<p>there should be a limit.
there are a lot of students out there who can hardly even afford to pay for the college applications let alone the tuition. this favors wealthy students. as well, if every student applied to 20 schools then that would mean 19 slots (in other schools) could have had another student who got rejected. id say the limit should be 5-8.</p>
<p>and to NY_Democrat, it seems like you have some issues you need to work out.</p>
<p>More qualified students should be able to apply to as many colleges as they want. Talk of freeing up spots for lesser-qualified applicants is absolutely ridiculous - why should better students make sacrifices for their lesser dedicated peers? I really don't understand that mentality. Part of the college applications process is that it gives advantages to better students, which is perfectly understandable IMO (the advantage given to the wealthy is another story, however it would be awfully hard to find a perfect system in this regard). Those students who did best in high school should be able to redeem, if you will, their qualifications at any school they choose.</p>
<p>Colleges already have way too many applications. The purpose of a limit wouldn't be to "free up spots" for lesser qualified students. It's to prevent an already stressful process from becoming even worse.</p>
<p>I, for one, would not enjoy being put on the waitlist and not getting a decision until June...</p>
<p>If you're put on the waitlist, chances are you were underqualified in comparison to most accepted applicants (with the exception of WUSTL or other schools practicing yield protection). Anybody has the right to feel out a number of schools, see where they get accepted, and then progress from there to make a decision.</p>
<p>Basically, if I can see myself being happy and successful at 15 different schools, why shouldn't I apply to them all?</p>
<p>Yale had a waitlist larger than their entire accepted pool this year.</p>
<p>Obviously, tough choices were made, and Yale did end up accepting MANY people off the waitlist. More applications mean that this practice will be more common in the coming years...</p>
<p>I agree that you have a right to feel out a number of schools, but 15-20 is pretty excessive.</p>
<p>@COlsen573:</p>
<p>Just because you hate the American way of life, capitalism, doesn't mean others need to as well. What right is there to limit a person's freedom to do something as harmless as this? It's like saying there should be a limit on how much bread you can buy because otherwise you will cause the supply and demand laws to work. Limit on applications is the same as limiting how many movies, eggs, or bread you can buy. Disgusting.</p>
<p>LOL the American way of life is not every man for himself if you havent noticed. have you actually read the constitution or learned ANYTHING about american history? theres a reason why our founding fathers follow the baselines that present day conservatives do. and actually it isnt a harmless practice. if every person in the United States applied to every single college, then an extreme amount of people would not get in anywhere. btw, there are limits on how much bread a person can buy when there are shortages, for example in California when there are droughts they legally limit the amount of water you can use. you have no idea what you are talking about. as well, capitalism has nothing to do with your argument or mine.</p>
<p>I don't really see where the capitalism argument is going, but college admissions really are every man for himself.</p>
<p>
[quote]
there are a lot of students out there who can hardly even afford to pay for the college applications let alone the tuition. this favors wealthy students.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Two very valid points. But it should be no surprise that it favors the wealthy. Doesn't everything? </p>
<p>
[quote]
college admissions really are every man for himself.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Yup. Just like the rest of life.</p>
<p>I'll keep my opinions about whether this is right or wrong to myself. </p>
<p>The reality is, this is reality.</p>
<p>There are many legitimate reasons for students to apply to 15 or more schools. </p>
<p>The reality is that the vast majority of these students are also the most academically qualified. They are not taking spots away from less qualified students, they are competing among themselves for a spot at highly selective colleges where admission rates are dropping into the single digits. No rational students apply to 15 safeties or matches. </p>
<p>The current holistic admissions process adopted by most elite private colleges is largely to blame for the problem. It has made acceptances highly unpredictable especially for unhooked students. If it were less opaque and seemingly arbitrary, nobody would need to apply to more than 5 or 6 schools. Currently, far more valedictorians and high SAT scorers are rejected at top colleges than are admitted. A Naviance scattegram is pretty useless for colleges that admit 20% or fewer of its applicants. </p>
<p>Once you reach a certain level and your GPA/SAT scores are in the range of admitted students, there is simply no simple methodology to narrow down your choices and increase your chance of admission. Much of it becomes random. Despite the anecdotal evidence to the contrary, the number of students actually admitted to more than one very selective college is very low. </p>
<p>Two years ago, our D ended up applying to 16 colleges: one safety, three matches, 6 reaches and 6 high reaches. Outside of the safety and the matches, she was admitted to two reaches and 1 high reach. Had she narrowed her list to what her guidance counselor thought were schools with the best "fit" she would have been admitted to none of the more selective colleges.</p>
<p>@COlsen573</p>
<p>Sorry sir, I believe it is you who has no idea what you are talking about</p>
<p>kkthxbi</p>
<p>thats like saying i know you are but what am I</p>
<p>and the end thing made it even worse</p>
<p>personally, my (private, exclusive) high school has a limit of 5 schools, and you MUST include a state college and a CC. The school also tries to say that you aren't allowed to EA OR even do rolling admissions together! Just because they don't want to do any work, honestly.</p>
<p>Personally, there are many scenarios where a person would need to apply to 10-15 schools. If a parent has unsure finances and the child has good but not amazingly awesome stats, it could make sense to apply to 3 cheap great schools, 3 expensive great schools, 3 cheap okay schools and 3 cheap great schools. Also, if you are applying to the very upper levels, it only makes sense to apply to more than 1 reach!</p>
<p>^ Wow, that really stinks that you HAVE to apply to a state school and a CC. That leaves only 3 real choices, and it's basically a recipe for disaster.</p>
<p>I completely understand why kids apply to huge amounts of schools. Is it a good system? No. But applying to many schools is necessary to cover all your bases when admissions are so unpredictable - I totally agree with cellardweller. Took the words right out of my mouth.</p>