I see nothing wrong with it! You will have a better set of responses (way less denials!). You can compare merit versus other attributes. If she likes them, win-win!
Having multiple financial safeties is a great goal, but that’s not always possible. We only found 1. For my D, her combination of intended academic programs was the most important consideration, so we didn’t bother with the other auto merit schools that didn’t offer the combination. So long as the student goes into it with eyes wide open and a clear understanding of the application strategy, I think it’s fine.
I have probably spent 100s of hours understanding scholarship awards at the different schools. One place to start is here on CC reading the profiles of students who have been awarded them. For example, my stereotyped interpretation of Vandy’s awards is that they are awarded to kids with either perfect or near perfect test scores. Pitt is not quite as high in cut-off, but seems to be around a 34. Some schools seem to focus more on “building a class” type awards and are looking for specific qualities vs. test scores. At least a few are very focused on the quality of essays.
I saw my job as helping her decide which ones were worth her time by being critical about how she fit any given profile.
Agee with @Mom2aphysicsgeek The better you are figuring out what each scholarship is looking for and whether your student has a decent shot, the more success you’ll have.
As long as the student has a definite safety and you can afford the apps, I see nothing wrong with applying to a mix of schools. I was very clear with my D what the budget was and told her the numbers were firm. I allowed her to apply to 19 schools, mostly chasing merit aid. When the envelopes were opened and the COA was higher than the budget, it got tossed. There was one exception and she wanted to appeal but the finaid office was so bad in corresponding with us that it never happened anyways. In the end, she was offered a substantial package from a school I had told her would be a waste of app $ to apply to because the NPC suggested it would be nearly double our budget. You just never know what school might want your student and make themselves a feasible option.
I do think it is understanding what is realistic - the type of schools and the budget. Best to understand this by junior year - that way if additional testing needs to take place, some college visits need to be made, etc - enough time can be made for the application and scholarship deadlines.
A friend’s DD was in a demanding swim team and HS curriculum, so she applied to 10 schools and was accepted to 9 (and an apology letter from MIT stating that they had high foreign applicants that reduced accepting some well qualified students). She is finishing a EE degree from Coopers Union this spring with job offers in hand… At the very last minute, parents and student squeezed in a visit to Cornell and Coopers Union before deciding - she was in the last class with full tuition scholarship at Coopers Union (total enrollment is quite small). Cornell would have been full pay.
Agree with @NEPatsGirl that some schools can really surprise what you think they will put together for your student. Someone wins those top awards that some schools offer - and if you don’t apply, you won’t know if it is a school possibility.
I also do like the term ‘likely’ instead of ‘safety’, because students often have some weird concepts/ideas based on what other students think about the ‘quality’ of UG at various schools, school reputation, school ranking (on whatever scale which may or may not be relevant for what the student is studying).
Some parents I know allowed their student to work very hard on a lot of applications, and the students ended up going to a great in-state match (full tuition scholarship plus) which could offer as much academic challenge as the student wanted to pursue.
If one has an idea of how much they want to spend then its counter productive to make students fill out unnecessary paper work, write essays, chase deadlines and have unrealistic dreams. This practice of applying to schools one can’t afford or can’t qualify for is part responsible for college admission chaos. False hopes of magic solutions gives nothing but heartache and resentments.
@“Yalie 2011”
So a student who would like to attend school X but can’t afford it unless they can snag one of their competitive merit scholarships that requires essays and deadlines shouldn’t even apply? That’s the type of student who is contributing to the college admission chaos?
Of course not. If there is a good chance of merit scholarship making it affordable then it’s fair game. I’m talking about ones where you clearly know, it’s not going to work. Why raise college’s application rates and make someone else loose their spot and put on wait or deffered list.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek wow - this is exactly where I am right now. I was ‘high-statted’ enough to potentially get into good need-only schools, but opted to apply only to schools with good merit instead. I’ve already had to reject great offers on the basis of financial mismatch. Alabama’s flying me out later this month for the CBH interview weekend, so I’m hoping for the best on that front!
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/20282105/#Comment_20282105
I know of two HS seniors who applied all over - both attended in-state. One wants to go on to medical school, and realized what her parents were gently trying to tell her - that the other schools would burn up her funds. The other applied to 11 schools for medical engineering; went to the state program, and switched majors after one term (and she was a very strong student). IDK if her family limited funds or she decided that the state school was a good fit for her.
I do think there are two ways to look at things - don’t want to overlook something that may work out wonderfully; don’t want to apply to schools that have such a high probability of not working while overlooking/failing to apply to other schools - then ending up with little ‘choice’ at the end. Want to have feasible things to decide between if not a clear one or two fiscally good programs standing out.
DDs had the in-state ‘standing out’. Saved us a lot of time.
@turkie321 Congrats on the CBH invite! Enjoy CBH weekend. Relax, be polite and interested, engage with people, and you’ll do great.
(Our 12th grader wants to have the opportunity to continue studying Russian. Bama’s dept is awful, so, disappointingly, Bama was not a good option for her. We love Bama so much that it was hard to face that it was just not even a posssibility. Thankfully, we found some equally amazing opportunities for her at a few other schools.)
@intparent, thank you for the suggestion to find some more merit details from the common data set. Do you know why some schools don’t provide them? For example, I can’t find a common data set for Syracuse but similar info is published on College Data.com - is that info known to be accurate? Thanks.
Some schools don’t publish the Common Data Set (it is not required). I would say that if you can’t find a CDS and it is on College Data, then use that.
IPEDS also has some overlapping information with the common data set and can be a useful research tool.
I think there’s nothing wrong with applying to schools that are only financial safeties. I also think there’s nothing wrong with also (not exclusively) applying to schools that you understand you can go to only IF the student gets accepted and financials work out, as long as the student understands just what a reach it can be.
One thing I have learned in this process is to be flexible with that list of schools. The list of schools my D actually applied to is different than the list of schools she was planning to apply to at the beginning of senior year. She agreed to pull one of her favorites off because we knew there was no way the financials were going to work out, but kept another one because she really wants to see if she can get in there (bragging rights). But the other thing that happened is that her safety offered her a larger than expected merit scholarship (their top one) a little while before she got deferred from her Ivy ED. It was this a ha moment when she realized that there were schools that were, in a way, competing to have her, rather than her having to compete to get into a top school. She has a study abroad goal, and that became a strong factor in choosing schools as well. She also came to the realization that she needs a graduate degree for her career goals, and graduating debt free from UG was actually as important as her parents had been telling her!
As I type this sick and in bed, she’s on an invitation-only scholars visit with her Dad as a finalist for two competitive merit scholarships at a school that was not on the list at the beginning of the school year. According to the text I got from DH, she told him she can totally picture herself going to school there. It probably helps a lot that we’ve told her that with the money she’s getting there, we will pay for summer and semester abroad. (And we still come out paying less than other schools she wanted to attend. win-win!) 