According to The Crimson, Harvard Freshmen this year report the average number of applications they made was 6.7, with 4.6 acceptances. One did report making 35 applications, but there were also 30 acceptances.
@JustOneDad The kids who get in are the ones who work for it, care about it, and deserve it.
If schools 31 and below are mediocre, and therefore useless to OP’s career goals, why waste time with safeties? It makes no sense. He would be utterly miserable there. Just apply to the top 30. If he doesn’t get in it might be more sensible to take the $250k he would have spent on 4 years at a safety, and just start his own hedge fund instead.
@jym626 In this thread, unfortunately, the “due diligence” train left the station a long time ago.
If your post isnt tongue-in-cheek Midwestdad, he wouldnt spend $250K on a safety. Likely he would have gotten notable merit money. And surprise-- many students choose to go to their safety (or take the best financial option, turning down more “prestigious” schools) and are very happy with their experience. So he’d take all the $ saved from attending a school paying him big merit bucks and start that hedge fund.
@MidwestDad3 - I think a lot of the point of a safety for most kids is also the financial safety - i.e. guaranteed merit award or in-state affordable. But those also don’t really seem to fit with OP’s plan. OTOH, I think he did already get into three or four schools so I guess that’s his safety.
@CaliCash Frequently that’s not how life works, in case you’re not aware.
I “waste time” with safeties to keep my options open, no matter what happens. That was always my original platform - keeping my options open.
@jym626 It is abundantly clear throughout this thread that OP is not interested in attending any school that would give him notable merit money. He won’t be getting merit $ from Harvard, Yale or Princeton, etc. Does any one honestly think he is going to be happy at Villanova (even though many other students are)?
@fretfulmother. I agree entirely, but OP is not “most kids.” He appears to have been given a blank check, or close to it.
It was also abundantly clear from the OPs posts that he planned to be disengenuous with his intended major in order to increase the likelihood of possible admission.
So if the poster and his family won’t blink at paying $250K for gollege, good for them. My point was if he considered a “lesser prestige” (in his perception) school, she’ probably have gotten lots of merit money.
If he has a few admissions, then he covered his “safety” bases, as $ is apparently not an issue (nor apparently is due diligence, lol midwestdad) . But this seems be a hunt for what I call the prestige window decal. And the thread title and accusation that posters “hate” this approach have him coming out swinging. And the op is surprised that some posters rose to the challenge? Hard to believe.
@jym626 Okay, I hadn’t caught that. I thought he was pretty much settled on business & finance.
In another thread he said he’d consider putting down another major if it increased his chances of admission.
^^ If you look at the number of inquiries to that effect on CC, he certainly wouldn’t be alone in that.
Thats really sad.
Don’t discount the value of the prestige window decal. With a “President’s Club” decal from the right university, a busy graduate student can avoid all sorts of parking fines and inconvenient impounds.
OP, that response doesn’t make sense. That’s not how life works? So you believe the people who are successful in life didn’t work for their success?
There’s another decal that helps with parking privileges. A handicapped decal.
I’m rooting for you too Baloney1011. You have employed an interesting counter-strategy to the holistic admissions process. Since each top 30 school claims to be “holistic” - each of there admissions decisions are slightly independent of one another. Conditional probability theory says you have greatly increased your odds of admission to at least one top school. BTW, John Katzman founder of the Princeton Review endorses your strategy:
"First, make a portfolio. List at least 10 to 14 schools (or 31) that would make you ecstatic and apply to them all; use early options where possible. The old (guidance counselor) advice will leave you at a disadvantage.
Second, don’t obsess. Don’t focus on just one dream school. You might not get in, but you will very likely get into one of your top choices. Remember that you can only go to one school"
Your admissions strategy has a high probability of beating the admissions officers at their own game.
foobar,
This “strategy” has been around for years. It is not new and by no means "beating the admissions officers at their own game. Unless you really want to believe that. Again, your post surely is tongue in cheek. Or hopefully so.
Not sure why other posters are assuming OP has a blank check. He has not addressed the inconsistencies between this thread and his chances thread from a few days ago when he said his financial situation is complicated and he will be applying for FA.
My sense of the OP’s focus on IB as a career is that it is about as well thought out as his college search strategy (superficial at best).