<p>…
That’s why you check out the stats before you apply. If you don’t like a schools Greek life, food, dorms, diversity then just don’t apply. You should only apply to the schools you want unless it leaves you without your safety. Visit the colleges before you apply and decide where you’d like to go the most before you apply</p>
<p>Floridadad: I know what you mean about top kids not getting in to UF. MY friend who was valedictorian applied to UF, FSU and Emory. He didnt get into UF or FSU for whatever reason. But he got into Emory. He felt it was prejudice though because this one football player at his school got into UF and he had a terrible GPA. I do love how UF tries to make everything affordable though with the low tuition rates and with the bright futures scholarship it makes going to college a lot more affordable. you could always go there for undergrad and go to a fancy grad school.</p>
<p>Really? 25?
Is it even worth it? Sure you can apply and say you are an overacheving student, but it doesn’t mean you WILL get accepted.
For goodness sake if you think you should go to all of those schools, eenie meenie it and pick about 10 MAX.</p>
<p>bandgeek: i feel you dont get where im coming from. say you apply to your reach school that is one of the best in the nation. They have terrible dorms and no real greek life. But they have a strong science department and you want to be a bio major. you get into that college and decide to go. you could always make it work by living in an apartment are something. There are always going to be things you like and dislike about a certain college. But if you hadnt even applied because you felt it was to much of a reach you never would have been able to learn from that amazing science department. whats that old moral/quote? you have to be in the race to win. which is what i intend to do</p>
<p><<whats that=“” old=“” moral=“” quote?=“” you=“” have=“” to=“” be=“” in=“” the=“” race=“” win.=“” which=“” is=“” what=“” i=“” intend=“” do=“”>></whats></p>
<p>And what’s that other old moral quote? Do not enter races that you cannot do well in; it will only waste your energy and time.</p>
<p>Apparently you have already convinced yourself that it makes sense for you to apply to 25 colleges.</p>
<p>So why did you bother to ask?</p>
<p>This is really an example of a poster who wants to be told he’s right. You asked, people gave their opinions, and you get all defensive and argue. If you want to apply to 25 colleges, go ahead. Some people think you could spend your time and money more effectively, but it is your time and money. But why ask if you don’t want to hear anybody else’s take on it?</p>
<p>Are there really, truly, honestly 25 schools that you absolutely adore and could see yourself at? That either means you DON’T know what you want, or you’ve really not gotten to know those schools at all. </p>
<p>Honestly, I applied to 5 schools (and that’s as an international! 2 safeties and 3 reaches) and I got into both safeties and one of my reaches - an Ivy. I feel I did well because I didn’t have to stretch myself thin working on application documents, although the process for me was probably a bit more troublesome than that of a US citizen.</p>
<p>^The OP is viewing the schools objectively. Most of the replies he received were subjective analysis. The OP obviously does not care that much about the subjective factors.</p>
<p>Even academically, those 25 schools can’t be equals. Different systems, different academic paths, different job placement. Even if all the student cared about was the education and the job afterwards there are things that set certain schools apart.</p>
<p>Daydreamer –</p>
<p>25 is A LOT. Our hs college advisor was shocked when she thought our first cut list (20 schools) was a final list.</p>
<p>This being said the only real downside is your time and your money. Since most everything is computerized, we don’t even really have to take pity on your poor GC for having to type up 25 Recs.</p>
<p>Also, I hear that some students do, in fact apply to this many.</p>
<p>Now – some numbers. Are your statistics (scores/grades) in the ballpark for the schools you’re considering. If they’re not, it probably doesn’t matter how many you apply to, your chances will be slim.</p>
<p>Let’s say they are – and let’s say that you’re applying to schools that have 20% acceptance rates – after we weed out the clearly unqualified, let’s say your chances of getting into any one are 30%. (I’m assuming that the decisions at the schools are independent variables – which probably isn’t completely true, but will serve for this example).</p>
<p>If you apply to 10 of these schools, your chances of getting into at least 1 are about 97.18%. 15 – 99.53%; 20-- 99.92%. In other words, you rapidly reach a point a point of diminishing returns.</p>
<p>Let’s say your chances are 25% at each school – at 10 schools – 94.37%, 15 – 98.66%, 20 – 99.68%.</p>
<p>And, if your chances are as much as 35%, 10 schools 98.65%, 15 -Schools 99.84%, 20 Schools – 99.98%</p>
<p>So – basically, I’m saying applying to 25 schools can improve your chances of getting into one of them slightly, but not significantly. That being said, it’s your time, and your money.</p>
<p>
I would say exactly the opposite. For students shooting at the highend of school I’m all for sending in a lot of applications since all the top schools are long shots at this point … however I haven’t seen a list longer than about a dozen that makes a lot sense to me. </p>
<p>The 8 IVYies share two traits … they are on the East Coast and they are highly selective. They includes schools with a set core and with no distribution requirements … schools in very remote locations and very urban campuses … schools focussed on liberal arts and some with a variety if undergraduate schools.</p>
<p>The OP didn’t tell us but I’d guess their list but to end up with 25 schools they 1) either have included a ton of match and safeties (which I doubt) or 2) have included all the top schools essentially ignoring all the attributes of the school other than it is high selective. While I do believe most students would be fine at tons of schools ignoring the attributes of schools when applying seems counter productive to me … there are 3000 school choices in the US … whatever a student’s preference are … common core/distribution requirements/no requirements … urban/suburban/college town … large/medium/small … D1 sports/don’t care … taking these preferences into account the student can develop a targeted list of 10-12 great schools … and the list WILL NOT include all 8 IVYies.</p>
<p>No that makes absolutely no sense. If you are saying those are deciding factors in one post then suddenly if it’s a top school in whatever field it doesn’t matter you don’t know what you truly want. There are schools that do have more things you are looking for than others and if you don’t realize that you are probably not going to enjoy college. It looks like you are applying to top schools for names. You should make a list of things you NEED in a college, colleges that don’t have that shouldn’t even be looked at. Then list things you really want, sort of want, and would like but it doesn’t matter. Create a point system for each (Really want +5 sort of want +3 and like +1). Have a similar system for hates/dislikes. If you despise single gender schools don’t even look at it.</p>
<p>Dear OP,
Please do not apply to 25 schools. Decide 10-12 schools that you REALLY want to go to, by researching all of the factors on your checklist, then apply to those schools. Applying to 25 is unfair to you (because you have to do 25 applications, which means many sleepless nights) unfair to your parents (because they have to pay so much money) and unfair to other kids (because if you apply to a school that doesn’t have the most vibrant social life for you or what have you and then you get in, you might have just taken away a seat from a kid who would KILL to go to that school)
So think wisely about the schools you are applying to.</p>
<p>I can see twenty-three counselor recommendations written while the counselor has an attitude ---- LOL</p>
<p>If you were my son, I would forbid it to be frank.</p>
<p>But like someone observed, you aren’t interested in opposing viewpoints. You really seem to just want to grandstand your idea with a devil-may-care attitude.</p>
<p>Like I said, it wouldn’t surprise me if a good number of those transcripts and school reports get sent in a bit past the due date. Plans like yours are why some schools institute fees for students who plan to apply to more than a certain, reasonable amount.</p>
<p>I’ll bet you become the topic of faculty lunchroom chatter rather quickly – and that’s not a good thing.</p>
<p>Even 15 is overkill. I’d say stick with 12-13.</p>
<p>BTW: as for “over achieving” here’s what I did with my behind. I researched the best (in terms of academics and fin aid possibilities) school w/early notification and applied to it. I got my accept in October to a top school where people are dying to get into. Then I applied to two reach schools (Ivies and a few other top notch engineering schools – just in case). I visited the Ivies in Feb of my senior year. As time rolled on, I knew my first admit school would better the other engineering school offerings so I declined them as they came in. Come April, both Ivies accepted me and I accepted my top choice and turned down my original school (and all the $ they were tossing at me) and the other Ivy.</p>
<p>Paid for only two applications (the Ivies). The rest were invites from the engineering schools. Never sweated a single moment my entire senior year – had a blast and the best grades both semesters. That’s what this over achieving dude did with his time.</p>
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<p>Ivy League - 2 = 6; with the others on your list, you’re up to 13. What others are you applying to? Your test scores look low for most of the schools listed above. Do you have more matches, or some other “low” reaches?</p>
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<p>Yes, it is too much. </p>
<p>Have you gotten started on your essays? Have you looked at the essay prompts for each school’s supplement? Do you have something unique and interesting to write about “Why X College?” for each application? The Tufts supplement alone is enough to turn off some people from applying. </p>
<p>It’s a much better idea to submit quality applications to a smaller number of schools. Putting in generic applications to a large number of highly selective schools won’t give you any advantage whatsoever.</p>
<p>You could probably reduce it to 20 or something… I did something similar… and dont really have any regrets… except probably the money issue.</p>
<p>That 25th essay you write will show that you’ve written 24 before it. Can you show every one of those schools that you’re genuinely interested in each of them? If you make a safety feel like they’re a safety, that hinders your application.</p>