Senior parents - how many applications this cycle?

[Anonymous]

3 Safeties: Pitt/PennState/UMD - Accepted EA in all 3

3 Targets: UVA/UMich - Accepted EA in both

1 ED: Ivy - Deferred

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

They don’t have any acceptances they would actually consider so not sure it was ridiculous

But isn't that the point of this thread? They clearly didn't make a good list or their DC wouldn't have applied to a school the family won't accept. Why did they apply there? The PP who stated no one needs to apply to 19 schools is correct. Jr parents please learn from this thread. Do the research to make a good list with your DC that includes likelies they actually want to attend & reasonable targets based on their stats. You can decide how many reach schools to include, but that's easy since you know those are lotteries. Doing 19 quality applications isn't possible and would be pure hell for your DC.

Wow. You sure have strong opinions something that doesn’t affect you.

1. 2 of the EA deferrals were on our college counselor’s “safety” list for DC.

2. I did not approve of applying to the school I won’t let them attend. College counselor pushed it and DC made that choice.

3. It’s crazy…as this forum shows. So we applied to a lot of schools to increase chances. We also know we were dealing with a difficult application (very high scores and mid grades) so some of it does come down to luck.

Why does this bother people so much?

I'm sorry, but I am dying to know, why won't you let them attend? I'm honestly curious. Cost? Location? Politics? If you can explain without divulging too much . . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine applied to 8

3 safeties: accepted with merit
2 reaches: 1 deferred/1 waitlist
3 targets/reaches: accepted w/o merit

I’m impressed your kid so accurately predicted what was a reach/target/safety.

It’s not that hard honestly. My DD did 10. In at 2 safeties, in at 2 targets, rejected 2 reaches (which we expected) waitlisted one target and deferred another target. Waiting on another reach and target - although at this point she doesn’t care about either of them anymore. Shes deciding between her two safeties because she ended up liking them the best! And she got significant merit aid at both. She said “mom I watched you pay off your school loans (I’m a doctor, had significant loans) and I DON’T want to do that too!”

You have to pick a good list. And be ok with T50-T100 schools. Not every kid deserves to be at a T25. Once you accept that the process is pretty easy.

I think because they are young and sometimes unsure of things, kids don’t always create such a good list. It might be all over the place or not realistic or schools they don’t like that much. It is hard to create a good list in my opinion.

Sure, but presumably parents guide their kids? It’s only hard if you are out to lunch. My kid and I sat down and looked over many options and created a spreadsheet with stats and merit potential and his intended major. We then looked closely at the scattergrams for our school and he chose from that. He applied to 9 schools, got in 7, declined at one and deferred at one.

Hopefully parents are helping their kid create the list. You also have to be involved because of money. You don’t want your kid getting all jazzed up about a school that costs 90K/yr and not be able to actually afford that. In my kids case, he had 50k/yr to spend and when we went though all the schools he had to keep in mind merit money if the school was over 50K and if there wasn’t merit was he willing to take on loans. This is really their first adult lesson in finances responsibility.

I guess. I am the PP with the 8 apps and my kid had a good list and good safeties. But some of her friends have had a harder time. I don’t think I would place it all on the parents. Kids have different personalities. It’s good yours sat down and was reasonable but many teens are not that reasonable, especially with stressful things like college admissions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:3 Safeties: Pitt/PennState/UMD - Accepted EA in all 3

3 Targets: UVA/UMich - Accepted EA in both

1 ED: Ivy - Deferred

What's the 3rd target? UMich is definitely a reach OOS and something to be proud of.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We visited schools Jr year, picked a target, applied ED, and done. One application.

This is admirable. Parents take heed.
We have an 11th grader. Next year they will be making one application to 7 of the colleges of the University of California (we are in state).

We are also in state in CA. DC will likely apply to 2-5 UC’s but I know there will be OOS schools they want to apply to as well. My hope is Berkeley or UCLA, talk about what we’d be able to contribute to grad school with in state undergrad, done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

They don’t have any acceptances they would actually consider so not sure it was ridiculous

But isn't that the point of this thread? They clearly didn't make a good list or their DC wouldn't have applied to a school the family won't accept. Why did they apply there? The PP who stated no one needs to apply to 19 schools is correct. Jr parents please learn from this thread. Do the research to make a good list with your DC that includes likelies they actually want to attend & reasonable targets based on their stats. You can decide how many reach schools to include, but that's easy since you know those are lotteries. Doing 19 quality applications isn't possible and would be pure hell for your DC.

Wow. You sure have strong opinions something that doesn’t affect you.

1. 2 of the EA deferrals were on our college counselor’s “safety” list for DC.

2. I did not approve of applying to the school I won’t let them attend. College counselor pushed it and DC made that choice.

3. It’s crazy…as this forum shows. So we applied to a lot of schools to increase chances. We also know we were dealing with a difficult application (very high scores and mid grades) so some of it does come down to luck.

Why does this bother people so much?

I'm sorry, but I am dying to know, why won't you let them attend? I'm honestly curious. Cost? Location? Politics? If you can explain without divulging too much . . .

Location mostly. It’s the state school in the state where I grew up. I think I just have a bad taste about it because of that. I don’t think it has anything to offer in terms of growth, exposure etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS did 75 total. 25 safety, 31 target, 19 reach. He was the one who wanted to do that many and has had amazing results so far. Only 2 rejections, 1 deferral, and 1 withdrawn so far. Accepted to 52 and waiting to hear back from 19

Genuinely curious why he wanted to apply to so many? There is a girl on CC who applied to 60 with a clear favorite, but decided to apply to the other 59 for who knows what reason? She routinely pops up on posts, sweating out acceptances, subsequently bragging about scholarships, only to have had her eye on one school all along.

There simply can't be a genuine interest in that many schools, and these numbers go well beyond having options or a safety. Whatever the intention is, this type of behavior has a negative impact on other applicants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS did 75 total. 25 safety, 31 target, 19 reach. He was the one who wanted to do that many and has had amazing results so far. Only 2 rejections, 1 deferral, and 1 withdrawn so far. Accepted to 52 and waiting to hear back from 19

Genuinely curious why he wanted to apply to so many? There is a girl on CC who applied to 60 with a clear favorite, but decided to apply to the other 59 for who knows what reason? She routinely pops up on posts, sweating out acceptances, subsequently bragging about scholarships, only to have had her eye on one school all along.

There simply can't be a genuine interest in that many schools, and these numbers go well beyond having options or a safety. Whatever the intention is, this type of behavior has a negative impact on other applicants.

I thought PP was kidding. Please tell me she was…

[Anonymous]

My child applied to 8 schools in the end. Waiting to get an answer from 1 of them, which also happens to be her favorite. She has 3 admissions currently. I think we have ruled out the one that is really far away. The other 2 are in our home state - a private 3 hours away and a public 4 hours away.

[Anonymous]

Genuinely curious about the weight people place on distance. To me, a 4 hour car ride is no easier than a 2 hour flight. What’s the advantage? Air travel is inexpensive now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:3 Safeties: Pitt/PennState/UMD - Accepted EA in all 3

3 Targets: UVA/UMich - Accepted EA in both

1 ED: Ivy - Deferred

What's the 3rd target? UMich is definitely a reach OOS and something to be proud of.

Penn

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Genuinely curious about the weight people place on distance. To me, a 4 hour car ride is no easier than a 2 hour flight. What’s the advantage? Air travel is inexpensive now.

Some places are not simple 2 hour flights. Or cheap flights. And not easily accessible by train and/or bus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Genuinely curious about the weight people place on distance. To me, a 4 hour car ride is no easier than a 2 hour flight. What’s the advantage? Air travel is inexpensive now.

Some places are not simple 2 hour flights. Or cheap flights. And not easily accessible by train and/or bus.

NY/Philly much easier than some other places in New England

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:3 Safeties: Pitt/PennState/UMD - Accepted EA in all 3

3 Targets: UVA/UMich - Accepted EA in both

1 ED: Ivy - Deferred

What's the 3rd target? UMich is definitely a reach OOS and something to be proud of.

Penn

You have an Ivy as a target? Your kid must be amazing…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS did 75 total. 25 safety, 31 target, 19 reach. He was the one who wanted to do that many and has had amazing results so far. Only 2 rejections, 1 deferral, and 1 withdrawn so far. Accepted to 52 and waiting to hear back from 19

Genuinely curious why he wanted to apply to so many? There is a girl on CC who applied to 60 with a clear favorite, but decided to apply to the other 59 for who knows what reason? She routinely pops up on posts, sweating out acceptances, subsequently bragging about scholarships, only to have had her eye on one school all along.

There simply can't be a genuine interest in that many schools, and these numbers go well beyond having options or a safety. Whatever the intention is, this type of behavior has a negative impact on other applicants.

We are a donut hole family and he was insistent on trying to secure a full-ride scholarship. He applied to schools of all tiers to do so. He has actually withdrawn ~40 applications because he managed to secure a full ride from a third-party!!! We are super proud of him! He also enjoyed receiving the acceptance goodies like stickers and T-shirts. He only has applications in for schools he is still actively considering so he does not disadvantage other applicants.