<p>I'm not applying Early Action anywhere, so I do get more time to work on them but I'm worried I have too many.</p>
<p>I'm applying to 14 schools, counting the UC system as 1 school since it's all just one application.</p>
<p>Is that a lot? I've heard of people applying to just 3 or 4... I've tried cutting it down but I'm really in love with every single one. Will it be manageable or do you think I'll be tearing my hair out come December? I don't want to ruin the quality of an application because I have so many others to do.</p>
<p>It’s not a good idea, OP, because likely you’ll be pulling your hair out and your coursework and other efforts will suffer. </p>
<p>It’s an awful lot of essays to write, for one thing. Have you visited any of the campuses? Have you run the net price calculators at each school and determined by talking to your parents what your family can afford?</p>
<p>Maybe I can offer some help if you’ll reply to these questions.</p>
<p>Unfortunately I have not visited any of the campuses (other than a few UCs) because all the colleges are out-of-state, across several states, and scheduling a college visit across the country would be inconvenient.</p>
<p>Yes, I’ve done a little research on the prices but they’re mostly around the same. Also, money is not a huge issue for my family–they actually prefer prestige over price. I think a lot of my reluctance to cut down schools is because I have this underlying fear that I won’t be accepted to any, so in my mind applying to more will give me a better chance. </p>
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<p>This implies that you have no 100% sure-thing safeties, and do not have at least a few near-safeties in your list. If that is actually the case, then your actual safety is to start at a community college and do well enough to transfer to a UC or CSU.</p>
<p>Make sure that the money versus prestige equation does not result in you taking more debt than the federal direct loans to satisfy your parents’ notion of prestige.</p>
<p>This will make you crazy. It is difficult to write high quality essays for so many schools. And if you are applying for ned based aid, that is going to be a lot of work. Schools want different forms at different times sent through different methods. Just tracking it all is enough to make you (and your parents) crazy, let alone meeting all the deadlines with all the materials they want.</p>
<p>I have always thought 8 is a really good numbers. 2 safeties, 4 matches, and 2 reaches. All schools you want to attend, schools you have at least a chance of being able to pay for based on the net price calculator, and the safeties as schools you are almost certain to be accepted to and you know for sure you can afford.</p>
<p>With the common app, 14 is doable number. Both my kids applied to more than 14 schools–mostly EA. Niether visited thier school of attndence prior to being accepted. (However they did interview with regional reps.) In addition to the 3 reach, 5 comfort, 4 saftey. My girls applied to state schools @ 4, economic safties @4 , and few “what ifs”@ 4. (ex. What if I change my mind and want a “big U” or “Art school” or “urban campus”…) </p>
<p>They both worte two essays over Junior summer. One for the common and the other to use in suplimentals. </p>
<p>BTW, The only “sure thing safety” is Community College… CSU and UC are far from sure things, even for the top achieving student. </p>
<p>OP, first look through your schools and see which, if any, don’t require supplemental essays. It won’t hurt to apply to those nmw. Then organize your current list by preference and so you have a good variety of schools in terms of selectivity and whatever else you’re looking for in a college, with a core group of 8-10 that are required for you to submit. But leave the others in your dashboard. Once you finish the CA main section you can submit any that don’t have essays. Then just work your way through the list and if you have time and are motivated you can finish the extra apps as time allows.</p>
<p>I do know a boy who applied to 15 schools last year and was admitted to 2 - Georgia Tech and Dartmouth. He kept asking himself, what if I hadn’t had Dartmouth on my list? Sometimes doing more apps pays off, but ONLY if you do a good job on the supplement. Don’t ever throw an app at a college. </p>
<p>Admissions are weird. IMO casting wide net only helps.
My older D was admitted to 100% of her reach school and only 40% of her comfort.
Yonger D was wait listed at 90% of reach and target and admitted to 100% of her comfort. Go figure.
***data excludes state schools.</p>
<p>Thanks for replying</p>
<p>I’ve narrowed it down to 11 !!! (again, UCs counted as one system)</p>
<p>Of the 10 non-UCs, I have</p>
<p>2 Reaches
4 High matches (I have a little lower than the average GPA, but higher SAT)
2 Comfortable Matches
2 Safeties</p>
<p>I think this is a pretty good spread? Though I do wish I had less “high matches” </p>
<p>And yes everything is on Common App except for University of Washington, which has its own application.
4/10 have a writing supplement, however :</p>
<p>Add in two more comfortable. Most prvates wiegh GPA heavier than SAT. Other factors are Essay and recs–also important at privates. </p>
<p>Does your school have access to naviance? Good source for rating comfrts. </p>
<p>Yes, I’ve been using Naviance to determine whether the schools are reaches/matches/safeties.</p>
<p>And you brought up an excellent point about how schools often weigh GPA more…I think, since I still want to keep my list at 11 colleges, I’ll drop one from “high matches” and add one to “comfortable matches”</p>
<p>Thanks for your input! </p>
<p>Thank you for your honesty. I wonder how one can be “really in love with every single one” without visiting each one. Visiting has a way of pruning lists, OP. My D could walk on a campus and say “let’s go.” Other parents will tell you the same thing. If your parents are interested in your attending far-away colleges, ask them to pay before you accept the offer.</p>
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<p>Wow. Do not listen to this, it is not necessary. And it is BS to say that most privates weigh GPA heavier that SAT. GPA cannot be compared across schools like SAT can. Schools SAY it is more important in some cases, but their actual admissions behavior belies this. They want to be able to brag about higher test score ranges, which is the one way it is possible to compare incoming classes across colleges. </p>
<p>Also, the advice that it it okay to not visit before acceptance has risks. The timeframe is short between acceptance and making a final decision. Plane tickets are more expensive on short notice, and students are busy with spring ECs and senior year activities. Many students drop schools that would be very good choices for them due to the logistics because they did not visit prior to acceptance – it just isn’t reasonable to expect to see a bunch of schools in that April timeframe. Of course some students can’t afford to visit – but don’t think you are going to do all your visiting in April, or that it will be more affordable or easier to schedule then. You should be able to narrow down your list if you are really doing the things you should. Research the heck out of schools prior to applying, don’t waste your time and money on schools that you can tell aren’t a fit after researching them. Things to check out:</p>
<ul>
<li>Of course carefully review the school’s website.</li>
<li>Read the writeup in the Fiske Guide to Colleges.</li>
<li>Go out and read old forum threads out here, often very revealing.</li>
<li>Check them out on c-o-l-l-e-g-e p-r-o-w-l-e-r</li>
<li>See if the student newspaper is online, often VERY revealing of the dirty laundry of the college (that admissions would rather you did not see!)</li>
<li>Run the net price calculators, of course. If it isn’t affordable, drop it from your list no matter how much you like it</li>
<li>Evaluate how strong they are in your 1st (and 2nd choice) majors. Check out the course offerings, whether students get research opportunities, etc.</li>
<li>Are there ECs that are really important to you? Look at those as well.</li>
<li>Be ruthless about evaluating your chances at a given school. If ALL your test scores are not at the 50% point or better, do not consider it a match (and even then, if admission rates are below about 30%, I wouldn’t be so sure, either). Forget GPA ranges, focus on the test scores. Trust me, they do.</li>
</ul>
<p>There is no earthly reason to apply to more than 10 schools. It just sets you up for a big scramble in the spring because it is usually a sign that you didn’t do your homework ahead of time. If you evaluate what you really want and what a school really offers, you should be able to narrow your list down.</p>
<p>By doing this, you can narrow</p>
<p>I don’t see the harm in appling to 14 schools v 10 schools. especially if 13 of 14 are common app. What tickels the fancy in spring of 11th grade may change considerably by May 1st of senior year. You can do all the on line reserch in the world, but nothing narrows down a list like boots on the ground. IF you can cluster visits around the targets and safyies , then by all means visit now. Save the high reaches for when/if you’re accepted. </p>
<p>Many top schools aren’t just “saying” that they don’t place high improtance on test scores, they are also “walking the talk”, by becoming “test optional”. A look at your HS Naviance will tell a better story. </p>
<p>At my kid’s HS any SAT over 1900 was a wash, irrealvant v. GPA/extras with the privates (even Ivies, BTW) </p>