<p>I'm just wondering how many schools your S or D's applied to. Conventional wisdom previously held aps to nine. Three reaches, the matches, and three safeties. I'm thinking most people are applying to far more than nine since all I hear on tours is how much applications are up. More kids.. or relatively the same amount of kids applying to more schools. Help me get a reading on this.</p>
<p>If a safety is really safe I don't see why you need three of them. Pick one you love. My son had two safeties as we were too lazy to visit and compare. He ended up applying to eight colleges. I'm not sure what the selectivity index on his colleges were, but he had at least four colleges with admittance rates of less than 15%. For his stats and intersests there weren't really that many matches. Everything seemed to be "almost certain" or "highly unlikely"!</p>
<p>My D applied to 8...3 safeties, 1 safe/match, 1 match and 3 reaches. She was admitted to all safeties and matches (3 with scholarships), rejected ED from one reach, accepted EA to one reach and waitlisted at the third reach. If the EA app had not been an acceptance I think she would have applied to at least 4 more match/reach schools. Actually, because of school specific deadlines she had completed and submitted ALL except 1 application prior to hearing from her ED/EA schools. After receiving the EA acceptance she decided not to complete the other applications.</p>
<p>My d also applied to 8: 2 safeties, 3 matches, 3 reaches. Accepted at safeties & matches, rejected at 2 reaches, waitlisted at 1. One of the safeties was EA and she got in. She may have applied to others if that hadn't been the case.</p>
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If a safety is really safe I don't see why you need three of them.
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<p>D chose more than one safety because of all the stories of kids being "overqualified" for their safeties. Also, what were considered "safeties" for her were still schools that had less than a 50% acceptance rate, and one took half the class from ED, so the RD rate was even lower. Even with safety schools, one can never be certain of anything in this admissions game.</p>
<p>My son applied to 10. If we'd known he'd be accepted to all of them, it would have been fewer. Most were far from home and though he visited all of them before applying, some he saw only in the summer and he'd only done an overnight at one. Two could be considered safeties, two match/reach and the rest reaches (for anyone, imo). He's narrowed it down to 6 (they're all that attractive--hard to pick) and we're re-visiting so he can get a better look. Obviously no one knows ahead of time where they'll be accepted. My son used the approach of finding 8 first choices (the 2 safeties he liked a lot and would have learned to love, but they were second choices). His approach would have been really helpful if he'd gotten some rejections, as he'd still end up at his first choice. In hindsight, it sounds greedy, but we truly didn't know what to expect.</p>
<p>crossposted</p>
<p>My son's safeties were EA also. It was VERY nice to have some early word. And we also were concerned he might be rejected from them as "over-qualified". If he had been rejected from those, he'd have added a couple more, probably the 2 he'd visited that had Rolling Admissions.</p>
<p>My kids each applied to 7, which was more than they needed to. They used EA or rolling admission to eliminate the need for a safety (obviously, it worked out, otherwise they would have applied to safeties). I think the idea of three safeties is a little ridiculous.</p>
<p>On the other hand, for some of the reasons adduced in the other threads running now, I don't think kids at any level should be limited to three reaches, because from the top on down the "reach" market is tough, and it's a legitimate strategy to file more applications. My own children applied to 2 (or 4, depending on how you count) and 3 (or 5) out of 7, and honestly I wish they had applied to a few more (but they wouldn't say that). I do get a little ticked at kids with double-digit applications -- I think there's a moral limit somewhere around 10.</p>
<p>We reacted to the local word of mouth that it was getting tougher everywhere - a trickle down effect of huge numbers of kids applying everywhere.</p>
<p>My S applied to 13 schools. He was rejected from both reaches, waitlisted at 2 matches, deferred to Jan. 08 at one match, accepted at 5 matches (after being deferred from EA/Rolling at 2 of those) and accepted at all 3 safeties.</p>
<p>If we had to do it over again - I don't know that I would have done it differently - nothing seemed a slam dunk until he received the acceptances. He also applied to so many because he was VERY reluctant to visit schools until recently. So we picked a few overlapping types of schools to cover bases. (Approach/avoidance issues vs maturity vs. he just hates to travel).</p>
<p>The admissions scare tactics do work on one level - I feel like I have helped support the budgets of 13 admissions offices.</p>
<p>My S ended up applying to 9:</p>
<p>3 reaches (all rejected)
5 matches (4 acceptances, 1 waitlisted)
1 safety (accepted)</p>
<p>He ended up going with a match that offered him the best merit aid and an Honors Program</p>
<p>The rolling acceptances before senior year even started were a huge boost to our D's confidence level. She applied to 8 schools total and was accepted to all. She thought 2 were semi reachs for her, and she refused to apply to coleges where she thought she had absolutely no chance. She did not care about rank etc., she knew what she was looking for and only applied to schools that fit her requirements and where she thought she had a fair chance at acceptance.</p>
<p>My D applied to 9, was accepted to all:
1 out-of state safety (VERY early rolling acceptance)
2 more in-state safeties (both publics w/rolling acceptances)
4 matches (1 was in-state public rolling/one was an out-of-state public)
2 slight reaches</p>
<p>She didn't apply to any super reaches because she didn't want to feel uncomfortable academically.</p>
<p>I think it's very important to consider some schools with rolling acceptances. An early acceptance sure takes the pressure off early in the process and there's no "will I get in anywhere" anxiety in late March.</p>
<p>My son applied to seven matches, one reach and three safeties; from all the scare in the press and even his G.C., he wasn't confident enough to apply to less. He was accepted at ten schools, waitlisted at the reach. Doing it over, I would have confidence to eliminate the two safeties he really had no interest in. Believe that if you have done your research and are a good match/fit for a school you have a great chance of acceptance. I know now that schools are looking for the kids who will love their campus and fit in academically. We could have relaxed if we knew this!</p>
<p>S applied to 6 in total. His saftey (really more of a match) was a fairly selective state U but because of rolling admission he knew fairly early that he was in there. So we felt no need for more saftey apps Then 2 matches , accepted one and waitlisted at the other. Then 3 reaches no acceptences. While both acceptences are good choices I think in hindsight he should have applied at 2 or 3 additional matches so we might have more financial aid packages to compare. </p>
<p>But in the end he just did not want to do any more applications which I and my checkbook could understand.</p>
<p>Just my two cents</p>
<p>My S only applied to 4. One of the 4 he applied to because his dad and I asked him to but I knew in my heart he didn't want to go (state U). He had 3 fav schools that he had visited and felt comfortable with and he was well qualified for and he went with it. His original list at the end of junior year started at 15 schools. He narrowed it down to 6 by the end of summer and then eliminated his reachy school and a really, really expensive school that required an interview when he started apps (I liked the school and he probably would have gotten in, but I was happy because if the $$ he thought the application process was too much of a hassle). No hysteria or stress for my laid back kid. He was accepted at all that he applied to. He's happy. We're happy. He did a good job.</p>
<p>I am worried about the number of applications because my son will need tons of FA to go to school and he is adamantely opposed to loans -- he wants as little as possible in loans. He will be a junior next year, but I am already thinking ahead. I think he will need to apply to quite a few schools since we are not only looking for acceptances, but also good financial aid packages.</p>
<p>Do schools with rolling admissions that notify kids early (in the fall) also advise them of their estimated FA packages?</p>
<p>He has a good safety that he would be fine going to (University of Colorado, Boulder) but there are many other schools he would prefer.</p>
<p>One that accepted our D in the summer, sent a letter asking for fin info in Oct and sent an est fin aid in Nov. It was close to their final fin aid letter. The rest all waited until we filed the FAFSA, CSS, and other forms.</p>
<p>My D prepared apps for 8 schools, but only submitted 4 apps, and had 4 acceptances (this was 2 years ago), accepted ED, accepted to 2 rolling safeties, and we learned because of a paperwork snafu, was accepted to her regular admission safety.
Her HS actually assembles, packs and mails the apps for the students, so they are limited to 6 apps receiving full service.
HAving observed this process for 3 cycles of progressively more frenetic students, I really think that there are only a few scenarios where a student really needs to submit more than 8-9 applications, tops.</p>
<p>1) Money, if a kid needs significant merit aid or financial aid, especially if the family has very little wiggle room financially, they may need more apps</p>
<p>2) Very specific selective programs - I'm thinking of architecture or MT, but even something more common like engineering, coupled with a need for some merit money could increase the number of apps</p>
<p>3) Having a choice, even of safeties. My D had fairly high stats, like a lot of others that post here, she had a hard time identifying any matches, depending on the definition you want to use, so she had safeties and her other schools (this strategy works especially well, as someone mentioned, with rolling admit schools, because you know ahead of time that you are in with a fair notion of how much money you will receive in the case of big state U). She wanted choice in safety, "in case something happens to you or Dad, and I don't want to go too far from home, or you're absolutely broke" - I thought that was a mature attitude.</p>
<p>3) HAving a choice of matches, a kid may well not be the same person in APril senior year that they were in Dec, one or two "extra" apps may be worth allowing them to have that option to choose in APril.</p>
<p>HSMom, some large state unis, particularly those I'm most acquainted with in the South, award a lot of FA by formula. If he gets his apps in by early Sept, he will probably know about his merit aid before Dec 1, that is before the more selective schools are due. ACtually, he can look on the website and predict much of his money, because it is automatic, but most of them have other competitive scholarships that require early deadlines and aren't awarded until Jan/Feb, which will add onto the basic merit aid.</p>
<p>My D applied to 10 schools, focusing on a variety of schools she figured she would be happy to attend. Because we simply cannot pay what our EFC says we should be able to pay, she looked for schools that offered merit aid. She did apply to 2 that have very limited merit opportunities but promise to meet 100% of need.</p>
<p>2 safeties (safe bet to be accepted; good chance of merit) -- accepted to both, scholarships from both.</p>
<p>4 matches (all pretty selective, so no sure bets) --- accepted to all & scholarships from all.</p>
<p>2 crap-shoots (small, selective LACs) --- waitlisted at both</p>
<p>2 slight reaches --- accepted to both; no scholarships. These are the 100% need-meeting schools. Problem is, if I get another job to pay the EFC that we supposedly-but-really-can't pay, grants for future years will drop accordingly. So these are catch-22 schools! </p>
<p>I am glad she applied to all. She changed her mind over time about what was most important & where she best fit. She has it down to 2 now, so that's a good thing. We are waiting to hear about a scholarship appeal, and if it's a no, the choice has been made.</p>
<p>My D applied to 14, was accepted at 5 and waitlisted at 3 more. All were pretty selective. She was turned down by 5 Ivies and Stanford. In hindsight she is glad she included all of the schools on her list because she would have wondered what might of been had she not applied.</p>