other targets in Dec. regular decision.
@Jon234 – Yes, that was my concern when my son compiled his app list. When applying at the very upper reaches, everyone is a reach for each school, but then if you apply ‘too low’, there is the fear that the school will think you are not serious.
This is keeping me awake at night right now. My twins are, academically, matches for their reach schools, ED. I worry that if they aren’t admitted and they get to RD there’s a couple of colleges they absolutely love and would be thrilled to attend, neither of which have any supplemental requirements which might give them the opportunity to demonstrate their love of the respective colleges, just the common app. Their stats put them in that band that I imagine would give an AO reason to think they might not come here if offered a spot. Two colleges with favourable ED acceptance rates but extremely low RD rates.
Why aren’t they applying there ED then dad, I hear you say? It’s not my decision to make.
DS20 applied to 9:
8 safeties/matches - admissions safety and will be happy to attend any one
… but trying for the big competitive scholarships/programs that are a REACH
1 huge reach that is the dream