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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]If your DC has very high stats (top 5% of class, most rigorous classes and 1500+ SAT) and also hopes to go to a highly rejective college, they might be in the zone where they decide to apply to a lot of colleges. It’s a numbers game, and while there is a lot of correlation among acceptances, the more applications, the higher the chances.

If that’s your kid’s hope, then tune out all the people who will surely respond here that there’s no point. When they say if you’re rejected by Harvard you’re also likely to be rejected by Yale. What matters more is that your kid is likely to be rejected by each of these schools, but the more applications, the higher their chances. [/quote]

Mathematically, this poster’s statement is untrue. Each school is its own “lottery,” so applying to more schools doesn’t increase one’s odds at any particular school. What is fair - and perhaps the poster’s intent - is that even among the best schools AOs may be looking for slightly different candidates or have somewhat different applicant pools. In that case, applying to more schools may increase a kid’s chance of hitting one where their combination of achievements fits what the school is looking for. That is to say, the odds of your kid “fitting” a desired profile at various schools may be different at different schools. [/quote]

Actually, mathematically it is technically true since admission are independent events.  However, this fact and formula are USELESS at highly competitive colleges as (unlike sides of a die) you cannot ever know your individual chance at any one college.  Consistent with the mathematical formula, if your chances are zero at all 8 ivies (for example), then [b]your chances do not increase when you apply to 8 instead of 1[/b].[/quote]

I think you said the same thing as the poster you responded to. [/quote]

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