Reply to If your school limits students to 8-10 applications

Forum Index » College and University Discussion

Reply to "If your school limits students to 8-10 applications"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]If you are thoughtful about your list and not shotgunning a bunch of reach school there's really no need to apply to more than 8-10 schools. [/quote]

^ This, in spades.[/quote]

Whether or not that is true, why should [i]you [/i]get to decide that, or any hs administration?

Shouldn't a student and their family be free to make that decision?

/FYI both my kids ED admits so this did not affect us, so no accusations please.  But right it right and this is wrong.[/quote]

People are free to not send their kids to GDS or any other private school that does this. Our school encourages finding the right fit and there’s no way all ivies are the right fit. They’re still able to fill the grade, so it’s clearly not a big enough problem for most families.[/quote]

You completely avoid answering the question. To repeat:

Whether or not that is true, why should [i]you [/i]get to decide that, or any hs administration?

Shouldn't a student and their family be free to make that decision?[/quote]

It seems like you can’t grasp that people have a different opinion. My kid’s school decides to do this to help kids focus on fit. And probably to limit the number of apps from the school to help the whole student body, not just the top students. And parents are generally fine with it. I’m okay with my schools making this decision for my kid - if I felt differently, I’d send my kid to another school. If you care so much about an individualist culture, you’re free to homeschool your kid.[/quote]

It seems like you can’t simply answer the question.

Why should you get to decide or the school get to decide and not family or the student?

Also, how does limiting the number of apps help the whole student body? That makes absolutely no sense.

And how is a family supposed to know that this is even going to matter when they are choosing a high school?
[/quote]
NP here. DC is at an independent school that limits to 12. This is to allow students to choose colleges wisely and to spend time tailoring essays to each specific school. My educated guess is that students at independent schools tend to apply more frequently to SLACs than public school kids, which means that their applications will be reviewed more in depth, so the quality of essays matter much more than applying to a large state school. Limiting the number of apps helps the student body because colleges do limit the number of acceptances for each HS. Only the kids who really see themselves attending a particular college will apply there and will not be competing with stronger applicants who are applying just to see if they can get in, but will likely turn that college down. This doesn't seem, btw, to affect the stronger students, who get into great schools. Given that 100% of students at our HS attend college, this approach doesn't appear to hurt admissions.
Honestly, any student and/or parent looking at HSs should be asking questions about college admissions processes. [/quote]

Still doesn't answer why it should not be up to the student and their family.

While I understand your point about colleges accepting only a certain number from each HS, and you admit it is a zero sum game, it seems this policy does not help "the student body as a whole" but rather helps some but hurts others somewhat randomly.  Certainly no more fairly and probably less so since it is a limitation.

There is no justification for it.  Let students apply where they want.  Why is that so hard?[/quote]

Many people have answered your question, you just disagree with the answer.
It comes down to schools have their reasons for the policy. You are welcome to disagree and go to a different school or lobby for change. I do think a well-prepared parent with research on the changes in admissions trends could make a good case to raise the number from 8-10 to say 12-14 but OP doesn't seem to want to do that she just wants to whine.[/quote]

Incorrect. [b]No one has answered the question why it should be the decision of the school and not the family.  They just keep repeating the policy and why they like it.[/b]

Please note that this policy exists primarily at tony private schools where the guidance counselors don't want to have to hear from the parents that one kid got all the slots that their kid "deserved".  At least the PP prior to you had the courage to admit it.

It's an unfair policy by its design.  Let all kids apply and let the best win.
[/quote]
NP in this chain and I’ll attempt to answer your question directly such that you can hear it.

The reason that the number of college applications should be the decision of the private school and not the individual families is because the school has an obligation to the [i]entire community[/i] of the school to optimize college admission results for the entire graduating class. That is a primary reason why many families are enrolled. Limiting applications ends up with better overall results for reasons stated numerous times in this discussion.

Have you ever heard of “The Tragedy of the Commons”? A limited resource without regulation on use can be destroyed by individuals trying to maximize their own benefit. I think the college application process is currently experiencing this, with the ever escalating cycle of more and more applications because of less and less certainty. The solution isn’t to have private schools increase their allowed applications, it is for more/all schools to implement limits. This used to be a “natural” limit when each application required serious effort (typing on the paper application you wrote to receive).

But the Common App and colleges have no interest in limiting applications. It’s pure profit. $75 bucks a pop from applicants, but only paying a reader $21/hr? Even if they only process 4 applications per hour, that’s $250 profit. Who’s really benefiting by unlimited applications? It’s not the students. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics