<p>I’m applying to 9 schools. 2 of them are In-state matches that I will hear back from by December while the other 7 are reaches. I am what I call a borderline applicant: while I am competitive for all of my reach schools, I could easily be denied from all of them. For me, applying to 7 different schools makes sense because I would be more happy at all of them compared to my state school but I also need to take as many shots at this admissions game as possible.</p>
<p>I agree with standrews. For families that are looking for merit scholarships, it might be wise to apply to more than 10 schools in order to increase the chances of a better financial outcome.</p>
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<p>I can see why someone would apply to all or most of the Ivies. I probably wouldn’t be a good fit at all of them but I still would be a better fit at one of the Ivies than at the safety state school. Why apply to 10+ schools? Why NOT? If one is shooting for competitive schools and needs a lot of financial aid (full FA in my case) in order to attend college, it would be prudent to apply to as many colleges as possible. You don’t know where you are going to get in and it would be dumb to apply to fewer colleges just because of some vague idea of what “fit” is.</p>
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<p>Oh, this is a point. I don’t know how one knows if one is a borderline applicant, but apparently my dad knew he was, so back in the 70s, he applied to 16 schools. (!!!) He was waitlisted at every single one except for Bowdoin, which accepted him. Weird, huh? He did get off at least one waitlist.</p>
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Financial aid packages at the Ivies are not so disparate that I wouldn’t choose $4,000 a year more expensive (or whatever) for the privilege of NOT going to Dartmouth or Princeton, or $2,000 (maybe a bit less) for the privilege of not going to Yale or Cornell. I just really didn’t like any of those schools. And so I did not apply to them. Maybe I’m fussy. On the other hand, my EFC is not 0. Maybe if I didn’t have to pay or take out loans for whatever college I went to, (regardless of whether I had to work) I’d apply to more colleges just to see who’d give me the most money. However, since I do have to pay, I would probably have chosen my state flagship (as you said, worse fit), over an Ivy that was still a pretty bad fit. And so I did not apply to those Ivies. An additional reason why not would be the stress of the applications. I would have positively died if I’d had to do more than 6 supplements because I obsess about my writing.</p>
<p>I suggest you to apply to as many schools as you can handle for 2 reasons.</p>
<p>1). WIth the rise of Common app, it is just so easy. Supplement essays can like 80% of the time be recycled for different schools. 5 essays tops should do it for any number of schools.</p>
<p>2). Increasing application numbers means that you will have more chance of getting into good schools. Dont worry about “putting poor applicants at a disadvantage.” The most flagrant abusers of the Common application are the “poor applicants” who get fee waivers and apply to hundreds of schools (many schools dont have supplements).</p>
<p>Thanks for all the respones, guys. Much appreciated.</p>
<p>All this input has really caused me to think about it. And I think 10 schools is a good number: not too ridiculous, not too few. Financial aid IS a big deal for me, just so you guys know, the annual income in my household is below $100,000. I refuse to apply to ALL Ivies because there are only three that I would be happy attending: Harvard, Yale, Brown. I really don’t care if any other ones offer me alot of FA, I don’t want to go to those schools.</p>
<p>As a URM who is at a slight socioeconomic disadvantage, and with pretty decent stats and EC’s by Ivy standards, I am confident that at least one of my reach schools will accept me, hopefully at least Rice. But I guess I shouldn’t take a chance and apply to so few, so I will apply to a few more, probably 9 or 10. Thanks again, everyone.</p>
<p>“I’m trying to cut my list down to about 6 schools, for financial reasons.”</p>
<p>You can get a fee waiver through your HS counselor if you deserve it.</p>
<p>“the “poor applicants” who get fee waivers and apply to hundreds of schools”</p>
<p>Where did you get those stats! :)</p>
<p>Well a little birdee told me… lol.</p>
<p>In the history of Common app, there is at least 1 poor kid who applied to over 100 schools using fee waiver.</p>
<p>I think the whole idea of a good “match” is kind of overblown to an extent. Your financial safety may not be a “good match” - but you attend because it’s financially feasible. Similarly, the prestigious college might not be a good match - but there are many of us who attend - for the prestige. People call us out, people call us foolish and how we’ll be miserably, sad, wretched human beings who won’t be able to feel happy where we are - but honestly - I could fit in at any college or any place - I’m adaptable and don’t hate where I am. So taking that into consideration - why not shoot for the most prestige I can possibly attain through a school? Especially if said profession is dependent on your school’s prestige (i.e. high finance). Many of us ORM’s have this mindset since we don’t have the luxury of having “Rice as a lock in” - and thus we apply to as many as schools as possible - favoring a shotgun approach with the hope of getting into one of them.</p>
<p>Regarding the cost of application - I’m personally lucky because my school offers students a 3,000 dollar scholarship for those students who pursue summer research at the University. Most of us do such research the summer after our junior year and use the money to apply to schools.</p>
<p>IndianOptimist - Apparently it appears to you like I’m being ‘choosy’ with colleges because I’m picky and arrogant, but that’s not the case at all. I’m sure I could adapt to my state flagship and end up (somewhat) liking it there, but I highly doubt I would have as good of a college experience at LSU as I would at, say, Rice or Yale. I’m a relatively intelligent person, and above all else, I love being around other intelligent people. LSU is a party school, there’s no denying it; and while, yes, I could adapt, I would prefer not to, that simple. I come from a modest background, I’m a minority, and my school has very few intelligent kids. I’m tired of it, and I’m ready to leave: I firmly believe that’s a just reason for being ‘picky’ about colleges.</p>
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And yet, you don’t consider yourself arrogant…</p>
<p>^Okay. Quote me by all means. But come live where I’m living for eighteen years and then see if you’re not ready to leave at a moment’s notice, and I’m not talking about a small town in the midwest, I’m talking about a very poor place in Louisiana. Believe me, I am far, far less arrogant than some of my friends who are far less hardworking people.</p>
<p>“And yet, you don’t consider yourself arrogant…”</p>
<p>I don’t either; rather, refreshingly honest and candid. Condescending seems more arrogant.</p>
<p>But I don’t see any problem with applying to 10+ schools. Sometime visits (in order to know which schools feel right) can’t be arranged beforehand, so applying to many and visiting where accepted can be more efficient regarding time and money.</p>
<p>Thanks vossron. :)</p>
<p>I’ve actually visited Rice, its about five hours from my town, it was incredible. I haven’t visited Stanford or Yale, I can’t travel as far as California or Connecticut.</p>
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<p>How is dissatisfaction with one’s social environment a sign of arrogance? Is everybody who doesn’t go to frat parties arrogant?</p>
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Yeah, I’m not going to waste my time and money visiting a campus that I might not even be admitted to.</p>
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OP stated he doesn’t want to go to LSU because it is a party school and he likes to be “around other intelligent people”. LSU has around 26,000 students and an Honors College. It is the state flagship school of Louisiana. There are plenty of “intelligent” students and faculty at LSU. It is up to the student (i.e., OP) to find a circle of friends and acquaintances he feels comfortable with, regardless of where he goes. To suggest that there would be none at LSU is arrogant, or maybe just naive, IMHO.</p>
<p>Hey, OP, glad to see you expanding your search. And sorry for not responding sooner. I have been out of town with no Internet access.</p>
<p>Interestingly, friends were shocked ds didn’t get in at Rice. I was not. While his stats were competitive, plus he was an Eagle Scout, four-year varsity athlete, club president, blah blah blah, he is not the commodity in Texas he is elsewhere – that being a bright, Hispanic male from Texas. I encouraged him to look near and far, places where he’ll be a hot commodity. I’m talking places like Grinnell, which has strong academics and is hungry to get minority males on campus. Plus it gives great financial aid. I’d encourage you to do the same, especially if you need aid. Grinnell has a diversity weekend and will fly you out for free. So does Carleton. And Oberlin. And Bowdoin. And Amherst. And other top LACs, which, again, are trying hard to attract males and minorities. There are a LOT of resources for a lower-income minority, if you’re willing to broaden your search a bit. Check out the other threads at the top of this forum for ideas of where to look.</p>
<p>BTW, the reason many of us recommend two safeties is psychological, really. If the ONLY two schools you get accepted to are your safeties, at least you’ll still have a choice and not HAVE to go to the single safety on your list. I’m told LSU has really good aid, so it sounds like a good choice. You might look at A&M, too. Ds got, basically, a full ride there between merit and financial aid.</p>
<p>Good luck to you. And I don’t think someone who is seeking an academically rigorous experience in college is arrogant.</p>
<p>sylvan8798 - I understand that there’s an Honors Colllege. But I’m friends with several people in that Honors College who used to attend my high school, and they all said the same thing: although there’s more work, there’s a definite shortage of intellectually driven people. It’s a public university in Louisiana, what do you expect? Although I’m sure I could be happy at LSU, I’d almost certainly be happier elsewhere, aside from the fact that I really want to leave my state. I’m STILL applying to LSU, and if turned down everywhere else, I will still attend there.</p>
<p>Youdon’tsay - Thanks, that was a very helpful post. I’m going to look into minority recruitment and see what I can find. Aid is very important for me: my parents make around 80,000 a year combined. I appreciate the time you took to help me out. I’ll look at Amherst, Bowdoin, and Grinnell, and search for some other options and see what I come up with.</p>
<p>No prob. I don’t know what ethnicity you are, but I can vouch for the Hispanic thread at the top of the page. Entomom is quite knowledgeable, and there are great resources there. What I love about cc is that people are so willing to help. Feel free to PM me if you want to share more info.</p>
<p>If aid is important then, yeah, you really do have to broaden the search a bit. That’s why ds ended up applying to 11 schools. BTW, his only rejection was Stanford, lol! I just felt like I had to give you a reality check. Definitely apply, but be realistic about your chances. When a school takes only 7% of applicants (Stanford) or 20% (Rice), you have to consider each of them a reach. Yale, Rice, Stanford are all reaches. Go ahead and apply at those three and at LSU (I don’t know about LSU’s policies, but I’ll believe you when you say it’s a safety), but what you are missing are matches. You need at least three that are known for good aid, seeing as how that’s important to your family. So, 3 reaches + 3 matches + 2 safeties = 8 schools. That’s really reasonable these days. Oh, and make sure those safeties are financial safeties!</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>