I did a google doc for my D and shared it thru Google Drive but not nearly as extensive as OP.
Just listed app costs, common app or not, deadlines, supplement info, app requirements etc. Just so she could stay organized.
But 18 is way too many IMHO. My D had 9 on her list but since she got her ED choice, she saved herself lots of time (lucky gal!) and mom and dad lots of $$ in app fees!
We’re very close to your situation and I actually did two spreadsheets as well, but D did all the common app stuff and supplements.
I completely get applying to 18 schools when you have a potentially uncooperative NCP. People not in that situation don’t understand that.
That is because everyone is an … unique situation. For some the process is a simple as getting in the 7 to 10 percent rank at his or her school and land a sought-after spot at UT at Austin. Well, simple might not be that simple as the Ms. Fisher found out, but still simpler than for the families who are too rich for financial aid and too poor for not having to worry about the barbaric cost of tertiary education. For many, the transition from a perverse system that lulls people into believing education is free to a close to full pay system is brutal. Multiply the cost by a few kids and there is little hope beyond clinging to the one that scholarships are plentiful. Hoping against hope triggers the multiple applications at a broad range of schools.
The beauty is that anyone is entitled to fill as many applications as he or she can afford and that nobody needs to justify the choices made. It might not be for everyone but the families who made a continuous effort to learn how to work the system and work HARD at it might benefit and find it a reasonable ROI. At my house, we had a total of 6 or 7 applications (depending how you count the automatic admission in Texas. Friends who sought the combined UG/Med school programs might have had well beyond 25.
There isn’t a system that is better or worse. Do what is looks right to your family and … do not try to convince others your approach is universally better. If merit aid shows up, just nod and smile!
I could not imagine applying to 18 colleges, wow, just reading your OP was exhausting. 
However, “I” did almost all of the work for DS. We are lower income, and most colleges, even with terrific aid would not be affordable. So there was no point in him spending lots of time researching when the finances were a huge concern.
He ended up with 5 college applications. I had no interest in doing all the paperwork for Cornell, plus the school seemed like it would be dreary, but was willing. However, the process was totally up to him w/ that one, and he ultimately chose not to submit. I was very glad about that.
Once he got full tuition scholarships at Temple and UA, the other 3 were just WTH applications. If anything else comes through with similar amounts, he can choose amongst them.
Oh I understand an uncooperative NCP. I could write a book. I’m educating two kids on my own with no money from him at all. I still think 18 is over the top. Maybe it’s easier with a girl but there’s no way my son would do 18 even if I told him to.
So, back to the question lol…how much have you helped your child organize the college application process? Even at 6-8 schools, it is overwhelming. I know my son couldnt’ have even done 3 or 4 by himself without a lot of prodding. D doesn’t need prodding, just weekly reminders, but it is a huge amount of work on her part…
Both my kids sent apps to more than 18 @ piece. (most with supplements for athletics or visual art or related scholarships) Like the OP, we charted every deadline. My Ds managed the apps. I managed the financial aspects and scheduling the out of town visits. Once the acceptances started rolling in, I made a third set of charts to track aid, accepted student visits, and other “value points”.
My Ds got a big kick out of writing “submitted” in highlighter over each school. And an even bigger kick out of filing out the “accepted chart”.
Both my daughter’s kept their list of schools private, to avoid criticism from peers. The college guidance councilor gave us grief at first, but later, she held out my older D as model student, the first one in her class of ninety to submit all apps before 11-15.
This is how our kids learn to manage a seeming ly overwhelming task. Telling a kid to “get organized” means nothing. Showing them, step by step by example and encouragement teaches kids how to break task down into smaller parts and allows them expience accomplishment along the way. By keeping the process private from peers (moms no chatting with friends) it show the kids how to stay the course not be swayed by peers.
Good Luck NEPats.
FWIW, because just like the college application process, I need to remind myself that this is a global board, the in-state flagship honors program where D was accepted is $29K…and the top merit award for instate students is $2000. I so wish we lived someplace that the instate flagship was $10K, might be a slam dunk, but when she could potentially get into a “mini-ivy” for the same price, why not try?
Thanks everyone for your support.
If you are hunting for merit money, you have to apply to a larger number of match/safety-type schools (since the merit money typically goes to above average applicants). You only find out the merit money after you are accepted. For my kid, it was 12 apps.
Since the driver of the number of apps was financial and the bill that I was going to have to pay, I felt fine giving my kid a decent amount of logistical/organizational support for so many files and deadlines. And also helping develop the list of schools, since I didn’t think it was realistic to expect a 17 year old to be able to divine what schools were/were not likely to come up with tuition deals. If not for the finances, the kid would have been fine applying to a lot fewer places. But I really wanted to find out what the financial possibilities could be and you can’t do that without a lot of applications.
Kid enrolled at a great school where we got a surprisingly good deal. Less expensive than our pricey in-state flagship and also a better fit for the kid. Never would have turned that one up if we had not cast a wide net of applications.
Well, I disagree that you can’t find out about the finances without applying to many schools. My daughters each were ‘one and done’ because we did all the research up front. Both wanted schools that were clear about the merit awards (‘by the numbers’) so we knew what they would be before applying. Once they decided where to go, we worked on chipping away at that COA number. One had a talent scholarship to try out for and other than nagging her, she had to get it done herself (and waited till the last minute and of course had a computer problem and I got to say ‘I told you so’). Were there other, cheaper, schools out there? For one, yes, but for the other no. But even if there were, I think our time was better spent trying to increase the f.a. at the schools they were accepted to than trying to get another school to match or better the offer from the school each actually wanted to go to.
Even with only one application each, it was a ton of work and a lot of follow up. One child needed an NCAA clearance, and screwed that up and I had to fix it when she started school last September. Yes, this was after assuring me “I got this, Mom” (and I got to say ‘I told you so’ again). The other failed to submit her vaccination record before orientation, so almost didn’t get to register at orientation (saved again by moi and a quick thinking admissions officer who thought it might be attached to the high school transcript and it was). One school didn’t have the final transcript (turns out they did). One school didn’t credit the state scholarship and that took about 5 phone calls to get straightened out.
My kids could not have handled 18 schools. Hell, they couldn’t handle 1 each without a lot of my help, and there is no way I could have handled 36 schools!. I wasn’t interested in playing the ‘what if’ games of applying to reaches and higher ranked schools when they were happy with the schools they chose up front. I did feel uneasy and uncertain when accepting the athletic scholarship because I wasn’t sure she couldn’t have gotten more from another school, but in the end I let her make that decision.
Here in California students can apply to multiple UCs (UCB, UCLA, UCSB, UCSC, UCSD UCD, ect) with one app. Cal States don’t require essays or rec’s. Most college tracked public HS will apply to at least 3 UC and 3 CSUs.
Yes, towinandone, recruited athletes are an exception and normally apply to only one, via ED.
No kidding. Twoinanddone, once again, not the norm. But I do appreciate the other posters who understand the “white middle-class girl from the NE with a 4.0”.
That should be everyone’s golden rule. It does not mean that one should not ask or give advice and share the lessons learned. It simply means that the most salient items of the applications should remain private from the start to the end. This might also explain why the gissipy “I am not sure why XYX got in” remains so steady in May. Outsiders simply do not (and should not) know what the adcoms saw in that application package.
So I’m out to dinner at a “nicer” Italian place with the inlaws.
Me: “I desparately miss my girls when they are away at school across country.”
Female in-law (gossipy knowitall): (smiling): "Why didn’t you just have them apply to instate schools?
Me: “We could’ve stayed home and opened a can of Ragu.”
No fault in casting a wide net --looking for $$$ or Fit or the better education. By appling to many schools your daughter is seeing first hand that the world is full of options. The best options aren’t always handed to you. Some times you need to take a risk, put out effort and see what the universe returns. An important life lesson.
My athletic daughter did not apply ED to her school. She actually did sign in the early period, but didn’t have to decide until April. I asked her coach what benefit there was in signing early and she admitted none, except that it would be over (for me, that was a big benefit because she is a kid who is always changing her mind, looking for a better deal). She didn’t get any more money for signing early, and was in fact then eliminating other schools, other offers. She could have had better offers, could have waited. Even after she committed, she received phone calls for months. She could still have changed and gone to a D-3 school, but didn’t want to. She really hasn’t had much buyer’s remorse. She actually wasn’t admitted to the school until sometime in February, but we did know that she’d be admitted based on stats. My other daughter was an auto admit to her school.
Many athletes applying ED are going to D-3 schools, where there is no athletic money awarded. The bonus is that the coach can use influence in admissions, but you do that at the expense of not knowing the financial aid. I didn’t have that luxury because I can’t just write a check for $55k, and I was looking for financial help through merit. At many schools, including the two they applied to, had that information on the websites.
I was not in favor of them just applying to one school, and I warned them that if ‘something’ went wrong, they’d have no back up. Both were okay with that and agreed they’d just take a gap year if needed.
Signing a commitment letter to D1 is the same as ED. The nice thing about D3 athletics is merit is not tied to athletics.
That said, competive recruited athletes usually gain deeper insights to schools early in the process. Relationships with prospective coaches and teammates give a glimpse that non-recruits don’t see until after the acceptance letters arrive.
First kid D1 athlete, applied to one school after recruited/admitted, zero work, don’t even think S had to write an essay. That was awesome. Second kid, the real app process, applied to I think 14 schools - I was like the OP, big plastic file tub with hanging files, each school having their own folder and cute little colored label, arranged alphabetically, oh brother. And general info files for stuff I didn’t really need to print. Kept all the mailings received in a pile and/or folders (think that pile is still here somewhere). Total agony for that one to write essays - it was awful, so I think the organizing was helpful, but I certainly did too much of it. Third one this year, the classic neglected third child, applying to a zillion schools still (I get it OP, we match your profile!) but besides simple look at essays (I wasn’t allowed to edit, only suggest), haven’t done any of that obnoxious organizing or meddling that I did before. She set up google docs of all her schools and essays from day one and this girl can kick them out! The two tons of mailings that came in - even for a school S is applying to - went to recycle bin right away (that same stuff is on the web).
So OP, from my experience, I would say your experience and Martha Stewart type organization, while certainly helpful, was more for you to feel in control of a new process. I have found I need to be careful though, cause sometimes all the added preparation parent’s do, brings in a nervous energy that ends up putting a lot more pressure on the kid. Just like buying the little boy the best baseball bat and glove before the big game. It seems like a nice gesture, but over time all that shiny stuff you prop them up with (like all the work that you put in to their projects) can be haunting and just remind them how much they don’t want to let you down.
I think it is so much better that they own it, but totally get these kids have way too much on them to handle it all. So step in with those that need the help and back off from those neglected third types, they know how to handle their own stuff by now. 
Actually, signing an NLI (D-1 or D-2) is not the same as applying ED. My daughter still had the right to apply to any other schools she wanted to, she just couldn’t get another athletic scholarship to one of those schools or play for a year, or she could have gone to a D-3 and played immediately. She could take financial aid or merit aid at any other school, she just couldn’t take athletic aid for another year. Signing an NLI does not require you to withdraw any applications or stop submitting them. The financial aid doesn’t have to be insufficient, you don’t need any reason at all to decommit. Once you sign the NLI the school can’t increase the aid like it can with an ED offer to get you to stay.
She visited a few schools in the summer and fall, talked to many more. She was able to get through her options without submitting 18 applications. She looked at more than 18 schools, we were just able to eliminate most of them because the financial aid package wouldn’t have been enough, or she didn’t want to go to the school, or it didn’t have her major, or it was more of a reach than she was comfortable with (and she is a very good student). Her sports scholarship is only a portion of her aid; her merit portion is much larger and was a more important piece to us when considering schools.
I could not have handled 18 schools for one child, or even for two (my kids were looking at very different types of schools, but of course both went on most visits). I wanted them each to apply to three schools, but they had other plans. The school was much more important than the athletic scholarship, but the athletic scholarship (or possibility) opened up a lot more possibilities which meant more schools to look at. She just didn’t apply to them all.