<p>Would you/did you limit the number of schools your S or D could apply to? How did this work? Did you help them narrow down a long list?</p>
<p>What were your reasons for putting a cap on the number of applications?</p>
<p>My oldest son applied to 12, the younger (current senior in HS) applied to 16. They both had good reasons for every school they applied to and we obviously did not put a cap on the number of applications! The oldest applied to too many reach schools (rookie mistake) but he was waitlisted at 3 and accepted at three. Picked a top LAC and had a great experience. S2 has had 9 acceptances so far, 1 wait list and waiting on 6 reaches.
Younger son applied to a better range and is one happy senior right now in terms of college choices. (In hindsight, I will admit that 16 was probably too many). My best advice is too make sure you are applying to a range of schools, not just a set number - the range (super safety, safety, match and reach) is more important than a set number of applications.</p>
<p>It really depends on the kid. How many apps does he need in his situation? Are you in a funky financial situation that can be interpreted widely? Do you need financial aid? Is he looking at some selective programs? How easy are the apps?</p>
<p>In our case, with the last child, though he did apply to a lot of schools, there were really only a few applications he had to do since most of his schools took the common app or the state app. Not too many complicated supplements either. Had he had to do more applications like 3 of the schools that had their custom applications, it would have cut down on the number substantially, as they really took a lot of time to do. Also, he did not have to visit the bulk of his schools as they were state schools that did not care if he visited them or not. Again, if they were the type of schools where interviews and visits were important, he would not have applied to so many as he did not have the time to make as that many visits. He also found the interview process difficult. Also, many of his schools had very low app fees or were free. I don’t think I would have wanted to spend over $500 on apps, and that is even on the high side, nor did I want to spend a lot of money on visits which can get expensive. </p>
<p>We started with a long list and some schools just dropped out of consideration as he worked on the apps. A natural process, it seemed. On the other hand, with the student before him, we ended up with just a few schools and had to add a lot more as the process continued.</p>
<p>S applied to 10</p>
<p>2 instate flagship safetys
1 OSS flagship safety
6 OSS through common app.
1 Ivy</p>
<p>D got into first choice ED. She also sent one non-binding early action (got accepted) and had 4 other apps “ready to go” for a total of six. This was plenty for her as they were all schools that she really liked and had reasonable chances to get in. She wasn’t really interested in applying to any others. I think it depends on the student.</p>
<p>If money were no object, he’d do the old fashion 1 saftey, 1 match and 1 reach. However, since merit aid is something of a wild card, he’ll apply to 1 saftey, 1 match and 1 reach that we can afford plus 1 of each that hinges on merit aid for 6 total.</p>
<p>I 'd let them apply to however many they wanted to. Firstly, applying to schools tends to be a pain so if anything, the tendency is to apply to fewer schools than they should. If you’re planning to apply to UCs, you can apply to all of them with just one app although each one you checkbox adds to the application fee.</p>
<p>The cost of the applications is nothing compared to the cost of college so if the student applies to a few extra and ends up with a better financial deal from the college as a result, it was well worth it.</p>
<p>S applied to 5, D to 6. S could have done fewer - he knew where he wanted to go, D should have done a couple more. They were both well below the number their classmates applied to.</p>
<p>Youngest D probably will apply to more - but she is deciding between conservatory and LACs and will need to be able to make choices later on.</p>
<p>My kids each applied to 7, although each of them had 2-3 others to which he or she would have applied had it not been for an early acceptance. In fact, each kid could have gotten by with 5 applications (and others in reserve).</p>
<h1>1 applied very early to a public rolling admissions ultrasafety, and was accepted. Also applied EA to what she considered a match, and ED to an Ivy; She was accepted at the former and deferred at the latter. She then applied to four more colleges – a second Ivy that she loved, two match colleges with reasonably comparable academics whose location she preferred to her EA college, and a traditional isolated LAC, also a match, in case she panicked and decided she wanted that. She had been planning to apply to one other safety and one match LAC where she had legacy status, but didn’t complete those applications because she knew she would not choose either over the EA college. The first application, and the LAC application, were both unnecessary; she never really considered going to either seriously.</h1>
<h1>2 applied early to an OOS public university (match) and an SCEA college (reach - duh!). He applied to another OOS public where applications were due before he heard from the first. After he was accepted to the first OOS public, and deferred SCEA, he only applied to four other reach colleges, three of which he would have preferred to the college that had accepted him, and one of which his parents pressured him to apply to. Had we done more homework, and had OOS #1 acted a week faster, he would not have applied to OOS#2, and it was silly to pressure him to apply to another reach school he didn’t want to attend. He also had 2, maybe 3 safety applications he planned to submit if he didn’t get accepted early at either OOS #1 or SCEA.</h1>
<p>We encouraged our kids to have strategies, and to make choices before applying, and that worked out for both of them. My idea was basically inverted-pyramid: I wanted at least one great safety and a couple matches, or an early acceptance somewhere they would be happy about, and then I would have been fine with up to 6-7 reaches. That was pretty much what Kid #2 did, except the rolling-admission match became his safety. Kid #1 couldn’t decide exactly what she valued, so she had more of a straight up-and-down list: two ultra reaches she would have had a hard time deciding between had they both accepted her, and clusters of high- and straight-matches and a safety that reflected qualities she liked in the top two colleges or wished they had.</p>
<p>We might have said “no” had either one wanted to apply to more than 10 colleges. We understand why people do it, but it seems a little anti-social. In most cases, it’s some combination of unwillingness to make choices, trophy hunting, and lottery playing, and all of that clogs the system. Of course, if a kid really needs a substantial merit scholarship, then that would justify casting a wider net to me.</p>
<p>Son applied to 11 schools. He was first accepted to his safety, a public with rolling admissions, in October; and then SCEA to a lottery school in December. He promptly withdrew six applications, to schools he knew he wouldn’t choose over the SCEA school. So he had a total of five completed applications.</p>
<p>Daughter applied to 8 schools. Again, the first acceptance came from her one and only safety, a public with rolling admissions. The remaining applications were all RD – a combination of LACs and mid-sized research universities. </p>
<p>How many schools to apply to depends on the kid and the situation. I think most kids who think things through carefully should be able to limit the number of applications to between 8 and 12. But for students who are casting a wide net for merit aid, more applications may be needed. Also, students applying to uber-selective colleges need to cast a fairly wide net, since even for the best students, admission at those schools can be unpredictable. The caveat: No kid should apply to any school in which s/he has no real interest just to see whether s/he’ll get in. </p>
<p>No matter what, every kid should apply to two safeties s/he could actually see attending.</p>
<p>D’s private HS mandated that each student apply to AT LEAST eight colleges. D had no interest in any except the seven on her list. As several posters have pointed out, it really depends on the kid’s situation.</p>
<p>We drew a firm line at 17. :eek: She might have over-done it a bit on the safeties. 
16-0-1 (with the 1 being a W/L she stayed on for about 30 seconds). We had both squirrel-ly FA and the merit lottery. 1 Ivy. 1 of AWS. Admission wasn’t as big a driver as $.</p>
<p>Now med school? She may just set a record. That’ll be cheap.</p>
<p>S and D each applied to 10. S was first and didn’t have a safety on his list - despite pleading with GC to help him find one. When the disappointing EAs came back, it was a huge scramble to apply to a few more. Only then did GC suggest flagship which was totally unsuited for S. It was a terrible few weeks there. Well, he himself found a school- by no means a safety but certainly a good match. Very happy now in 2nd year but boy, were we rookies!
D cast a much broader net with safeties, matches and 2 real reaches. So far, in at 3 safety-matches with very generous merit packages. So much easier this time around</p>
<p>DS applied to eight just because he wanted to put off the “narrowing down” process. Five were match/safety, one a match, and two match/reach. His real safety was EA from one of his match/safety schools.</p>
<p>In hindsight, I would have tried to limit this to fewer. Once he was done with all of the essays (22 of various sizes) he was too burned out to do a stellar job on the scholarship applications.</p>
<p>ETA – A friend’s DS with amazing stats only applied to the flagship state school. He got in, of course, but we were all disappointed that he wasn’t interested in “reaching” at all.</p>
<p>My S applied to 7 schools. One is his safety school (state school with a full ride), one is an Ivy, two are OOS state schools, and three are OOS private. </p>
<p>He chose the schools based their programs. He knows exactly what he wants to study, and he carefully researched which schools offered what he wanted. (The exception is his safety school which is lousy in his field of study, but, hey, it’s free.) He created an Excel file with catagories ranging from student housing to different areas of study within his intended major. We spent part of the summer visiting his choice schools just to confirm his choices before we paid the application money.</p>
<p>So far, he has been accepted to five non-Ivy schools and is waiting to hear from the Ivy and one private. We are also waiting for the scholarship offers (most due out at the end of March). I told him, “Big money wins.”</p>
<p>The mistake WE made was insisting that DD apply to an additional school or two. She was perfectly happy applying EA to two schools and rolling to one. We asked her to add another closer to home and she then added a reach. What a waste of time. She got accepted to the first three and didn’t care at all about those added two. In retrospect…three applications would have been plenty for her.</p>
<p>DS applied to seven schools. But he also had to do auditions at seven schools. That was absolutely the maximum I would recommend for a music performance major because of the audition requirement.</p>
<p>With the possible exception of those relying on merit aid, anymore than 10 is indecisiveness and/or applying to unrealistic schools (I only have a 2100 so if I apply to every ivy I think I’ll get into one) in general based on what I’ve seen.</p>
<p>I guess we were pretty lucky. My d applied ED to her 1st choice, She had apps out to 3 other schools, but was very happy to accept at her 1st choice. My s, only applied to 2 schools, lol. They were conservatories and he was feeling confident I guess. His dad, myself and the guidance counselor, really tried insisting he apply to a few more, just in case…but he said he’d rather have a gap year, if he didn’t get into one of his 2. Lucky for him, he got into both:). I think every situation is totally different.</p>
<p>S1 applied to 8. The second safety probably wasn’t necessary, but he hadn’t visited either safety. </p>
<p>I anticipate S2 applying to more. His stats are more uneven, so it’s harder to determine what will be match or reach. My husband thinks he should apply to some schools where I think odds are very long indeed. So if he applies to those places it will be in addition to what son and I have determined is a sensible list!</p>
<p>I think the number to apply to varies for each individual case and circumstances as each admissions process is not created equal. That said, I think the majority of applicants would normally be able to fall into applying to anywhere between 8 to 12 schools. It is rare to need more than 12 but a certain situation may warrant it. And there are some situations where less than 8 would work just fine. No matter the final number, the list needs to be balanced in terms of odds. We did not need to give our kids a limit. We feel they created a list that was just right for them (and it turned out to yield mostly positive results) and each child applied to 8 colleges (both were involved in highly selective admissions processes). My oldest applied to highly selective professional graduate school programs and she had 10 for that process. She again had more acceptances than rejections and so I think in each of their cases, they had the right list. That’s what it is really about. One number doesn’t fit all situations but again, I think the majority of applicants could fit into anywhere between 8-12 schools unless there are some unusual or specific circumstances to warrant otherwise. Having 8 schools worked out well for my kids, but we didn’t tell them a certain number. I cared more that the list was the right one for them.</p>