Does your school cap the number of colleges kid can apply to?

[Anonymous]

I understand that GDS caps at 10 colleges max to be applied to (UC's count as 1 school despite being able to apply to multiple UCs and UCAS/UK count as 1 application as well)

Capping at 10 seems not in line with the times. In theory, capping is a good idea. In practice, the world has changed - admit rates are way down (Northeastern is now 67%!) - yet GDS still caps at 10 schools. I'm not aware any NYC/SF/CHI/LA private schools cap at 10

[Anonymous]

OP northeastern admit rate 6.7%!!

[Anonymous]

Yes, this is true about GDS and I do not understand how they justify it given the current situation with other kids applying to tons of schools on the Common App and with admissions rates being what they are, test optional, etc, all of which create way more uncertainty than in the past.

[Anonymous]

Why would they cap it? They sound lazy.

[Anonymous]

The general recommendation by private college counselors is to apply to 6-9 universities/colleges. 2-3 reaches, 2-3 matches, 2-3 safeties.

So a max of 10 seems eminently reasonable, OP. The essays have to be really well written. Counselors seek to avoid students overextending themselves and sabotaging themselves with poor personal statements and supplemental essays.

[Anonymous]

There’s no way they can cap something that has nothing to do with them. Other than sending transcripts the high school should really be hands off. Your kids can apply wherever they want. I do think more than 10 would be pointless, but still can’t be school regulated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
The general recommendation by private college counselors is to apply to 6-9 universities/colleges. 2-3 reaches, 2-3 matches, 2-3 safeties.

So a max of 10 seems eminently reasonable, OP. The essays have to be really well written. Counselors seek to avoid students overextending themselves and sabotaging themselves with poor personal statements and supplemental essays.

Got it. All of that makes sense. But that pre-supposes that at GDS (the example named) that kids would be throwing in tons of applications w/o thought and care to the supplementals. No way this happens. So the capping policy just seems like an unnecessary shackle relative to peer elite private schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
The general recommendation by private college counselors is to apply to 6-9 universities/colleges. 2-3 reaches, 2-3 matches, 2-3 safeties.

So a max of 10 seems eminently reasonable, OP. The essays have to be really well written. Counselors seek to avoid students overextending themselves and sabotaging themselves with poor personal statements and supplemental essays.[/quote



This was the advice as of four years ago. COVID and test-optional changed everything. Most applicants are doing well in excess of ten unless their private conscribes it (and I've seen some horror stories here of high stats private kids who applied to ten and didn't get into any of them - if you google search it wyou will find it). I'm not saying this is best practices, but it is what the current environment calls for unless you are URM or first-generation or something else the university needs.

[Anonymous]

^^ BTW there are MANY posts on this same topic right here on DCUM. I see 12 to 15 often being mentioned. One parents said their kid applied to 20. And the internet has some kids applying to 100 through the historically black college program.

[Anonymous]

Here's the official GDS policy - I think they actually *can* enforce this by refusing to send grades and letters to more than 10 schools.

Students may apply to up to 10 schools. We communicate this policy to each college. This policy is well received because each GDS application is known to be thoughtful and well-considered.

The College Counseling Office will submit:
The School Report.
The GDS School Profile.
The Official Transcript.
Quarter/Semester grades for senior year.
Counselor Letter of recommendation.
Teacher Letters of recommendation.

[Anonymous]

Hmm. I think the real message here is:

Have a realistic sense of where the applicant might end up.

1. Don't throw most of your application chances away on reaches.
2. Matches are schools where you're at the very top of the grade/score mid-range that most schools publish.
3. A safety can only be a safety if the applicant tailors their supplemental essay to the school in a convincing enough way that they don't exert yield protection.
4. If you're only applying to tiny schools, there's only so many students they can accept each year. In that case, you'd better apply to more schools. The worst mistake a high-achieving private school student makes is applying to 10 SLACS with grades/scores that hit smack in those schools' mid-range. Because they take a few hundred freshmen a year, and the student isn't Ivy League level so doesn't stand out as a priority admit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Hmm. I think the real message here is:

Have a realistic sense of where the applicant might end up.

1. Don't throw most of your application chances away on reaches.
2. Matches are schools where you're at the very top of the grade/score mid-range that most schools publish.
3. A safety can only be a safety if the applicant tailors their supplemental essay to the school in a convincing enough way that they don't exert yield protection.
4. If you're only applying to tiny schools, there's only so many students they can accept each year. In that case, you'd better apply to more schools. The worst mistake a high-achieving private school student makes is applying to 10 SLACS with grades/scores that hit smack in those schools' mid-range. Because they take a few hundred freshmen a year, and the student isn't Ivy League level so doesn't stand out as a priority admit.

Any school that's reading your essay and doing yield protection (a very small minority of schools) is not a safety. A safety is a school that accepts just based on stats where you know your stats will get you in.

By limiting their applications, GDS sends a message that kids are serious about the schools they're applying to. If you want the enormous admissions advantage that you get applying from GDS, you need to cooperate with their system, because it's one of the reasons their kids do so well in the process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Hmm. I think the real message here is:

Have a realistic sense of where the applicant might end up.

1. Don't throw most of your application chances away on reaches.
2. Matches are schools where you're at the very top of the grade/score mid-range that most schools publish.
3. A safety can only be a safety if the applicant tailors their supplemental essay to the school in a convincing enough way that they don't exert yield protection.
4. If you're only applying to tiny schools, there's only so many students they can accept each year. In that case, you'd better apply to more schools. The worst mistake a high-achieving private school student makes is applying to 10 SLACS with grades/scores that hit smack in those schools' mid-range. Because they take a few hundred freshmen a year, and the student isn't Ivy League level so doesn't stand out as a priority admit.

I like the general spirit of this comment. Yet, the cold hard facts are way different today than even 5 years ago.

-Acceptance rates are down by 1/3rd to 2/3rds at MANY top 50 schools and even to 100s.

-The SAT optional thing is mostly a ruse for elite private school applicants - Compass Prep has gathered exhaustive data from Top 50 schools that shows 1.5x to 3x acceptance rate advantage for those who submitted scores vs. those who did not in 2021 and 2022.

-That's pushed middle 50th SAT up to high 1400s to 1500s for many Top 50

-GDS dropped APs (different thread threads on this) and did not always backfill with UL courses so calculating weighted GPA is not apples to apples to even other elite private schools in US

-so what was once a safety and target - even a few years ago is not that at all.

I guess itboils down to whether GDS will be happy if big chunk of class ends up in lower 51-100 or 101 to 150th ranked schools because this is where the trend is headed.

A simple fix would be to expand to 12 or 15 cap recognizing changes in environment.

Last I checked, goal of this school is to get kids into best possible school for them for the year they are applying. Capping at 10 seems entirely not aligned with facts TODAY

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Hmm. I think the real message here is:

Have a realistic sense of where the applicant might end up.

1. Don't throw most of your application chances away on reaches.
2. Matches are schools where you're at the very top of the grade/score mid-range that most schools publish.
3. A safety can only be a safety if the applicant tailors their supplemental essay to the school in a convincing enough way that they don't exert yield protection.
4. If you're only applying to tiny schools, there's only so many students they can accept each year. In that case, you'd better apply to more schools. The worst mistake a high-achieving private school student makes is applying to 10 SLACS with grades/scores that hit smack in those schools' mid-range. Because they take a few hundred freshmen a year, and the student isn't Ivy League level so doesn't stand out as a priority admit.

Any school that's reading your essay and doing yield protection (a very small minority of schools) is not a safety. A safety is a school that accepts just based on stats where you know your stats will get you in.

By limiting their applications, GDS sends a message that kids are serious about the schools they're applying to. If you want the enormous admissions advantage that you get applying from GDS, you need to cooperate with their system, because it's one of the reasons their kids do so well in the process.

You don't seem to understand what a safety is, PP. Someone's reach school can be someone else's safety. Most colleges and universities ask for essays, and when they ask, be very assured that they read it!!!
Schools are not stupid and know full well who their competitors are, meaning which other schools an applicant is likely to have applied to, given what they wrote in their personal statement, the intended major and their stats. If the supplemental doesn't convince them the applicant might actually accept their offer, instead of going to the higher-rated competitor, they might just yield-protect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's the official GDS policy - I think they actually *can* enforce this by refusing to send grades and letters to more than 10 schools.

Students may apply to up to 10 schools. We communicate this policy to each college. This policy is well received because each GDS application is known to be thoughtful and well-considered.

The College Counseling Office will submit:
The School Report.
The GDS School Profile.
The Official Transcript.
Quarter/Semester grades for senior year.
Counselor Letter of recommendation.
Teacher Letters of recommendation.

The bolded is not true. Are they being lazy? cap at 10 schools is absolutely unreasonable in the current landscape.