Number of College Apps - Common Wisdom?

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Help your daughter figure out what she is really looking for in a learning community.

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<p>Great advice for someone who may have navigated the college process before, either with older siblings or as a student themselves, but more difficult for a parent that doesn't have that background. Also, a student that may have spent many years in a similar secondary academic environment, may not have a broad perspective in what type of environment could be ideal. If you have the means to visit many schools early in the process that would be great. If you haven't had certain opportunities to help formulate what would constitute a good fit before the application process starts, you're at a big disadvantage. For the student that will need significant FA and is considering selective schools, a carefully planned "shotgun" approach is what I would advocate. It certainly is the one I'm using.</p>

<p>I think guides such as the Fiske guide give a very accurate picture of campus life at the schools they write about. Their descriptions from the perspective of current or recent students gave my son enough info to know where he wanted to visit and the visits told him where he wanted to apply. If we couldn't have managed visits, I'd have suggested he read multiple guides and try to establish e-mail contact with current students.</p>

<p>I agree with above posters--my son's two "safeties" both had EA and he applied that way. By the numbers, they were safe for him but not guaranteed, so he could have added even safer schools if he hadn't been accepted to them.</p>

<p>I think it's wise to limit applications because if you don't, you are skipping over an important winnowing part of the application process. "Fit" is a major factor in a college decision; take a look at the threads from kids who are looking to transfer schools already, just halfway into their first semester. Not every school is right for your child, despite its US News ranking or the size of its merit scholarships.</p>

<p>A high school senior isn't a savvy consumer; he or she is only beginning to learn about adulthood. Your child will go through several cycles of optimism and doubt before coming to a decision on a college. Expect some bad behavior as a result - acting out, paralysis, shutting down communications with the parents. By making some of the tough calls in November, the longer process gets easier. A senior with 10 acceptances in April, and an impossibly short time to decide among them is a panicked senior. A senior with 3-5 acceptances to beloved schools is on top of the world.</p>

<p>Your counselor has seen hundreds or thousands of kids through the process, and his or her advice should be taken seriously.</p>

<p>Bob, I actually agree with your line of thinking. In our case, our son was accepted to ten schools, but only 5 were affordable for our family. Our son was able to quickly eliminate 3 of the schools (religious reasons, food after eating on campus, and he decided one was too close to home). He chose between 2 schools after writing down all the pros and cons, and this process took less than 2 hours. I warned him NOT to fall in love with any school until we knew if we could afford to send him. Frankly, all of the options are a stretch for us. We have no regrets about applying to a few more schools.</p>

<p>I initially put a cap of 8 ~ 9 applications on our DD. As of right now, I think it was a wrong decision and I would like for her to at least do 10 - 12. The bottom line, to increase chances of merit aid. </p>

<p>Application fee is not the problem considering the possible benefits of hundreds of thousands of $. Time for teacher recommedations is not a problem, since all teacher write one letter and just reprint and send to all schools. The only problem is whether your DD will have enough time to write her essay for each of the schools. </p>

<p>In our case, DD has only two schools she really wants to go. It is her decision so going beyond 8 will be a hard battle between us.</p>

<p>Bob, I also agree with your logic. It is becoming more common to see kids apply to 10-15 schools and occasionally more. We did lots of college tours and research, but somehow the list kept growing. My D was not very happy with either of her safeties so she added a third. In spite of the research and selection process, she was uncertain about two or three match/reach schools. She decided to apply anyway. Then there were those two Ivy applications that were a total waste. One would have been a really good fit and there seemed to be a slim possibility that the fit would make a difference. The other was just a waste of time, but she had a strong recommendation from a friend who was attending. So there were probably 5-6 applications she could have avoided. In retrospect that seems especially true because of that group she only received an offer from the safety. Her last "extra" application was a non-Ivy far reach. My W pushed her to take the time to apply even though the odds seemed long. She was accepted and is attending. All those extra applications really did not take that long - certainly no more than 1-2 evenings each. The common app and online supplements have made the process easy. No wonder more and more colleges are proudly bragging about their selectivity. Not many colleges want to mention their yield statistics.</p>

<p>I would rather see a student apply to 3 extra schools, than have them in a position of not being able to attend for financial reasons, or not being happy with choices on the table. A student might sincerely think that they want a small school, or a specialty school, or a school with a science focus, and by the spring of senior year they might want something else. My son applied to a few large state schools, a few LACs, and a couple of specialty schools. Students change, and money is a huge factor in most households (something really not discussed often with a gc).</p>

<p>The truth is that this creates a burden on a guidance department. A public school with 500 seniors will have 1500 more apps. to keep track of if everyone submitted 3 extra apps! This is a lot of work. I would be happy to have my tax money pay for hired hands to deal with the paper war, but it is not my decision. Our hs does charge a nominal fee after a certain number of free apps. to cover the extra costs.</p>

<p>"A public school with 500 seniors will have 1500 more apps. to keep track of if everyone submitted 3 extra apps!"</p>

<p>How expensive should it be to send out a few more copies of the same recommendation letters and midyear reports? The vast majority of those 500 seniors are only going to submit 2-4 apps.</p>

<p>It is past time for High Schools to computerize the whole process.</p>

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<li><p>There is NO need to have more than one safety school. Pick the one she likes the most, the one you can easily afford and close that category.</p></li>
<li><p>Spend oodles and oodles of hours researching the scattergrams at her school to determine which are her true 'matches'. Only her individual school scattergram will be able to help you with that determination. On the home stretch, the average acceptance stats do no apply. 2 matches would be plenty for the average male but a girl may want to have 3. Again, if you aren't going against ANY trend in the scattergram when you pick the matches, there is NO need to apply to more than 3 matches. Put the rose colored glasses to the side when she makes those selections.</p></li>
<li><p>The gravy. Reaches. If she needs money, then fully HALF of the reaches MUST include ones that have a high likelihood of delivering the moolah. The info on which schools tend to be generous is right here on the CC Parent's forum. Ask around.</p></li>
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<p>If she doesn't need money, then it is possible to apply to 5 or 6 pure reach schools. </p>

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<li><p>HOWEVER, keep in mind that if she attends a feeder school with a long history of sending students to elite schools then her GC recommendations and her Teacher recommendations will be carefully scrutinized for level of enthusiasm. Teachers who are asked to write 15 recs will not be terribly enthusiastic. Neither will a busy GC. You may rue this fact, but such is life. In other words? Don't annoy the GC or the teachers. Don't project your ambivalence about the whole process. Take the GC advice.</p></li>
<li><p>If she doesn't need money, she can apply to 6 UK schools with one fell swoop with the UCAS computerized system. No teacher recs required. However, note that Oxbridge apps are due in October.</p></li>
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1. There is NO need to have more than one safety school. Pick the one she likes the most, the one you can easily afford and close that category.

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<p>I believe that it is easier to that if living in certain states than others (ie: VA, NC, PA, FL have some excellent options). Other states might not.</p>

<p>edad, I agree, but public schools change at a snail's pace. I accpet it. I am willing to pay them for my kid's few extra apps. I really don't care. I just resent others spending our family's money (I am talking about the hefty COA), and limiting my child's options bc of the lack of manpower to handle this cumbersome process.</p>

<p>"FA packages tend to be pretty similar"</p>

<p>While this may be true for some families, it was not for us. FA offers from highly selective schools differed by as much as 20k/yr. And yes, schools will review and often match peer or higher schools, but you have to have the acceptance and better FA package to make that scenario work.</p>

<p>Oh, entomom, I completely agree. The trouble is that the applicant does not know what the real cost is to him/her until the spring of senior year. If they knew the cost after financial and merit aid upfront, it might be possible to apply based on fit for that student. The cost is somewhat of a mystery, and our packages varied greatly.</p>