Anonymous
Post 11/11/2025 14:18     Subject: what do you think of high schools that limit college apps
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:GDS does this, and IMHO, it's a very good policy. College admissions results speak for themselves.


I'm a GDS parent of a student too young to have started the college app process, and based on my older, non-GDS kid's peers' experiences, I'm very thankful that GDS imposes this limit and makes students really think about what makes a good fit school, instead of just applying to as many "top" schools as possible.


But imagine that when your student is a senior that they are at the top of the class and are limited to 7 apps? It would be highly risky to apply to more than 2 "highly rejective" schools which includes all privates in the top 20 and the top LAC's so they will take a random chance at two of those and pick out two safeties likely mid range publics and perhaps Lehigh. Leaving them 3-4 "targets" from the top publics and T20-50 that is when your student is going to be told about the issue of yield protection for students like them unless the applying via binding ED so Tufts, Tulane etc are going to waitlist them or flat out deny them. You might not be as supportive of the system then.


GDS limits to 12, not 7. 2-3 safety schools (well chosen -- you have to want to attend them!), 3-4 targets, and 4-5 reaches (again, well chosen for their specific attributes, not just prestige) should be enough for anyone. If you're chasing merit money, adjust to more safeties and targets -- reaches aren't going to give merit.
Anonymous
Post 11/11/2025 14:13     Subject: what do you think of high schools that limit college apps
Anonymous wrote:The only ones that do this have curated applicants guided by professional in house college counselors. I'm not talking about the 2500 student public high school where the guidance counselor counsels 500 students.

It is the realm of elite private schools, or magnet schools, that know who gets in where and why. So they have the luxury of doing this. A middle class, suburban high achiever is in a different game altogether.



As a public school parent, this is what I imagine of top private schools. I've always guessed that top dollar is paid at these schools as the counselors have connections and students are therefore guaranteed to get in somewhere reasonable. So, if it were me, I'd say fine to limit as long as you guarantee my kid gets in somewhere on the list you discussed with them/us.
Anonymous
Post 11/11/2025 13:50     Subject: what do you think of high schools that limit college apps
Anonymous wrote:GDS does this, and IMHO, it's a very good policy. College admissions results speak for themselves.


I would be so annoyed if my kid had their college apps limited by a school that I was paying 55K in tuition to. Public schools don't do this.
Anonymous
Post 11/11/2025 13:47     Subject: what do you think of high schools that limit college apps
Here I am as a mom of two public school kids who are going to be applying to 18+ schools each. Wish we had a limit - there is no limit here and the school record is so inconsistent from year to year - one year we'll have 4 accepted to Brown, the next year 0, my kids need to resort to the "spray and pray" method to try and get lucky.
Anonymous
Post 11/11/2025 13:04     Subject: what do you think of high schools that limit college apps
Anonymous wrote:I've heard some as low as 7-8, which would seem to really hurt kids who want to shoot their shot with an Ivy or two and want to also to explore some merit options while having a safety or two.

But schools that are limiting to 10 or 12 makes a lot of sense to me.

I feel like there's so much competition coming from their immediate peer group. Kids shotgunning every top 30 college. The call is coming from inside the house!


Yes 10-12 makes sense. You pick 3-4 each in the Reach/Target/Safety and go for it. If you do it right, which means including only picking ones you can afford (you know who gives merit and who doesn't) your kid will get into at least 50% of the Targets and safeties and you are good to go
Anonymous
Post 11/11/2025 12:58     Subject: what do you think of high schools that limit college apps
I think limiting to 12 is very sensible. Most students at these private schools do not need to apply to more than a dozen colleges and if they select well, should have plenty of acceptances to choose from. It’s wild to me that kids apply to 15-20 colleges!
Anonymous
Post 11/11/2025 12:54     Subject: what do you think of high schools that limit college apps
The only ones that do this have curated applicants guided by professional in house college counselors. I'm not talking about the 2500 student public high school where the guidance counselor counsels 500 students.

It is the realm of elite private schools, or magnet schools, that know who gets in where and why. So they have the luxury of doing this. A middle class, suburban high achiever is in a different game altogether.
Anonymous
Post 11/11/2025 12:54     Subject: what do you think of high schools that limit college apps
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:GDS does this, and IMHO, it's a very good policy. College admissions results speak for themselves.


I'm a GDS parent of a student too young to have started the college app process, and based on my older, non-GDS kid's peers' experiences, I'm very thankful that GDS imposes this limit and makes students really think about what makes a good fit school, instead of just applying to as many "top" schools as possible.


But imagine that when your student is a senior that they are at the top of the class and are limited to 7 apps? It would be highly risky to apply to more than 2 "highly rejective" schools which includes all privates in the top 20 and the top LAC's so they will take a random chance at two of those and pick out two safeties likely mid range publics and perhaps Lehigh. Leaving them 3-4 "targets" from the top publics and T20-50 that is when your student is going to be told about the issue of yield protection for students like them unless the applying via binding ED so Tufts, Tulane etc are going to waitlist them or flat out deny them. You might not be as supportive of the system then.


7 is not 10

What school limits to 7? Don't know but OP's post says some limit to 7 or 8 and that seems likely to lead to bad outcomes and lots of rule bending . . .
Anonymous
Post 11/11/2025 12:48     Subject: what do you think of high schools that limit college apps
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:GDS does this, and IMHO, it's a very good policy. College admissions results speak for themselves.


I'm a GDS parent of a student too young to have started the college app process, and based on my older, non-GDS kid's peers' experiences, I'm very thankful that GDS imposes this limit and makes students really think about what makes a good fit school, instead of just applying to as many "top" schools as possible.


But imagine that when your student is a senior that they are at the top of the class and are limited to 7 apps? It would be highly risky to apply to more than 2 "highly rejective" schools which includes all privates in the top 20 and the top LAC's so they will take a random chance at two of those and pick out two safeties likely mid range publics and perhaps Lehigh. Leaving them 3-4 "targets" from the top publics and T20-50 that is when your student is going to be told about the issue of yield protection for students like them unless the applying via binding ED so Tufts, Tulane etc are going to waitlist them or flat out deny them. You might not be as supportive of the system then.


Agree this is not an equitable process at least for the top 10% kids.

For the bottom half, this policy is not going to affect them one way or another.

It benefits the kids in the mid tier, top 20-50%. Now they have a chance to reach schools.

So, depending on where your kid sits, the perspective would be very different.


There are other ways to encourage top students not to roll up acceptances at the expense of their peers without penalizing them. Like having them prep but not submit other than their ED application and publics that have earlier dates until they have their ED decisions, having them withdraw applications from safety and target schools as soon as they receive acceptance (and aid if that is in the mix) to a school they would attend over those they are still waiting on
Anonymous
Post 11/11/2025 12:44     Subject: what do you think of high schools that limit college apps
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:GDS does this, and IMHO, it's a very good policy. College admissions results speak for themselves.


I'm a GDS parent of a student too young to have started the college app process, and based on my older, non-GDS kid's peers' experiences, I'm very thankful that GDS imposes this limit and makes students really think about what makes a good fit school, instead of just applying to as many "top" schools as possible.


But imagine that when your student is a senior that they are at the top of the class and are limited to 7 apps? It would be highly risky to apply to more than 2 "highly rejective" schools which includes all privates in the top 20 and the top LAC's so they will take a random chance at two of those and pick out two safeties likely mid range publics and perhaps Lehigh. Leaving them 3-4 "targets" from the top publics and T20-50 that is when your student is going to be told about the issue of yield protection for students like them unless the applying via binding ED so Tufts, Tulane etc are going to waitlist them or flat out deny them. You might not be as supportive of the system then.


7 is not 10

What school limits to 7?
Anonymous
Post 11/11/2025 12:43     Subject: what do you think of high schools that limit college apps
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:GDS does this, and IMHO, it's a very good policy. College admissions results speak for themselves.


I'm a GDS parent of a student too young to have started the college app process, and based on my older, non-GDS kid's peers' experiences, I'm very thankful that GDS imposes this limit and makes students really think about what makes a good fit school, instead of just applying to as many "top" schools as possible.


But imagine that when your student is a senior that they are at the top of the class and are limited to 7 apps? It would be highly risky to apply to more than 2 "highly rejective" schools which includes all privates in the top 20 and the top LAC's so they will take a random chance at two of those and pick out two safeties likely mid range publics and perhaps Lehigh. Leaving them 3-4 "targets" from the top publics and T20-50 that is when your student is going to be told about the issue of yield protection for students like them unless the applying via binding ED so Tufts, Tulane etc are going to waitlist them or flat out deny them. You might not be as supportive of the system then.


I've had 2 kids who were top10% of the class and knew the top cohort in both classes very well. Zero of these kids were shut-out from top 20 schools, despite having their apps limited . Yes, if your child wants the opportunity to choose between five top10 acceptances then maybe it's not the policy or high school for you. But most kids are able to narrow things down prior to applying and don't need the ego boost of getting into a giant number of top schools at the expense of their classmates.


I support the idea behind it, but admissions also involves not just getting in, but what kind of financial package the student will be offered. Admittedly many kids from private schools will be full pay, but for those kids who aren’t, the finances are a big factor and a final decision.
Anonymous
Post 11/11/2025 12:37     Subject: what do you think of high schools that limit college apps
Public schools would never do this. Freedom!
Anonymous
Post 11/11/2025 12:37     Subject: what do you think of high schools that limit college apps
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:GDS does this, and IMHO, it's a very good policy. College admissions results speak for themselves.


I'm a GDS parent of a student too young to have started the college app process, and based on my older, non-GDS kid's peers' experiences, I'm very thankful that GDS imposes this limit and makes students really think about what makes a good fit school, instead of just applying to as many "top" schools as possible.


But imagine that when your student is a senior that they are at the top of the class and are limited to 7 apps? It would be highly risky to apply to more than 2 "highly rejective" schools which includes all privates in the top 20 and the top LAC's so they will take a random chance at two of those and pick out two safeties likely mid range publics and perhaps Lehigh. Leaving them 3-4 "targets" from the top publics and T20-50 that is when your student is going to be told about the issue of yield protection for students like them unless the applying via binding ED so Tufts, Tulane etc are going to waitlist them or flat out deny them. You might not be as supportive of the system then.


Agree this is not an equitable process at least for the top 10% kids.

For the bottom half, this policy is not going to affect them one way or another.

It benefits the kids in the mid tier, top 20-50%. Now they have a chance to reach schools.

So, depending on where your kid sits, the perspective would be very different.
Anonymous
Post 11/11/2025 12:37     Subject: Re:what do you think of high schools that limit college apps
This only happens at private schools that want to use their magic hand to guide acceptances.
Anonymous
Post 11/11/2025 12:32     Subject: what do you think of high schools that limit college apps
We are at GDS and have not done this "limit" for our older kid and won't do it for our younger. They can't make you do anything. We have an outside college advisor in addition to GDS and most families we know do this same thing. The results at the school are mixed. Your kid needs the 1520 to get into the top schools and the high GPA. All the rest is inflated with pay to play summer programs which colleges hate.