GDS limits to 10. They count UCs as one and UKs as one.

So kids in theory can have more than 10.

They occasionally make exceptions for more than 10 I’ve heard.

Their logic has been that it helps the middle 50th of the class since the top 25th aren’t applying to the same dozen schools.

I really like the idea of making state school apps unlimited and limiting private university if a school wants to have a cap.

Some kids apply to Pitt in august on their own. Pitt doesn’t need official transcript or LOR. So it’s entirely possible to apply using the Pitt app (not the Common App).

Else 12-15 is a good number.

Know a number of GDS kids this year who only got into their 3-4 safeties and have so far been shut out or WL’d at all targets and reaches (pending these last few).

My kid needed merit and applied widely to be able to compare offers. Some of the last schools added to the list came through with the most generous packages and ended up being campuses that DD loved.

I don't think there should be a school enforced limit. If there was a broad limit that everyone could only apply to 10 or 15 that makes sense, but as it stands with the current test optional scenario and how competitive things are, I don't think there should be a limit. Push for the school to not have a limit. If that's not possible, 15 is a better number

Pp. typo. 15 not 25.

I think 15 is reasonable especially if the CCO is very conservative. DD applied last year and had a safety heavy list looking back. I am glad we had safeties but DD ended up feeling like she didn’t get the chance to try for some schools that may have been higher ranked and a better fit. If the school has sign off on the list 25 allows a better distribution.

Depends on the college counselor's capacity, honestly.

DCUM is probably not the best source for feedback unless your area is full of hypercompetitive, highly educated, high-income parents. (I'm one. Not judging, just describing.)

Plus most parents have no idea how admissions actually works in this century. Basically, you've got better odds at blackjack than at selective schools.

FWIW our independent with 65 seniors went from 25 apps max last year to 15 this year using the Cialfo system. Zero input from parents. We still got a crap counselor with no real guidance and bad tech skills and can barely use modern--post 2015--systems.

DC applied to 11. 1 accept (the "safety" we found without counselor turned out to be top choice ), 1 waitlist, still waiting on 2.

The number of applications shouldn't matter. Some kids will want a wider net than others and that's fine. Just make sure the counselors actually know what they're doing.

And use the NYT self-ranking tool.

I agree with the poster who said 12-15, but I also agree with the poster who suggested unlimited public applications. It’s the number of kids gunning for the same Top X national/slacs/ivies that cause problems for admissions.

This is all helpful perspective, thank you for such thoughtful responses. The school is quite rigid in the 10 limit, they won’t send transcripts or recommendation letters to more. I assume that policy is enough to prevent rule breaking, but I may be wrong since we aren’t there.

There do seem to be 2 separate perspectives of parents. One group is gunning for top 25, the school recently implemented a limit of 18 APs and I have never seen such upset parents. Their kids are all directly competing with each other for admission.

Personally my child isn’t in that group. She is 2E so we are thrilled she is doing well in regular classes and continues to increase the rigor a bit each year. Her test scores don’t reflect capability, but hopefully she will be able to tell her story and find a fit. I do think 10-12 schools is reasonable for her. But I don’t want to “vote against” a higher limit if it is really important for the other group. That seems unfair.

I think maybe if there was more transparency into previous years’ outcomes then parents may trust the counselors more. But I don’t know how they could do that without violating privacy for former students.

12-15 seems reasonable. But, if kids at a private school are getting shut out of 10 schools—even safeties—there is something off with their college counseling program and they need to make adjustments to the process for their students. That failure goes beyond the maximum application limit.

18

Anonymous wrote:For a maximum, I would say 15.

+1

I did 9 schools back in the 80s and it's much more competitive these days.

We applied 1 target, got in, and that was it. Class of 2021.

Friend's kid applied to the 20 limit (per their school) this year, very specific hard to get in prgm, and then had a mad scramble to do 4-5 more apps this spring as the rejections rolled in while classmates, different prgms., got in...finally in at 3 and very happy with 1.

So, it all depends on your situation. Given what you write, it would appear that 10 is not enough and perhaps steering is happening.

Good luck!

Anecdotally the kids who apply to tons of schools don’t get better results, maybe the opposite, which suggests a reasonable limit is a good idea, vs “Pray and spray”

Our private schools limits to 12. Our son applied to 8, was accepted to 8. The college counselors meet with the parents and students to help build a list. We as parents spent our time researching additional schools. 8 was the right number for our kid. I can't imagine the work the counselors would have to undertake if we had done more. My understanding is some students do apply to a lot more (22 was the rumor going around), and I believe they have to pay for the extra transcripts. So it is POSSIBLE to apply to more than 12 but for many of the reasons already mentioned, balance the number of applications and the schools applied to seems sensible. Perhaps they set a limit (8-15) and anything above that requires additional hoops to go thru.

My DS class of 23 applied to seven and I think it was perfect for him.

I think he did an excellent job on his list and was accepted at four schools waitlisted at two and is waiting till tomorrow to hear from the last one.

That said given this environment, I would be super pissed if my private school limited his applications-especially if they have a track record of having kids get rejected from 100% of their schools.

I think the school should increase the number even if it’s just buy a few so that people feel more confident and I think this question do a much better job of counseling student if they are actually student not getting into any of their choices