Older DC applied to 6 schools early action. Got into 5, including his one T20 reach. Didn't bother applying to the handful of RD schools after that. DD, class of 26, will apply to 7 EA with similar strategy with one T20 reach (same one) hoping to have similar outcome. Also has handful of RD schools she will apply to if necessary.
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2022 grad: 1 ED, 4 EA - got into ED school and two of the EA schools, withdrew the other EA apps once ED decision came in
2025 grad: 1 rolling, 3 EA, got into all. My kids only applied to in-state schools in Virginia that we could afford and each had a true safety on the list, so no need to apply to 10+. I definitely understand applying to more schools when trying to get into an Ivy or other highly selective colleges. |
39, currently attends Penn. |
SCEA to a HYP. Got in. To apply to others from our HS is a cardinal sin. So one and done. |
Not sure why this is considered a Class of 2025 thing. My Class of 2020 was told exactly this at some T20s. It’s been a fact for at least 10 years or more |
Both kids applied ED to schools ranked T10 to T20. Both colleges were first choice schools. They both got in. So one and done each. A very painless process. |
Wish my kid's first choice offered ED. Sigh... |
DC 2024 applied to 8, got into 5. Attending a top 50 school in honors college, so not ivy or tippy top.
DC 2026 has a list of 12, but some have no supplemental essay other than the common app one, and kid is unsure of major. Also, weaker gpa and sats so will be test optional for some. They have 2-3 likelies but the outcome is a bit more up in the air. |
Wrong. |
Why so many reaches? |
DP, but I 100% agree with the PP. If your kid is applying to more than 15 or so (and even that's a stretch), I'm going to think that either A) they were lazy and didn't run NPCs to find actually affordable + attainable schools; B) they were lazy and didn't do the work to find "very likely" schools they'd actually be good going to; C) you turned them into a prestige hunter. E.g. anyone whose kid applied to both Columbia AND Dartmouth, or Penn AND Brown — or, god forbid, every Ivy — did it wrong. |
2025 grad had 16 on his list, had sent in 9 applications before ED result came back with a yes. Most were EAs and a few RDs with earlier (scholarship) deadlines. A lot of application fees down the drain, but what can you do. |
2022 MCPS grad: 4, all RD. Accepted at all 4 with merit aid offers. |
2 early rolling safeties (in with merit)
one ED to a high target, in with merit and done. |
Same in 2022 and many other years. This is not news. |