Right number of schools to apply to for HS

[Anonymous]

DD has a list of 8 schools she’s interested in for HS. It’s really 5 for top interest, a sixth that’s a reach & two more that are maybes.

I’m pushing her to stick to 5 for sanity sake. Essays and time spent with more than 5 feels like extra, not needed stress.

I do understand, admissions are very competitive. Am I guiding her wrong to narrow her list to 5 vs. 6-8?

FWIW, she’s an A student, involved in different activities at school and plays competitive sports (she’s good, but not recruit for sports good). She’s looking at all Archdiocese schools. Testing is TBD…doing prep with a tutor, so hoping for a decent outcome.

[Anonymous]

Eh. Admissions are so competitive around here that it can be good to apply widely, but the process is hugely time consuming.

FWIW, DC’s k-8 recommended applying to 4-6 schools as a sweet spot and no more than 8. So your DC isn’t way off base, but trimming one or two could save a lot of effort.

[Anonymous]

It really depends. We originally had 5 last year and our k-8 told us to add at least one more. Every kid in the class ended up with multiple choices, so maybe we could have applied to fewer. That said, it was a great feeling and relief to have the options.

[Anonymous]

Where is she currently? I do think that kids coming from a K-8 have the potential advantage in that their HOS has an established relationship with various high schools and can actively advocate on his/her students' behalf. Or, if they are at a parish school that has some sort of connection, that would make a difference too. If private or parochial, the heads of school will be able to advise you on whether your list is too weighted toward reaches or likelies.

Coming from public school, I would err on the side of applying to more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where is she currently? I do think that kids coming from a K-8 have the potential advantage in that their HOS has an established relationship with various high schools and can actively advocate on his/her students' behalf. Or, if they are at a parish school that has some sort of connection, that would make a difference too. If private or parochial, the heads of school will be able to advise you on whether your list is too weighted toward reaches or likelies.

Coming from public school, I would err on the side of applying to more.

+1

We came from a K-8 and I know of several students that applied to 7+ schools and only got into one or two. We applied for only 4 and got into one.

[Anonymous]

I have to imagine if you’re full pay and they’re all archdiocese schools, five is enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD has a list of 8 schools she’s interested in for HS. It’s really 5 for top interest, a sixth that’s a reach & two more that are maybes.

I’m pushing her to stick to 5 for sanity sake. Essays and time spent with more than 5 feels like extra, not needed stress.

I do understand, admissions are very competitive. Am I guiding her wrong to narrow her list to 5 vs. 6-8?

FWIW, she’s an A student, involved in different activities at school and plays competitive sports (she’s good, but not recruit for sports good). She’s looking at all Archdiocese schools. Testing is TBD…doing prep with a tutor, so hoping for a decent outcome.

She'll be fine with just 5. You could allow her to do the 6th reach if she's getting through the 5 quickly. Otherwise I dont think she has anything to worry about.

[Anonymous]

Mine is applying to 4 or 5 schools. We're coming from a K-8th and she has a reasonable shot at all the schools we're applying to (no big 3/5 schools). Our school recommends applying to 4-6 schools.

[Anonymous]

OP here. This is helpful, thanks. We’re in a private K-8 & will be full pay for high school.

It’s not lost on me how competitive the process is & I’d prefer to have more options to select from than not. I also don’t want her over stressing the process, attempting to complete 8+ essays (because they’re all a little different). But good call on talking to the school advisor on the right number. She didn’t seem bothered by the list initially, but I assumed she thought we’d narrow it down a bit. I could be wrong.

[Anonymous]

OP just remember that you’re going to want to tour all these still at school, go to their various open houses possibly, and some sports events etc. And she’ll want to do shadow days.

She’s going to get overwhelmed making a choice and you are going to be overwhelmed with all the time commitments. Coming from a K-8 and good test scores and grades, I’d definitely trim the list. We were a similar profile and only applied to two schools, which still felt like plenty.

[Anonymous]

Applied to 5, got into 3.

[Anonymous]

I say apply to as many as you have time. It’s difficult to getting in schools these days. My son applied to 6, got in 2, waitlisted at 3 and rejected at 1. And the two he got in weren’t the two I would’ve expected.

[Anonymous]

I think it depends what type of school your child is coming from and what type of HS they want to attend. At my son’s Catholic K-8, almost all students apply to only 3 Catholic High Schools. A handful apply to additional private high schools or test-in public’s. The teachers do a good job to make sure that the students pick at least one school that is a “safety,” but most kids get into one of their top two schools, if not all. The school also works with the kids to determine which schools are the best fit so that their top choices are realistic.

[Anonymous]

Once you do some school visits in the fall you will probably narrow it down naturally. I applied to 5 (middle school) accepted to 3 but for HS I would up the number to whatever your daughter feels comfortable doing without being overwhelmed. You don't want to regret not applying. Apply for the reach school, you might be surprised.

[Anonymous]

I don't see any reason to apply to the two reach schools that aren't a top choice. Apply to the top 5 choices, then decide if you want to add a sure admit (get advice from current school) or public school as back up.