My children have applied to 3 schools. None of them are the “acronym” schools I see mentioned here. I believe they all have an acceptance rate around 35% and they are legacy children at one school. Our SSAT scores are above average for all 3 schools and we are full pay. To apply to more schools I would have to extend my comfortable driving distance or think about schools that don’t have some of the programs my kids are interested in. Not to mention that it’s expensive to apply! Time is running out, but I am feeling a little nervous after seeing the long lists of schools everyone is applying to.
As is often the case, the answer is, “It depends.”
If their current or local school is perfectly viable option, then there is no reason to apply to more.
It depends upon several factors including the reasons that each child applied to each school.
Our most recent experience involved applications to only 3 boarding schools but we were very confident of the results/decision at the top 2 choices so there was no need, nor interest, to apply elsewhere.
Your situation is interesting because you have one child with a very high SSAT score limiting himself to a specific geographical region. Within that region are Mercersburg, Lawrenceville & St. Andrew’s. Hopefully he & your family have considered these schools.
St. Andrew’s and Lawrenceville are both great schools, but I think they’re both a little far for us. I just looked and Lawrenceville had a Skype interview request deadline of Dec. 1. I hate that we are so limited geographically. It would be almost as difficult to fly to some of the schools as it is to drive since we aren’t close to a large airport. I feel good about the options we do have, but I should probably stop reading here! I think it’s making me more nervous! Back in the day I only applied to one school!
I was considering Shady Side in Pittsburgh also. It’s a great school, but they don’t have a dance program and it’s a very small boarding population. 
Not a fan of prep schools with small boarding populations.
In more recent times, I only applied to 2. But as I said upthread, so much of it of it depends upon the parameters set, and the options if the boarding school acceptances fail to materialize.
@Publisher - I agree, I want them to have friends at school on the weekends. I’m also admittedly concerned about the social atmosphere and pressure/stress environment of the bigger,northeastern, brand name schools. I’m hoping for a challenging, but friendly environment. I think I’ve been in the south/Midwest too long! Haha
Agree with @Publisher…we visited one school last year on a Friday afternoon (it was not a holiday weekend) and saw a line of “town cars” and SUV’s lined up to transport kids down I-95 or the Taconic. For kids who board from far away, it can get really lonely on the weekends. On the other side of the coin, the day students we know at BS are not as quickly making friends or having the same relationships as the boarding students have…plus, there is a ton of homework that must be done on the weekends. Students quickly found study groups for weekends and some of the day students that commute are not having this type of bonding experience. More friendships via team sports, however. So, circling back to the OP, we applied to more schools that would offer the type of boarding experience that would be the “best fit” for our student. The March 10th for the year before we applied was a hard day for many people on CC. Perhaps applicant pools change from year to year, but we took what we read to heart and followed the advice of the folks on CC! We read the wisdom shared by parents and students on CC @ casting a wide net because it is a challenge to get into schools and we wanted to apply only to those schools where kiddo could really be happy…not just the ranking or list published. Wishing you the best! :bz
Unfortunately, I do not know where you live & the academic, social & activity needs of your brilliant children or I might have some suggestions. If Mercersburg Academy is within your comfort area, I think that it is an outstanding s prep boarding & day school. All seniors, whether local or not, must board.
@publisher - they loved Mercersburg! It checks all of our boxes, but I’m afraid to feel too confident after reading all the posts here about M10!
When my kids were in 8th grade their school suggested 3 schools if the LPS was a good option and 5-6 if not. Most were applying to local day schools or a combination of day and boarding.
My guess is you are probably fine, based on what you have revealed. Shadyside is definitely day focused. (My recollection from way back is that the boarding option existed largely to accomodating people from Pittsburgh because the public transportation to Fox Chapel was non existant. And the lower school is in another part of town, so kids who wanted to stay with SSA were kinda stuck between a rock and a hard place without a driving parent.)
I went through a similar panic last year after reading these boards. My son only chose to apply to 3 out of the many schools we looked at, and with mediocre SSAT scores, I was worried. (We did not apply to any acronym schools, focused mostly on schools with 35% or higher acceptance rates.) We had the full pay benefit going for us, he was well rounded and interviews very well, but had no real hooks. We did have good local public and private day school options, so they were our fallback. In the end I talked myself off the ledge and just decided to let the chips fall where they may.
He ended up getting accepted to both of his top 2 choices and is now thriving in his first year at Mercersburg. I agee with others that given the information you have provided, that you’re probably in a good place with your applications.