<p>camathmom, you’re exactly right. Once D realized the huge difference ELC makes, two matches suddenly became safeties (UCB, UCLA), one safety became a guarantee (UCD) and all other safeties and matches were eliminated. Now she has 3 safeties that she would truly be thrilled to attend and 7 high reaches.</p>
<p>No discussion of money here yet. OP: Are you looking for/expecting FA?</p>
<p>The only reach school on your list that I would 100% apply to is Cornell. Otherwise, ask your son-if you have the choice, do you really want to be in Manhattan (Columbia), St. Louis (Wash U.), etc? I think location, climate and surrounding city resources all impact final application decision. I also think 21 applications is too many and too stressful with senior courses as well.</p>
<p>I disagree. Those top reach schools are a lottery for anyone. You don’t want to say you prefer Cornell over Columbia and drop Columbia and then not get into Cornell and end up at a safety never knowing if you could be going to Columbia. I agree with the poster on prior page, if you are really shooting for those top schools (and not just throwing one or two in “just in case”), you need lots of them. Also I think most college life is lived in a college bubble and the surrounding area does not matter much for most typical undergrads, though I know this is not the common wisdom on cc. I would leave your reaches, there don’t seem to be too many.</p>
<p>Twenty-one applications is a lot to juggle and it’s a huge time commitment. The concern becomes can he do that many apps without sacrificing quality? If he ends up with mediocre essays for his reach schools because of time issues, he may not be doing himself any favor by casting his net that wide.</p>
<p>Since the UC schools can be applied to with one application, OP’s son won’t have to do 21 applications. So it’s not as bad as it looks. </p>
<p>I’d check to see if big companies have on campus recruiting at some of those reach campuses. It’ll make it easier to get internships which are pretty important for engineering grads.</p>
<p>It’s still 18 applications, and many of them are not easy applications. Add to that the separate applications and essays for scholarships and honors programs while finishing an full IB program and outside activities (op does say son is in full IB plus has AP with Distinction; in our area it’s one or the other, students cannot do both).</p>
<p>Challenging for sure… it is a tradeoff. We have 18 apps, basically hoping that one or two extra essays can be repurposed for most supplements. It is a question of priorities like everything else. Would point out that WashU doesn’t even have a supplement, so once your common app is done, you are done!</p>
<p>RE: Post #42:</p>
<p>“there are no financial restraints on where he can apply.”</p>
<p>I take this to mean he doesn’t need any FA.</p>
<p>Your son has a great list, and should reduce it with two factors in mind. The first is the feel/fit of the schools. I know those with engineering minds are not terribly susceptible to their emotions, but there are a number of “soft” factors that can make or break a college experience. It’s better if he starts thinking along those lines earlier rather than later. There aren’t any right or wrong answers, just personal decisions. </p>
<p>Some questions I would ask are: Has your son actually spent much time in cold weather in the midwest or northeast? Has he thought about commute times (while I love Cornell, it could take 12 hours to get back to CA from Ithaca.) How does he fit into new situations - would a place like Wisconsin, heavily populated with in-state kids who may already know each other, make him feel like a permanent outsider? Would an old-boys school like Princeton or Duke feel warm and welcoming?</p>
<p>Secondly, and he will like this one better, he should take his shorter list and group them by application times and strategies. Look carefully at Stanford’s EA obligation and acceptance rate; it may be better to hold Stanford to RD and apply instead to several EA schools. This will give him a much clearer picture of his choices in December. If he is dead-set on Stanford EA, have a ready strategy in case of deferral or denial.
[Restrictive</a> Early Action : Stanford University](<a href=“http://www.stanford.edu/dept/uga/application/decision_process/restrictive.html]Restrictive”>http://www.stanford.edu/dept/uga/application/decision_process/restrictive.html)</p>
<p>Stanford has a pretty nasty set of essays and an earlier application date than the rest. (Or at least it used to.) My older son, very much the computer nerd, had a hard time with its questions.</p>
<p>op does say son is in full IB plus has AP with Distinction; in our area it’s one or the other, students cannot do both). </p>
<p>csfmap, Son has completed a minimum of 5 AP tests, receiving at least a 4 on all of them. This is what earned him his AP Scholar W/ Distinction certificate. I thought all areas were the same on this, but cannot say for sure.</p>
<p>Some questions I would ask are: Has your son actually spent much time in cold weather in the midwest or northeast? Has he thought about commute times (while I love Cornell, it could take 12 hours to get back to CA from Ithaca.)</p>
<p>Daughter goes to BC, so I can really appreciate this question. “Commute” time increases significantly with Cornell, doesn’t it???</p>
<p>would a place like Wisconsin, heavily populated with in-state kids who may already know each other, make him feel like a permanent outsider? </p>
<p>We had this very discussion within the past couple of days…</p>
<p>Secondly, and he will like this one better, he should take his shorter list and group them by application times and strategies. Look carefully at Stanford’s EA obligation and acceptance rate; it may be better to hold Stanford to RD and apply instead to several EA schools. </p>
<p>We sorted his list by application due dates, on an excel spread sheet. Stanford’s SCEA policy only conflicted with applying EA to one of his schools (I think it was Notre Dame, off the top of my head, but not sure without checking?). I believe Michigan’s EA application can still be submitted since it is a “public state school”, which is one of the exceptions to Stanford’s SCEA program.</p>
<p>Midwesterner, Thanks for taking the time to post your ideas/concerns.</p>
<p>Excellent point ^^^ about the lack of direct transportation to Cornell. MIT has Logan airport 10 minutes away by taxi. </p>
<p>Wisconsin is so huge, the kids who know each other will rarely see one another, unless rooming together. Midwest kids are so friendly, they will heartily welcome a Californian.</p>
<p>I’d check to see if big companies have on campus recruiting at some of those reach campuses. It’ll make it easier to get internships which are pretty important for engineering grads. </p>
<p>ellemenope, Most or all “top tier” schools have on-campus recruiting, don’t they?"</p>
<p>there are no financial restraints on where he can apply."</p>
<p>I take this to mean he doesn’t need any FA.</p>
<p>2boysmima, that’s correct.</p>
<p>Wisconsin is so huge, the kids who know each other will rarely see one another, unless rooming together. Midwest kids are so friendly, they will heartily welcome a Californian.</p>
<p>I wonder sometimes how out-of-state kids at these large public state schools feel about meeting mostly (75% or more) in-state kids? Mid-westerners, indeed, ARE very cordial but will a CA kid want to meet more kids from other parts? On the other hand, the same holds true for the UC’s. They consist of a vast majority of kids only from CA.</p>
<p>jshain - I’m not doubting that your son is both an IB diploma candidate and an AP Scholar with Distinction; I was just commenting that in our region, the two high schools that offer the IB program don’t allow their IB students to take AP classes. The IB program is a full load leaving no time for other classes and it offers similar courses (there’s IB Chem or AP Chem). Maybe it’s also because the schools offer MYP, and those courses are the prereqs for IB courses. Here, IB and AP are just two separate tracks. Didn’t mean to offend.</p>
<p>csfmap, no offense was taken, Sorry, if I sounded defensive. At my son’s school, they also keep the two separate. In his desire to reduce his required college classes, he decided to take some AP tests. Thanks for your input!</p>
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<p>Sure, but a place like Harvard, for example, may not be seen by engineering companies as a cost effective place to recruit. For example, my H’s company which hires mechanical, electrical and bio-medical engineers recruits at Stanford, Butler, Rose Hulman, University of Washington, and Purdue. It doesn’t recruit at Harvard.</p>
<p>ellemenope, thanks. Good info.</p>