<p>At my suggestion, my daughter applied to 16 schools. I have a few reasons for doing so and I wanted to know if any others that applied to 15 or more wanted to share their reasons why?</p>
<p>Well, I applied to 17 because I’m an aid-needing international who really wants a liberal arts education.</p>
<p>Shopping for financial aid is also a good one. I think the Common Application helps too since you don’t have that much extra work in many places sending the same application to multiple colleges.</p>
<p>options, options, and moreoptions.</p>
<p>Check out the thread with the number of schools offering Spring instead of Fall admits; if this trend continues, it behooves a student to apply to as many schools as is humanly possible; absolutely insane…</p>
<p>For those reaching high (though they should only being doing so if they have a realistic shot of getting in), 8-12, IMO, is enough. </p>
<p>Of course, for those requiring aid, the game’s a bit different. That’s when I think 15+ becomes acceptable.</p>
<p>Low stat, but good writing, EC’s, and a decent hook. I had all factors besides GPA going for me so it made sense to see if an Adcom could look beyond pure numbers and accept me. Also to see the best I could get into. Ended early with a full ride to one rolling public, a great academic safety, and my top choice accepting me. Fee waivers helped a lot.</p>
<p>Perhaps the better question is, “Why NOT apply to 15+ schools?” If the application fee wasn’t an issue for the family or their were fee waivers involved, and our applicant started his/her applications early, he/she would hopefully have a greater variety of schools to pick from in the spring. In addition to the reasons already listed in this thread, many of my classmates don’t have a concrete idea of what schools they want to attend, and what they want to study. Applying to more schools will, in their minds, allow them a couple months more to discover themselves. In fact, if I hadn’t gotten in early, I would have applied to 17 schools as well.</p>
<p>Many teenagers are idiots who assume that they would thrive at all of the schools in the Ivy League + any and all Ivy equivalents + one state school. They are too shortsighted to research in-depth many of the schools they apply to, and so they decide that they’ll just get to pick and choose from whatever schools they actually are accepted to. A good portion of these students (not all) will end up disliking their schools and posting on College Confidential about how bad their college is and how college life is nothing like they expected.</p>
<p>Most students who need financial aid would not have to try 15+ schools to find an acceptable aid package. The students who apply to 15+ are overambitious. </p>
<p>And before you all say, “WELL WHO ARE YOU TO TELL US IF WHAT WE’RE DOING IS STUPID!!!”, why does it make sense to you to apply to 15+ schools and then research them more intensively? Wouldn’t you want to know for sure when applying that any and all of the schools you’re applying to are perfect fits for you?</p>
<p>Because the Common App (and more generally, online applications) makes it easy to do so.</p>
<p>People 20 years ago still needed financial aid, and still wanted to find a good match. They didn’t apply to 15 different schools, because that would mean having to get a pen and physically write out 15 applications.</p>
<p>I told D to apply widely and broadly to as many schools as she liked. I think it is extremely important to have both, priorities and options during this process since things often don’t materialize according to initial assumptions. Plus, what a student thinks he or she prefers early on has a tendency to change after doing all of the visits, interviews, and first round of applications. I’ve seen many many instances where ignoring and failing to plan for such possibilities ultimately became a source of regret after deadlines passed by.</p>
<p>Just because one applies to a high number doesn’t mean they haven’t done their homework - it just depends on how early you start and the level of organization. </p>
<p>D is very happy with her results so far. Right now the schools at the top of her list are not the same ones at the top of the list when she first started – a lot has transpired since the beginning. If her choices had been limited she would have definitely missed out on a couple of full rides. It’s been great not having to hold our breath about financial aid decisions. Just like it’s been great not having to wait until March to have a number of acceptances to mull over. </p>
<p>Unless a student has some pretty specific paths already laid out, I highly recommend applying to the broadest spectrum of schools possible.</p>
<p>I would say only apply to 15+ schools if they are 15 schools that she has really researched and can see herself at. If you’re applying to all 8 Ivies, for example, your list isn’t tailored enough.</p>
<p>If you can get a great list of schools you love, and you can afford to pay all the fees, then applying to 15 schools is fine. Make sure you look at how many required supplemental essay though, as they often make it so that you can’t reuse essays from other schools. I applied to 13 schools about wrote about 10 essays.</p>
<p>well 15 sounds like a bit much. i applied to 10 schools and everyone thought i was crazy.</p>
<p>i had a fee waiver, so money wasn’t an issue.
i applied to one safety, one match, and eight reaches. the answer is simple, i wanted to increase my chances at getting accepted to one of my reaches.</p>
<p>after working as hard as i did for four years, i would have been devasted to end up at my safety school. but jaddua does make a good point, we are a little overambitious, but i think it is better to be safe than sorry.</p>
<p>it was stressful though. sending out mid-year reports to ten different schools, going to half a dozen of college interviews, filling out finanical aid supplements to eight different schools, the time and stress level begins to add up.</p>
<p>if money isn’t an issue and the student is willing to put in the long hours of filling out applications, i don’t think there is any harm.</p>
<p>My son applied to two safeties and one match…and ten reaches. So the question is: Why ten reaches? And the answer is: Because they are reaches. And he is unlikely to get into any one, but the more you try the more likely you succeed.</p>
<p>He has a chance of getting into any one of them. But we don’t know the odds. And it’s important, but not that important, because of the safeties. So you try to balance everything - cost, energy expenditure, time, value of reach over safety - and come up with some reasonable number.</p>
<p>Options are nice and, since at least some of admissions is luck, if you apply to more colleges, there is a larger chance that you will get into at least some of them. If you apply to the Ivies, you then want to apply to a safety and then some other top tier schools both to test yourself and make sure you can get into at least one good school.</p>
<p>I think some kids apply to many reaches in hopes of getting into at least one.</p>
<p>I think some kids apply to several safeties in hopes of getting at least one free ride or big scholarship offer.</p>
<p>I think some kids apply to a lot of schools because they’re worried that their fav pic in the fall won’t be their fav in the spring.</p>
<p>Pick your poison. My daughter (with my help) investigated colleges over the several years prior to application including visits. Upon being on campus at one LAC for three hours she just knew. The fit was right. She already knew the school was great academically. She applied ED and got in; never looked back. She just did the same thing for grad. school (one school, got in). </p>
<p>My son…slogged through numerous apps, visited many AFTER acceptance, and played the options game. Was it better? or, a waste? Well, for him, it meant that the first big decision he made for himself was done in a manner that fit his decision making abilities and preferences. It was not the way I might have done it but it was his call. I am glad we allowed him to ‘do it his way’.</p>
<p>Applying to 15 or more is defocusing. It’s a nightmare for admission committees in that if everyone applies to a large number of colleges, they will need to mechanize the processing process (somewhat like companies do with incoming resumes) scan for keywords and numbers, and eliminate rather than defer borderline applications and pre-assess interest level and likelihood of offer acceptance. In the end ED applications will receive much more attention, then RD applications.</p>
<p>It sets the wrong message for the applicant because it encourages deferring the crucial decision process – career wise, academic wise, etc. It makes it impossible to personalize the application, or the references. The lack of research of colleges and self understanding of goals will invariably come through the application, which becomes “generic”, and unlikely to encourage deep reading.</p>
<p>Best is to do your homework, and understand your college goals. And to follow that up with an ED application, and if necessary an ED II application. Then if necessary, for RD, 2-3 reach colleges, 2-3 match colleges and 1-2 safeties. And to personalize each application and to send appropriate references.</p>
<p>^^^ I disagree. </p>
<p>First of all, it is the colleges themselves that encourage all of the applications they receive. They are not suffering from it. </p>
<p>Secondly, the number of apps one sends has nothing to do with their personalization unless the applicant is careless and disorganized. </p>
<p>Third, as others have clearly stated, there are many reasons to apply broadly - finding a good match is only one of them. ED is not a good strategy for everyone.</p>
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<p>Why not find a good match before you go through the process of applying to an idiotic amount of colleges? If your child’s opinion is going to change in the few months between the application deadline and April 1, chances are his or her opinion will be just as malleable after enrolling at a college.</p>