<p>Carolyn, are any of her schools rolling/EA? We ran into the problem that DD applied and was admitted to 2 rolling schools, which was a big relief in many ways, but a little depressing in another way, because she really didn't want to go to either unless circumstances changed mightily. Her "real" safety, which was a safety in every numeric sense, was an RD school - long wait.
I understand what it is like to have "a stubborn one", who is making decisions that seem arbitrary, based on a few minutes visit, although it seems to me that your daughter is being very consistent in her criteria. We began whole search by saying that our only criterion was that she attend an academically rigorous school - perhaps you should, as the visits are winding down, just say "I'm concerned with you applying to only 4 schools. If you apply to 6, even if the additional 2 are not sure things, are match-reaches, you will increase your odds of getting into a more academically challenging school. How important is this to you? Would you do better in a school where the academics are challenging, but the atmosphere might be conservative than ideal?" Just let her stew over that a little while - you've got time.</p>
<p>The safety is rolling. The others all have EA options, one of the matches also has an ED option. She's hoping to apply EA to all of them. </p>
<p>I like your approach Cangel - I will try that with her! She is being pretty consistent in the schools she is choosing - with the exception of her safety, they do all have a very similiar feel. We'll be doing more visits (ugh, never thought I'd be getting sick of visiting colleges!) over spring break and I'll try to throw in a few matches/safeties that are a bit different than what she prefers. Maybe one or two will "click" for her.</p>
<p>Carolyn,</p>
<p>I agree with soozie's assessments. You are being conservative (which is good!) You can add in a few "harder" schools because out of these four your D will probably get at least 2-3 acceptances, and maybe all 4. Are there any other appealing schools that would be at #1 level or somewhere between #1 & #2? Can you find a "better" #4 that is more appealing to your D?</p>
<p>One other factor that can help you determine reach/match/safety: look at the school's standards for merit aid. </p>
<p>If a kid with 1200+ SATs in the top 25% of HS class qualifies for merit aid, this is a signal that these stats would = match/safety for the school-- because why would they give merit aid for stats they do not deem impressive & appealing?</p>
<p>My D's EA solid match/safeties have all admitted her so far. One already gave her $50K in merit aid (over 4 years.) The others have not announced merit aid yet. All 3 were schools that accept apx 60% of applicants, schools that would consider a Californian 'geographically diverse' and schools where her stats put her near the 75th% of accepted students. My D has great ECs which probably helped too... in fact the merit award mentioned "significant academic & co-curricular achievements." </p>
<p>I would absolutely apply EA to all of them that you can; if the school would admit her RD they would, at worst, defer her EA. I don't think it is a disadvantage. IMHO. Also, if she is not admitted, it is water under the bridge long before May rather than a fresh disappointment when she is trying to pick her school.</p>
<p>Having great, loveable safeties in hand has brought the stress in our house down 90%.</p>
<p>Carolyn, I would assume "reported" GPA means reported by the h.s., not recomputed by a h.s. or college. Both logic & the "reported GPA's" of Ivies would indicate that. (Because so many Ivy candidates would have recomputed GPA's in the stratosphere, & those high recomputations would appear in the college stats, which they do not, in my experience). And since both high schools & colleges have various & diverse recomputation formulas, this would make GPA calculations variable to the point of uselessness.</p>
<p>High schools can "report" whatever they want, & I'm sure they do. However, colleges make their own determinations, & generally (is my understanding), re-level applicants to a 4.0 scale prior to evaluating the transcript relative to that scale. </p>
<p>But then, I'm open to contradiction on this.</p>
<p>Just get those applications out as early as possible. Line up the teachers to write recs and tell them you are applying very early. Also let the counselor know this. You can work on essays from prior years apps over the summer, fill out an old common app, so as soon as the new apps appear, you are done. My son finished his apps by the end of Sept with the exception of a few stragglers. He was doing a lot of apps and had sports, auditions, a performance, and we knew that time was going to be a problem for him in the fall even with a light load of courses.</p>
<p>Jamimom, That's what I'm hoping she'll do - she is having some surgery early in the summer and will be pretty much stuck at home for the rest of the summer so hopefully she will have time to work on her essays and apps. I know that Sheeprun used to always say that he felt his daughter's chances were improved by applying as early as possible, especially at the EA schools.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>often a reach-school is a school the student may feel uncomfortable with>></p> </blockquote>
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<p>If that is truly the case, the student should NOT be applying to the school. To me, a reach school is one where the student would like to attend, has stats that are in the range of acceptance but not necessarily at the top, and are on the higher end of selectivity for that student. If a school is "uncomfortable" it doesn't matter what the other info indicates...the student should take the school off their list. You should ONLY apply to schools that you would attend if accepted (reach, match or safety). Just my humble opinion.</p>