Biggest issue for me is, holy cow that's alot of supplemental essays. Your DC will be full time essay writing all fall.

Mine picked an ED and had those essays done by mid Sept, then applied sparingly to a couple of EA schools.

DD did an ED to a slight reach, two EAs to safeties, one EA to a match and 1 EA to a complete hail mary. Got into the ED as well as the two EA safeties. Pulled the rest of the apps. No need to apply to 15. Even if she hasn't gotten into the ED, she did not plan on sending out too many more, maybe 1-2 more if she hadn't gotten in.

To the poster whose kid applied to 16 schools and got into 4, that is the trap that the high stats kids fall into. Just because they are high stats, doesn't mean they are a shoe in for all those top schools. It's still less than 10% acceptance and guess what, your kid is a dime a dozen in that pile of applicants to a top school. You have to apply to real safeties, not just what YOU think is a safety. 3 shoe in safeties, 3 matches/targets, 2 reaches. MAX that's 8.

Anonymous wrote:No, 15 is normal if you are an ambitious kid who wants to go to a brand name school. I applied to 12 schools about 8 years ago, now it’s harder to get into a ‘good’ college - ergo, 15 feels right. Since getting into a brand name college is a lottery, it’s good to ‘buy’ as many tickets as possible if you can afford it.

OP you can sometimes petition to reduce or waive the application fees.

you have bought into the hype and stress

It is what it is, unless you're willing to narrow it down from 15 (which is a lot). Don't forget all the fees for sending ACT/SAT scores as well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just wait until you get accepted and realize it’s $75,000 per year.

Some are $83k a year

I'm pretty sure with tuition and fee increases BC, Tufts, and Villanova were over $85,000 for my kid this year. OP, I'd expect another tuition raise. Even a 3-4% raise is a big jump when you are looking at high 80s. Soon it will be normal for schools to be in the 90,000+ range all in.

Yes, college applications are expensive. My kid applied to 12 schools and did get into a couple of T30s. Got waitlisted to a few T10s. My younger kid is not getting into a T30. I think it is fine to discourage kids to apply to a ton of reach schools that they can't get into (or pay for!).

Anonymous wrote:that is just crazy

I applied to 7 schools and THAT was a lot in the 90s - got into 5. But I had a pretty balanced list of safeties and reaches (didn't get into the 2 Ivies-for the best in the end).

The funny thing is I am taking way more time researching schools and programs for my rising junior than I EVER did for my own choices. My mom finds it very funny. I mean, I pretty much got whatever mailings I got, read through the stuff in the Top schools book and just kind of picked several.

I think it is good to have a couple safeties. a couple pretty sures and a few reaches. Applying to nothing but reaches, even with perfect stats, is just not a good strategy and can lead to being rejected by all schools. A girl at my HS applied to 5 Ivies and then UNC-CH (she was a legacy, not our state school) - she only got into UNC out of all her applications. Granted, not a bad school at all, but it was a very stupid gamble.

It is amazing how many "smart people" only apply to Reaches. Or have "safeties" that they really don't want to attend. Hint: it's not a true safety if you can't afford it and you are not excited to attend it!

There are so many options out there today, it really isn't that hard to have a great list of balance (reach/target/safety). You just have to be willing to realize that the T20-30 schools are a lottery, there are not nearly enough spots for those qualified and who want to attend, so assume you won't get in and plan for exciting next choices and your kid will end up happy. IMO, my kid will actually be happier at their actual school than they might have been at their higher choices, because it's really a better fit with more balance.

My high stat kid applied to 16 and only got into 4. With a single-sitting 1560 SAT and 4.4 GPA on the most difficult curriculum possible and 13 AP/DE and boatloads of EC, awards etc. White male going into CS. So a lot depends on major and your demographics but we were pretty surprised at results. They aren't kidding when they say top schools are a lottery ticket- my kid has a 167 IQ and didn't get into any of them. He is going to do brilliant things regardless, but I just saw a hint of myself a year ago in your post never realizing it largely doesn't matter how talented you are in elite college admissions.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, 15 is normal if you are an ambitious kid who wants to go to a brand name school. I applied to 12 schools about 8 years ago, now it’s harder to get into a ‘good’ college - ergo, 15 feels right. Since getting into a brand name college is a lottery, it’s good to ‘buy’ as many tickets as possible if you can afford it.

OP you can sometimes petition to reduce or waive the application fees.

Actually no. This is not how it works. Your example of the lottery ticket would be the same as driving around from state to state and buying one lottery ticket from each state’s lottery. This is not the same as buying 15 tickets for the SAME lottery which would increase your chances of winning.

I would invite you to read the threads in this forum from earlier this spring.

This assumes the admit chances at top schools are fixed. If fixed, applying to 15 schools is like buying 15 Washposts to confirm a story it reports. It's all the same. If the admit chances at 15 schools have some random factors, it's more like buying 15 different papers to confirm the story reported by Washpost.

So, seeking out the one that get's it wrong, it's a strategy, but still nowhere near independent odds. The qualified but meh kid who gets rejected from 5 similar schools, is going to get rejected from all 15.

It's not unusual for someone to get 1 ivy - and rejected by all others.

And for someone to be admitted to all 8 ivies and pluses, it happens. It's extremely rare except for the chosen few.

15??? Just wait until your DC sees all the essays they have to write. 15 is a bit silly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is not even planning to apply for that many, probably around 15, which is not much for high stat kids, since their reach and target schools overlap, it's like playing the lottery

Not independent odds, so no, it's not like buying more tickets.

It’s only not independent odds if your student isn’t completely qualified to get in. For the average DCUM kid, they hav their multiple APs, 1500+ SAT score, high GPA, extracurricular leaderships, volunteer work, summer internships etc etc checked off. By that point you are qualified for any T20 school, it’s just a matter of who the school is looking for, if your essay will speak to the officer reading your application, etc. Therefore, more apps mean more choices, and a higher chance at a top tier choice.

However, applying to a lot of schools is a detriment if your student isn’t disciplined. If they procrastinate and write all their essays at the last second then yes, it’s a waste of money and it will just stress them out.

And please make sure you have 2-3 true safeties and 2-3 true targets in your list of 15! For your kid's sake. And remember this means those all need to be affordable as well. Since high stats kids can get rejected from safeties because the school is managing yield (thinks they wont actually attend), make sure you demonstrate interest, do interviews, etc to let them know you are actually interested.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, 15 is normal if you are an ambitious kid who wants to go to a brand name school. I applied to 12 schools about 8 years ago, now it’s harder to get into a ‘good’ college - ergo, 15 feels right. Since getting into a brand name college is a lottery, it’s good to ‘buy’ as many tickets as possible if you can afford it.

OP you can sometimes petition to reduce or waive the application fees.

Actually no. This is not how it works. Your example of the lottery ticket would be the same as driving around from state to state and buying one lottery ticket from each state’s lottery. This is not the same as buying 15 tickets for the SAME lottery which would increase your chances of winning.

I would invite you to read the threads in this forum from earlier this spring.

This assumes the admit chances at top schools are fixed. If fixed, applying to 15 schools is like buying 15 Washposts to confirm a story it reports. It's all the same. If the admit chances at 15 schools have some random factors, it's more like buying 15 different papers to confirm the story reported by Washpost.

So, seeking out the one that get's it wrong, it's a strategy, but still nowhere near independent odds. The qualified but meh kid who gets rejected from 5 similar schools, is going to get rejected from all 15.

You’re chasing prestige and prestige costs money. Get used to it.

15 is not many at all with today's uncertainty and gambling aspect

that is just crazy

I applied to 7 schools and THAT was a lot in the 90s - got into 5. But I had a pretty balanced list of safeties and reaches (didn't get into the 2 Ivies-for the best in the end).

The funny thing is I am taking way more time researching schools and programs for my rising junior than I EVER did for my own choices. My mom finds it very funny. I mean, I pretty much got whatever mailings I got, read through the stuff in the Top schools book and just kind of picked several.

I think it is good to have a couple safeties. a couple pretty sures and a few reaches. Applying to nothing but reaches, even with perfect stats, is just not a good strategy and can lead to being rejected by all schools. A girl at my HS applied to 5 Ivies and then UNC-CH (she was a legacy, not our state school) - she only got into UNC out of all her applications. Granted, not a bad school at all, but it was a very stupid gamble.

We will do maybe 10-12. But we are seeking tuition exchange so have to cast a wide net.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, 15 is normal if you are an ambitious kid who wants to go to a brand name school. I applied to 12 schools about 8 years ago, now it’s harder to get into a ‘good’ college - ergo, 15 feels right. Since getting into a brand name college is a lottery, it’s good to ‘buy’ as many tickets as possible if you can afford it.

OP you can sometimes petition to reduce or waive the application fees.

Actually no. This is not how it works. Your example of the lottery ticket would be the same as driving around from state to state and buying one lottery ticket from each state’s lottery. This is not the same as buying 15 tickets for the SAME lottery which would increase your chances of winning.

I would invite you to read the threads in this forum from earlier this spring.

This assumes the admit chances at top schools are fixed. If fixed, applying to 15 schools is like buying 15 Washposts to confirm a story it reports. It's all the same. If the admit chances at 15 schools have some random factors, it's more like buying 15 different papers to confirm the story reported by Washpost.