College application question from a Newbie

[Anonymous]

Hello, my partner and I didn't study in the U.S.A. so we are in new territory to what seems a very complicated process concerning College. I know every student is different and every school is as well, however what is the average number of colleges a student applies to? I've heard 3 to 5 but I've also heard 25. Our kid is a sophomore so the school will give us time to talk to the counselor next year. I know families may hire a private counselor for this in addition to the school's.

[Anonymous]

7-10

[Anonymous]

7-10
Unless they get accepted to a rolling admission school early in the process. This might make it possible to apply to less since you may not need to apply to a "safety" school. Our daught had 8 schools on her list. She got accepted in September to one of her top choices. She was then able to cut out 4 of the other schools because she was able to compare them to her acceptance school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:7-10

+1. My kids were both in this range. More, and you probably didn’t research your college list, or decided to apply to every single Ivy. Fewer, and might not have options.

[Anonymous]

7-10 is good. 2 safeties, 4-5 matches, 2 reaches. And the matches should be spread between low match, target @and high match.

[Anonymous]

Previous posters are probably right but some people apply to more. And in our family’s case (so far) far fewer.

Our oldest -last year- four. Our current senior-three.

In both cases, worked fine, again so far. College Freshman is very happy. High school senior isn’t there yet, so who knows but is very excited.

It really helps so much if your kids have clear areas of interests they vac concentrate on when looking at schools. Visit if you can, especially if students are there.

And be prepared to adjust. They may change their minds along the way about what they thought they wanted.

You sound like great parents. Your kids will do well.

[Anonymous]

My DS (now college freshman) applied to 5, one of them rolling with an early decision. Got into 4/5. If he hadn't been happy with that early one as a back up the list might have been longer.

DD (junior) is likely to be in the 8-10 range but most will be safeties since if she wants to go OOS she'll need merit aid.

[Anonymous]

Have you ever watched house hunters? You know how they are looking for 3 or 4 things in a house? Near the end of the show, they have that graphic that shows how each house meets some of the criteria.

Start talking about your college experiences (the positive ones) to build college awareness. Then visit a college or two, casually, when you are traveling or something. No pressure. Then sophomore/early junior year, help your teen figure out 5 “non-negotiables” (of course, everything is negotiable). Make them specific. Let one be absolutely non-negotiable.

Then, only place colleges that meet those criteria on your “long list.” When making the short list, make sure there are two solid safeties. But don’t let your kid randomly add schools because friends are applying. Stay focused.

Teen might decide:
1. Warm weather/sunshine. (As a parent you consider that your teen struggles with SAD, and reinforce that this is an important factor, not a shallow one)
2. D1 football
3. Lots of school spirit
4. Strong pre-med advising
5. Strong Jewish community/active Hillel

Ok, so don’t start adding Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio State to the list. Not William and Mary or Davidson. Ignore all the northern SLACs (really, all the SLACs).

You should be able to find 8-10 happy choices with this approach. Applying to 20-30 schools means the teen and/or parent doesn’t know what they want or didn’t stay focused.

And have the discipline to protect the process/be the buffer for your kid. If your boss says “you know, I went to Williams, and I’d be happy to write a recommendation” DON’T suggest Williams to your kid (if the above are actually the criteria). DON’T make him apply to one last school. Complete your list by the beginning of senior year, so you aren’t panicking and adding on.

And reinforce to your teen that there is no one perfect school out there. Don’t get too attached. Like in house hunters, if you get most what you want, and all of what you really need, then you’ll be in good shape.

[Anonymous]

3 they won't get into but kids can dream
3 they could get into but might not
3 they definitely can get into but they think they are above those schools and are depressed when this is the school they actually end up attending.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you ever watched house hunters? You know how they are looking for 3 or 4 things in a house? Near the end of the show, they have that graphic that shows how each house meets some of the criteria.

Start talking about your college experiences (the positive ones) to build college awareness. Then visit a college or two, casually, when you are traveling or something. No pressure. Then sophomore/early junior year, help your teen figure out 5 “non-negotiables” (of course, everything is negotiable). Make them specific. Let one be absolutely non-negotiable.

Then, only place colleges that meet those criteria on your “long list.” When making the short list, make sure there are two solid safeties. But don’t let your kid randomly add schools because friends are applying. Stay focused.

Teen might decide:
1. Warm weather/sunshine. (As a parent you consider that your teen struggles with SAD, and reinforce that this is an important factor, not a shallow one)
2. D1 football
3. Lots of school spirit
4. Strong pre-med advising
5. Strong Jewish community/active Hillel

Ok, so don’t start adding Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio State to the list. Not William and Mary or Davidson. Ignore all the northern SLACs (really, all the SLACs).

You should be able to find 8-10 happy choices with this approach. Applying to 20-30 schools means the teen and/or parent doesn’t know what they want or didn’t stay focused.

And have the discipline to protect the process/be the buffer for your kid. If your boss says “you know, I went to Williams, and I’d be happy to write a recommendation” DON’T suggest Williams to your kid (if the above are actually the criteria). DON’T make him apply to one last school. Complete your list by the beginning of senior year, so you aren’t panicking and adding on.

And reinforce to your teen that there is no one perfect school out there. Don’t get too attached. Like in house hunters, if you get most what you want, and all of what you really need, then you’ll be in good shape.

I'm curious of the schools that fit this criteria? Miami?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you ever watched house hunters? You know how they are looking for 3 or 4 things in a house? Near the end of the show, they have that graphic that shows how each house meets some of the criteria.

Start talking about your college experiences (the positive ones) to build college awareness. Then visit a college or two, casually, when you are traveling or something. No pressure. Then sophomore/early junior year, help your teen figure out 5 “non-negotiables” (of course, everything is negotiable). Make them specific. Let one be absolutely non-negotiable.

Then, only place colleges that meet those criteria on your “long list.” When making the short list, make sure there are two solid safeties. But don’t let your kid randomly add schools because friends are applying. Stay focused.

Teen might decide:
1. Warm weather/sunshine. (As a parent you consider that your teen struggles with SAD, and reinforce that this is an important factor, not a shallow one)
2. D1 football
3. Lots of school spirit
4. Strong pre-med advising
5. Strong Jewish community/active Hillel

Ok, so don’t start adding Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio State to the list. Not William and Mary or Davidson. Ignore all the northern SLACs (really, all the SLACs).

You should be able to find 8-10 happy choices with this approach. Applying to 20-30 schools means the teen and/or parent doesn’t know what they want or didn’t stay focused.

And have the discipline to protect the process/be the buffer for your kid. If your boss says “you know, I went to Williams, and I’d be happy to write a recommendation” DON’T suggest Williams to your kid (if the above are actually the criteria). DON’T make him apply to one last school. Complete your list by the beginning of senior year, so you aren’t panicking and adding on.

And reinforce to your teen that there is no one perfect school out there. Don’t get too attached. Like in house hunters, if you get most what you want, and all of what you really need, then you’ll be in good shape.

I'm curious of the schools that fit this criteria? Miami?

I was thinking Davidson or maybe the California schools

[Anonymous]

Penn

[Anonymous]

Oh sorry - not warm! My bad

[Anonymous]

14-16

Try to make the most out of ED first

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hello, my partner and I didn't study in the U.S.A. so we are in new territory to what seems a very complicated process concerning College. I know every student is different and every school is as well, however what is the average number of colleges a student applies to? I've heard 3 to 5 but I've also heard 25. Our kid is a sophomore so the school will give us time to talk to the counselor next year. I know families may hire a private counselor for this in addition to the school's.

The first gen immigrant families I know that have hired college counselors have been very happy to have someone to guide them through the process. If you can afford it, I would consider it. With schools going test optional (and the subsequent extreme increase in applications), kids who are shooting for top schools (and by this I mean T-30ish) are applying to more schools than the traditional 7-10. I'd say that for the last couple cycles it has been more like 12-14 or more. It is a lot harder to identify "Target" schools in the test optional world.