<p>I've posted a lot on this board lately about the situation my son is in. He is a very good student with good scores (1520 M+R on SAT and 3.94 weighted gpa), but I really can't afford to pay a huge amount for his college, and our income looks rather high on paper (though it is very complicated, and in fact I'm pretty broke), so we are unlikely to get much need-based aid. He really wants to apply to some of the most selective schools, and in addition we have picked a bunch of less competitive schools at which I am hoping he has a chance at decent merit aid. But our list is now hovering around 16 or 18 schools! Aside from the expense of applying to so many schools, is there any other downside? Does it send a weird message in any way? One complication I could imagine is if he were to be accepted to quite a few of them, it might be hard to make a final choice. But the reason we are doing this is to try to get at least 2-3 good offers, so he actually has a choice to make. And I don't really forsee that more than that number will give him great financial packages, though I could be wrong. Here is the current list. They are loosely grouped into safeties, matches and reaches, maybe incorrectly in some cases. I was thinking of eliminating Pitt and I'd love to take a few of the reaches off the list, but he might protest that. Is this too many schools to apply to?</p>
<p><em>Safeties</em>
Arizona State University (Barrett)
U of Denver
U of Alabama
University of Pittsburgh </p>
<p><em>Matches</em>
University of Miami
Georgia Tech
University of Southern California
Vanderbilt University
University of Richmond
University of Rochester </p>
<p><em>Reaches</em>
Rice
Stanford University
Duke University
Harvard<br>
Princeton University
Dartmouth College </p>
<p>You might have to do some juggling once it’s time to submit FAFSA reports. If it works the same as it has in the past, you can only submit ten at any one time. Don’t despair, though. You can hold off with in-state safeties, where you probably won’t qualify for much anyway. You might hear from some other schools with non-binding or rolling admissions, and - if they offer nice merit packages - wait until you hear from your reach colleges. Most of your reaches and matches will require the CSS report, which you can put together now. We were able to work through it for the fifteen my son applied to. </p>
<p>I applied to similar amount, and don’t regret it. It is a good way to compare financial aid offers. I would really thank the teachers who write the recommendations (and make sure you have all the stamped addressed envelopes for them). </p>
<p>You have at least 7 need blind/no merit colleges on your list. These are generally the most selective ones. They are also the ones in which it takes the most engagement and effort to write compelling essays. It seems like from what you state regarding your financial situation that these don’t make much sense since you can’t afford them. Perhaps you should add additional colleges that are known for high level of merit aid.</p>
<p>I personally am also applying to 17 colleges myself
It looks to me like money is a serious concern and everyone understands
I would pick a few of the reach ivy schools he likes that are also attainable he has a lot of reach/matches</p>
<p>His sat score really is not competitive enough to get merit scholarship at those “reach” schools. Can he take act or improve sat to increase chances?</p>
Oops, you are right, Vanderbilt should be in the reach category for sure!</p>
<p>
We are leaving some of the most selective schools on the list because those are the ones my son really wants to apply to. And some of the NPCs are coming back with reasonable prices, but I know it gets dicey for divorced people and business owners, and I’m both! He will have to write all the essays and do the work if he wants to apply to those schools, but it’s possible they could be affordable depending on how the financial data is interpreted by them.</p>
<p>
I agree. It might be good enough for merit at U of Miami or U of Denver though, which is what I’m hoping for. If not, then the safety schools should give him good offers. Which would be one reason to leave Pitt on the list. And I believe he will definitely get a good offer from ASU, since we are AZ residents.</p>
<p>Still, he is really hoping for Stanford or Duke. Sigh…</p>
<p>Just make sure that if you truly know it would be impossible to attend somewhere, don’t bother applying. </p>
<p>Other than the waste of money, the essay writing time will pile up. 16-18 could be just barely okay, if he knows how to manage it. Make sure you do as many early actions as possible, or at least write at least 1/3 of the essays early.</p>
<p>U of AL has guaranteed merit aid for certain GPAs and test scores. Have him double-check that he qualifies, and then apply tonight. It will take about five minutes to apply. He’ll get the acceptance and aid offer pretty quickly, and he will know that no matter what else happens, he has a place to go next fall. </p>
<p>If he’s happy with U of AL, and confident about his chances at AZ State U, then he only needs to take the time to apply to other places that he would indeed choose over those two. Have him work through the list with that in mind. Maybe he really is interested in Pitt even though the merit money is not automatic.</p>
<p>Ok, thanks everyone, that is great advice. I think he would definitely prefer ASU over Pitt, so I might take it off the list. What I’m trying to do is give him a few choices in the spring, other than just ASU, which is kind of the front runner in many ways, if he doesn’t get a really good deal elsewhere. I actually like U of Miami as well as U of Denver too, and he may get decent merit aid at either one of them, since his scores are on the high side for both schools. I’d like to eliminate Vanderbilt because I don’t think his chances of merit aid are very good. So if we took Vanderbilt and Pitt off the list that would at least make it a little smaller.</p>
<p>Don’t know about this year, but last year Case Western was offering good merit, no essay, and no application fee for EA applications by Nov. 15. I know they’ve gone to a split EA/ED formula this year, but you might check and see what’s on offer. Basically all you had to do was click on a button on the CommonApp last year and you had something back by mid-December, often with a nice merit offer attached.</p>