Anonymous wrote:Hello, my partner and I didn't study in the U.S.A. so we are in new territory to what seems a very complicated process concerning College. I know every student is different and every school is as well, however what is the average number of colleges a student applies to? I've heard 3 to 5 but I've also heard 25. Our kid is a sophomore so the school will give us time to talk to the counselor next year. I know families may hire a private counselor for this in addition to the school's.

It depends. Acceptance at the selective schools is mostly a lottery for qualified kids who do not have any other bright spots like being having double legacy parents who have been exceptionally generous with donations to the school, sports at the level of qualifying for Olympics teams, having sold a socially-conscious start-up for 8 figure sums, or being recognized by the President of the United States, in person, at the White House, with reporters. So if your kid wants to shoot for these schools, the more applications you submit, the higher chance that you will get lucky and get accepted somewhere.

If you are applying to schools with high acceptance rates, then you can probably get away with applying to 5-6. Unless you are applying to schools like George Mason or JMU (both fine schools), I wouldn't be comfortable submitting only 3 applications.

It really depends on what you want, what your kids' stats are and what you can afford. If staying in state with public options for affordability, than you could do 4. If high stats kid trying to get into a top tier, those feel random because of the high number of competitive applicants, so could end up with 15+ to accommodate all the reach options. If looking for merit aid from private unis/ LACs or oos public schools, could end up applying to 15+

Anonymous wrote:Hello, my partner and I didn't study in the U.S.A. so we are in new territory to what seems a very complicated process concerning College. I know every student is different and every school is as well, however what is the average number of colleges a student applies to? I've heard 3 to 5 but I've also heard 25. Our kid is a sophomore so the school will give us time to talk to the counselor next year. I know families may hire a private counselor for this in addition to the school's.

We did not study in the US either and just went through the process with our DC.
Colleges in the US will compare your DC to students from the same school. This means that some students within your DC's high school will start with an advantage you do not have for colleges that consider legacy (definition varies, most often father or mother attended this specific college as undergrad). Your DC may have their own "hook", (Olympic? ) athlete comes to mind but there are others (music, any unusual hobby).
Stats matter of course but are just an entry ticket for a lottery if your DC does not have something that differentiates them from the pack. Test optional added to the randomness as the pool of applicants became larger.

Our high stats and down to earth DC ended up applying to 7 colleges/ universities: 2 in the US (in UMD and waiting for 1 RD), 1 in Canada and 4 in the UK.
Got in all abroad as the system is merit based with no surprise.

Good luck!

Anonymous wrote:my DS is applying to 15.
But we don't know what we're doing. He applied to a bunch EA, but then decided he wanted to apply to more competitive schools, so added a bunch more. We hope to think this through more carefully with our second DS.

I think that's smart though. If he has some EA acceptances he feels good about going to, why not shoot his shot?

my DS is applying to 15.
But we don't know what we're doing. He applied to a bunch EA, but then decided he wanted to apply to more competitive schools, so added a bunch more. We hope to think this through more carefully with our second DS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:3 they won't get into but kids can dream
3 they could get into but might not
3 they definitely can get into but they think they are above those schools and are depressed when this is the school they actually end up attending.

Haha! You hit the nail on its head!!!!

Accept they honestly can get rejected from all of them, these days.

Anonymous wrote:3 they won't get into but kids can dream
3 they could get into but might not
3 they definitely can get into but they think they are above those schools and are depressed when this is the school they actually end up attending.

Haha! You hit the nail on its head!!!!

Depends on your strategy. DC applied 1 ED - rejected, two EA - both accepted, picked one and was done by mid-December.

I think the PP with the criteria advice gave really great advice. I'll add two recommendations:

1) Order something like the Fiske Guide to Colleges. It's a giant book that has descriptions of the various schools and it's got lots of ways to access information, like groupings by state, by price, by debt, etc. There's a section on how to develop your kid's criteria as the PP referenced.

2) Get an absolutely firm grip on what you can (or are willing) to pay for college. Understand what the COA -- Cost of Attendance -- is for each school, including tuition, room and board, travel, incidentals. Have a firm understanding of how much colleges will assume you can pay -- and how they will expect you to make up the difference, what financial aid options you might be eligible for, etc. Don't put schools on the list unless you have a reasonable expectation that you will be willing and able to cover the costs.

My DC applied 1 rolling, 1 ED, and 1EA and was planning to apply 10 more in the regular round. Luckily DC got accepted ED.

Usually girls apply to more colleges than boys.

I would say girls apply 8-10 colleges

Boys 4-5

Girls most of the time want to go far away and start picking colleges earlier than boys.

Also keep in mind that in-state tuition is cheaper too.