Anonymous wrote:Here's the official GDS policy - I think they actually *can* enforce this by refusing to send grades and letters to more than 10 schools.

Students may apply to up to 10 schools. We communicate this policy to each college. This policy is well received because each GDS application is known to be thoughtful and well-considered.

The College Counseling Office will submit:
The School Report.
The GDS School Profile.
The Official Transcript.
Quarter/Semester grades for senior year.
Counselor Letter of recommendation.
Teacher Letters of recommendation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Hmm. I think the real message here is:

Have a realistic sense of where the applicant might end up.

1. Don't throw most of your application chances away on reaches.
2. Matches are schools where you're at the very top of the grade/score mid-range that most schools publish.
3. A safety can only be a safety if the applicant tailors their supplemental essay to the school in a convincing enough way that they don't exert yield protection.
4. If you're only applying to tiny schools, there's only so many students they can accept each year. In that case, you'd better apply to more schools. The worst mistake a high-achieving private school student makes is applying to 10 SLACS with grades/scores that hit smack in those schools' mid-range. Because they take a few hundred freshmen a year, and the student isn't Ivy League level so doesn't stand out as a priority admit.

Any school that's reading your essay and doing yield protection (a very small minority of schools) is not a safety. A safety is a school that accepts just based on stats where you know your stats will get you in.

By limiting their applications, GDS sends a message that kids are serious about the schools they're applying to. If you want the enormous admissions advantage that you get applying from GDS, you need to cooperate with their system, because it's one of the reasons their kids do so well in the process.

Anonymous wrote:
Hmm. I think the real message here is:

Have a realistic sense of where the applicant might end up.

1. Don't throw most of your application chances away on reaches.
2. Matches are schools where you're at the very top of the grade/score mid-range that most schools publish.
3. A safety can only be a safety if the applicant tailors their supplemental essay to the school in a convincing enough way that they don't exert yield protection.
4. If you're only applying to tiny schools, there's only so many students they can accept each year. In that case, you'd better apply to more schools. The worst mistake a high-achieving private school student makes is applying to 10 SLACS with grades/scores that hit smack in those schools' mid-range. Because they take a few hundred freshmen a year, and the student isn't Ivy League level so doesn't stand out as a priority admit.

Anonymous wrote:
Hmm. I think the real message here is:

Have a realistic sense of where the applicant might end up.

1. Don't throw most of your application chances away on reaches.
2. Matches are schools where you're at the very top of the grade/score mid-range that most schools publish.
3. A safety can only be a safety if the applicant tailors their supplemental essay to the school in a convincing enough way that they don't exert yield protection.
4. If you're only applying to tiny schools, there's only so many students they can accept each year. In that case, you'd better apply to more schools. The worst mistake a high-achieving private school student makes is applying to 10 SLACS with grades/scores that hit smack in those schools' mid-range. Because they take a few hundred freshmen a year, and the student isn't Ivy League level so doesn't stand out as a priority admit.

Anonymous wrote:
The general recommendation by private college counselors is to apply to 6-9 universities/colleges. 2-3 reaches, 2-3 matches, 2-3 safeties.

So a max of 10 seems eminently reasonable, OP. The essays have to be really well written. Counselors seek to avoid students overextending themselves and sabotaging themselves with poor personal statements and supplemental essays.[/quote



This was the advice as of four years ago. COVID and test-optional changed everything. Most applicants are doing well in excess of ten unless their private conscribes it (and I've seen some horror stories here of high stats private kids who applied to ten and didn't get into any of them - if you google search it wyou will find it). I'm not saying this is best practices, but it is what the current environment calls for unless you are URM or first-generation or something else the university needs.