Applying to more reaches is unlikely to give you a statistically better chance of getting into one.
Since you have been accepted into a safety that you would be happy to attend, assuming it’s affordable, you should definitely apply to some reaches. How many is up to you…and how well you can do on the many supplemental essays you will have to write.
I would only apply to schools that appeal to you and ones for which you can demonstrate a fit. I am concerned that a list is not fully considered when I see both NU and Chicago on it. Good luck.
Congratulations on having an affordable option! That’s great news. I think that sending well thought out applications to a few schools that would be a fit for you is a reasonable endeavor. However, shotgunning apps doesn’t increase your chances at schools with low acceptance rates. A tailored application that explains why you’re a fit will give you your best chance so if you can craft an application for each school that does a good job of explaining that than you have a chance, but your reach schools are still reaches.
Not usually. You aren’t buying lottery tickets and they don’t draw names out of a hat.
Applying to a bunch of reaches isn’t a gambling strategy because getting into top schools isn’t based on luck, though a small element of that is possible.
It’s fine to apply to a lot of reaches if you can do a good job with every application. Understand what they look for in applicants. Show them how you fit what they look for. That’s the best strategy for getting into top schools.
College admissions are definitely correlated. If you are not a viable candidate, adding more schools will not help. However, there is a population that shotgunning may make sense. Since admissions decisions have a hard yes/no decision, if you are close to that decision point, more applications will increase your odds of being on the yes side of at least one of them. The hard part is truly assessing if you are part of that marginal population. This usually reveals itself by students that receive a mix of acceptance/rejections/waitlists from peer schools. Many people misinterpret that result and think that it shows the process is random. It more correctly shows that the applicant was marginal.
You mention you go to a nationally recognized prep school - I imagine that includes strong college counseling. What does your counselor say about your list ? What is the track record for students like you from your current prep
school gaining acceptances into these schools. Did you ED anywhere ?
While @austinmshauri gave the most appropriate response, much depends upon your profile, interests, accomplishments, and ECs as to whether or not a shotgun approach would result in an offer of admission to a most selective school. Because you are applying–according to another poster–from an elite prep school–your college advisor should be able to offer some guidance as suggested by the other poster above.
Well, your ACT is fantastic. What’s your class rank or percentile? From what I’ve seen, that A- GPA could be anything from top 5% to top 50%, depending upon the school. And if you’re coming from a prestigious prep school with a direct highway into the T20 schools, you’ve definitely got a better shot than, say, someone coming from Good Suburban High Northeast with the same credentials.
Speak with your guidance counselor, not only because they’ll have info for you, but also because they’ll help you, since very often GC’s from top prep schools know people in the admissions offices at these schools.
Do some research on these schools, and figure out why you want them, and then initiate contact with them, early and often. Do logged-in virtual tours, virtual visits,email outreach, in-person visits if possible, anything to let each and every one of them know that you really, really want them, and them alone, that they alone are your ultimate dream school.
I think that if you were to do all these things, that your “shotgun” plan of applying to seven reaches is not at all inappropriate, and might very well work.
I find this very intriguing. For unhooked students with top grades and scores and strong/very strong ECs, LORs, and essays, thereby making them viable/competitive candidates (but not a shoo-in) at top colleges, wouldn’t shot-gunning make sense? CC posters often remark even for top, top students, the top schools are “lotteries” - hence, it would seem sensible to buy more lottery tickets. (Or have I misunderstood your post?)
There are lots of schools with free apps (google free apps and niche). There are schools that if you get on their email list will give you free apps - and often times you can write in your test score. In other words, you can apply to many schools for free and without an additional essay.
So to answer your question -if you have a school that you’d be proud to attend, then anything else you do you are playing with house money - so you can do as you want.
You can pursue the prestigious as you mention. But you can also pursue a secondary path of merit if that were important to you. For example, depending on how your GPA calculates, you could get a free tuition or more…or almost free tuition at schools such as Alabama, Arizona, UAH, Ms State, Ole Miss - and even some private schools. Or take a shot at a top ranked Honors College such as U of So Carolina. The top level schools (Vandy, WUSTL, etc.) also have merit apps - and schools like W&L and SMU have full rides.
Bottom line - whatever road you take is a-ok since you have one in the bag that you are happy with.
Does the lottery approach really work, though? Unlike a lottery you aren’t buying multiple tickets to the same drawing – you are buying a single ticket to multiple lotteries which means you aren’t increasing your odds at any single one. That being said, if you are truly happy with your safety then you are playing with house money. I’d suggest not shotgunning, though, and focus on putting a great application together for a few of the reaches that you really like (they are all somewhat different) so you really stand out.
Collage admissions are correlated, as @Eeyore123 said, but they aren’t perfectly (or 100%) correlated. With imperfect correlations, more applications do increase an applicant’s chance of admissions to at least one of the colleges, provided s/he can maintain the qualities of all of her/his applications (which is usually not the case if s/he has to submit lots of applications). Moreover, the increase in overall admission probability is likely much less than what most people think, even in that scenario, making the exercise rarely worthwhile. The increase is greater if the colleges are more distinct than similar.
That’s an important point. Last night, my D22 and I were discussing her remaining US college applications. While she could adapt a couple of her REA essay responses, there needs to be fresh thinking for the other schools she’s considering. Our conclusion is that, if she wants to maintain the same quality as her REA application, she could apply to only 2-3 more schools that have extensive supplementary essays.
This is exactly the same conclusion my son and I came to. We looked at the supplemental essays required for a couple of mega-reaches, and he felt he didn’t have the time or energy for those after all the EA apps he sent in. So it will just be a couple of applications for RD.
I’ve seen a lot of YouTube college decision reaction videos. There are a few superstar students who get into several tippy top schools, (assuming they are being truthful.) I can’t imagine the insane hours spent doing all those applications.
As a professional who assists students with college essays, it is no exaggeration to say that a single 200 word essay can EASILY take a few hours to write. A 650 or 550 word supplement (looking at you, Cornell and Michigan), can take days. Now, it is true that many essays can be adapted for other colleges. But, many can’t. And even essays that can be recycled still need to show characteristics colleges are looking for. That’s where fit comes in.
I don’t know what secret sauce the superstar students use. I suspect that it’s a combination of great stats, great teacher recs, a clear demonstration of what motivates that student, and maybe a tiny bit of luck. Luck is not going to get an unqualified student in though.
So, on CC, the prevailing view is that essays matter greatly for top colleges, but here’s a quote from an AO at a highly selective LAC (taken from her recent Reddit AMA):
“Essays are a lot less important than most people think. If your essay is either amazing or terrible, we’ll make note of it, but most of them are pretty average.”
That might help explain what’s we’ve seen on YouTube.
I think those superstars who get in almost everywhere have some accomplishment or some “je ne sais quoi” quality that has put them over the top. For an unhooked kid like mine, with excellent but not “am-aayzing” stats/ EC’s etc., he can only hope to do his best for the essays and see what happens.
