Anonymous
02/25/2026 22:35
Subject: high schools SHOULD limit kids to 12 college apps.
it works for feeders because you don't want Tina Fey's kid or whatever taking up 10 acceptances. it's good for the school and the pool.
for the pleebs, it doesn't matter.
for the pleebs, it doesn't matter.
Anonymous
02/25/2026 22:30
Subject: Re:high schools SHOULD limit kids to 12 college apps.
Anonymous wrote:No way my kid makes a decision until we have both admissions decisions AND financial aid offers from each of the twenty-three schools she applied to.
We are FARMS-eligible, Pell-eligible, and fee-waiver eligible -- and it would have been entirely foolish of my child not to max out the common app. We simply cannot afford to give up the opportunity to compare offers -- and we are definitely not alone.
* Yes, we ran the NPC's. No, they were not particularly accurate -- though FA offers are trickling in slowly and we'll have more data soon, hopefully.
At this point her best financial offer is from a school that would not have made the cut if we'd limited it to 8 or 10 or 12.
This could possibly work if and only if colleges did financial pre-reads -- and if merit scholarships were much, much more predictable than they currently are.
Until then, most of the students in this country aren't making a list of their favorite schools and seeing where they get in: They're making lists of schools based on TWO sets of unknowns. And we're not about to limit the number based on what works for full-pay prep school kids.
it's not important to limit apps in a FARMS-eligible environment. only feeder privates.
Anonymous
02/25/2026 22:28
Subject: Re:high schools SHOULD limit kids to 12 college apps.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Why this can't or should not happen:
1. Schools make way too much money from the application fees. They are not going to ask for applications be to be cut down.
2. Schools love to say they are "competitive" because 100,000 people applied for 3,000 spots or whatever. No matter if 90,000 did not have the stats in the first place! The school now looks competitive to anyone who loves highly rejective schools.
3. For those who need to merit shop, they need to apply to a wide range of schools. We were among those. Kids applied to Tuition Exchange schools, schools where kids would be eligible for merit, etc.
you can say it shouldn't happen, but it can happen. it's quite normal at the most selective private high schools to limit apps which is what this is about
Yeah, because everyone at private high schools is rich. If you look under the hood, most will allow scholarship kids to apply to more schools on the down low.
no, there's no down low. we have lots of kids on FA. in fact, we have great questbridge placement. and many kids get really good FA deals - which are almost always inline with the NPC. also, our counselors have pretty good ideas about who gets merit.
plus they are very upfront about ALL of it. UCAS counts as one app. each school UC system counts individually (which is a a killer imo). All SUNYs count as one app (we're in nyc). and there can be exceptions made for good reasons, last year they had one exception. the year before none. clarity in this stuff is really important. about why and how etc
If all UCs count as one and all SUNYs count as one, and you’re in New York, you’ve got kids applying to 20+ schools on a regular basis. This is not what anyone is envisioning when they advocate a national 12-school limit.
UCs count individually. they dont' count as one. the SUNYs count as one, although we have few kids who end up at a SUNY. Maybe 2 or 3 out of a class of 150ish
Anonymous
02/25/2026 22:27
Subject: high schools SHOULD limit kids to 12 college apps.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:too many of the top 10 kids in a big high school class gobbled up 20 acceptances.
everyone would be better off if people thought more carefully, ran the NPC early, and didn't apply to 5 safeties.
This would benefit the whole community. However it's unselfish and would not work in our society. The "safeties" for the top kids are the "reach" for the regular kids. The top will not go to these safeties and the regular just get denied.
+1 And I've seen top-tier kids get rejected from schools that their stats would suggest they should be admitted to. It's such a crapshoot with "holistic admission," that it's better to be safe and apply to more.
Anonymous
02/25/2026 22:25
Subject: Re:high schools SHOULD limit kids to 12 college apps.
Anonymous wrote:No way my kid makes a decision until we have both admissions decisions AND financial aid offers from each of the twenty-three schools she applied to.
We are FARMS-eligible, Pell-eligible, and fee-waiver eligible -- and it would have been entirely foolish of my child not to max out the common app. We simply cannot afford to give up the opportunity to compare offers -- and we are definitely not alone.
* Yes, we ran the NPC's. No, they were not particularly accurate -- though FA offers are trickling in slowly and we'll have more data soon, hopefully.
At this point her best financial offer is from a school that would not have made the cut if we'd limited it to 8 or 10 or 12.
This could possibly work if and only if colleges did financial pre-reads -- and if merit scholarships were much, much more predictable than they currently are.
Until then, most of the students in this country aren't making a list of their favorite schools and seeing where they get in: They're making lists of schools based on TWO sets of unknowns. And we're not about to limit the number based on what works for full-pay prep school kids.
+1
Full pay already has a leg up in getting acceptance. They can’t take away ability to compare aids from us. That only further disadvantages aid-seeking families.
Anonymous
02/25/2026 22:14
Subject: Re:high schools SHOULD limit kids to 12 college apps.
No way my kid makes a decision until we have both admissions decisions AND financial aid offers from each of the twenty-three schools she applied to.
We are FARMS-eligible, Pell-eligible, and fee-waiver eligible -- and it would have been entirely foolish of my child not to max out the common app. We simply cannot afford to give up the opportunity to compare offers -- and we are definitely not alone.
* Yes, we ran the NPC's. No, they were not particularly accurate -- though FA offers are trickling in slowly and we'll have more data soon, hopefully.
At this point her best financial offer is from a school that would not have made the cut if we'd limited it to 8 or 10 or 12.
This could possibly work if and only if colleges did financial pre-reads -- and if merit scholarships were much, much more predictable than they currently are.
Until then, most of the students in this country aren't making a list of their favorite schools and seeing where they get in: They're making lists of schools based on TWO sets of unknowns. And we're not about to limit the number based on what works for full-pay prep school kids.
We are FARMS-eligible, Pell-eligible, and fee-waiver eligible -- and it would have been entirely foolish of my child not to max out the common app. We simply cannot afford to give up the opportunity to compare offers -- and we are definitely not alone.
* Yes, we ran the NPC's. No, they were not particularly accurate -- though FA offers are trickling in slowly and we'll have more data soon, hopefully.
At this point her best financial offer is from a school that would not have made the cut if we'd limited it to 8 or 10 or 12.
This could possibly work if and only if colleges did financial pre-reads -- and if merit scholarships were much, much more predictable than they currently are.
Until then, most of the students in this country aren't making a list of their favorite schools and seeing where they get in: They're making lists of schools based on TWO sets of unknowns. And we're not about to limit the number based on what works for full-pay prep school kids.
Anonymous
02/25/2026 22:14
Subject: high schools SHOULD limit kids to 12 college apps.
Blame colleges that provide very little transparency into how they make decisions. if more colleges had clear, public parameters for who was accepted (ex: top 5% of graduating class) or rejected then it would be easier to figure out which schools to apply to.
Anonymous
02/25/2026 21:40
Subject: high schools SHOULD limit kids to 12 college apps.
Anonymous wrote:too many of the top 10 kids in a big high school class gobbled up 20 acceptances.
everyone would be better off if people thought more carefully, ran the NPC early, and didn't apply to 5 safeties.
This would benefit the whole community. However it's unselfish and would not work in our society. The "safeties" for the top kids are the "reach" for the regular kids. The top will not go to these safeties and the regular just get denied.
Anonymous
02/25/2026 21:28
Subject: high schools SHOULD limit kids to 12 college apps.
Limiting the number of applications is good for a school and since privates care more about the school's reputation and attracting more students with its list of where students are attending, I can see why they do it. But as a parent whose kid has no clear advantage (we are not Senators or VIPs, our kid is not a URM or a recruited athlete, etc) the landscape is simply too unpredictable to necessarily be comfortable being limited to 12 schools. And we are full pay.
Also, at the end of the day, schools are going to aim to have a certain number of kids in their freshman class. If there are a lot of kids who get into all the Ivys plus Stanford, those kids will all have to pick one school in the end and eventually more kids will get off the wait list. So it all comes out in the wash.
Also, at the end of the day, schools are going to aim to have a certain number of kids in their freshman class. If there are a lot of kids who get into all the Ivys plus Stanford, those kids will all have to pick one school in the end and eventually more kids will get off the wait list. So it all comes out in the wash.
Anonymous
02/25/2026 21:03
Subject: high schools SHOULD limit kids to 12 college apps.
This is why I like the UCAS system - one is only allowed to apply to 5 schools so the candidate must choose very carefully.
Anonymous
02/25/2026 20:54
Subject: Re:high schools SHOULD limit kids to 12 college apps.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Why this can't or should not happen:
1. Schools make way too much money from the application fees. They are not going to ask for applications be to be cut down.
2. Schools love to say they are "competitive" because 100,000 people applied for 3,000 spots or whatever. No matter if 90,000 did not have the stats in the first place! The school now looks competitive to anyone who loves highly rejective schools.
3. For those who need to merit shop, they need to apply to a wide range of schools. We were among those. Kids applied to Tuition Exchange schools, schools where kids would be eligible for merit, etc.
you can say it shouldn't happen, but it can happen. it's quite normal at the most selective private high schools to limit apps which is what this is about
Yeah, because everyone at private high schools is rich. If you look under the hood, most will allow scholarship kids to apply to more schools on the down low.
no, there's no down low. we have lots of kids on FA. in fact, we have great questbridge placement. and many kids get really good FA deals - which are almost always inline with the NPC. also, our counselors have pretty good ideas about who gets merit.
plus they are very upfront about ALL of it. UCAS counts as one app. each school UC system counts individually (which is a a killer imo). All SUNYs count as one app (we're in nyc). and there can be exceptions made for good reasons, last year they had one exception. the year before none. clarity in this stuff is really important. about why and how etc
If all UCs count as one and all SUNYs count as one, and you’re in New York, you’ve got kids applying to 20+ schools on a regular basis. This is not what anyone is envisioning when they advocate a national 12-school limit.
Anonymous
02/25/2026 20:38
Subject: high schools SHOULD limit kids to 12 college apps.
my kids go to public, but the private limits apps and has that on the school profile. so colleges who want to protect yield know, this kid isnt' shot gunning. I think it helps. they have outstanding placement.
Anonymous
02/25/2026 20:36
Subject: Re:high schools SHOULD limit kids to 12 college apps.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Why this can't or should not happen:
1. Schools make way too much money from the application fees. They are not going to ask for applications be to be cut down.
2. Schools love to say they are "competitive" because 100,000 people applied for 3,000 spots or whatever. No matter if 90,000 did not have the stats in the first place! The school now looks competitive to anyone who loves highly rejective schools.
3. For those who need to merit shop, they need to apply to a wide range of schools. We were among those. Kids applied to Tuition Exchange schools, schools where kids would be eligible for merit, etc.
you can say it shouldn't happen, but it can happen. it's quite normal at the most selective private high schools to limit apps which is what this is about
Yeah, because everyone at private high schools is rich. If you look under the hood, most will allow scholarship kids to apply to more schools on the down low.
no, there's no down low. we have lots of kids on FA. in fact, we have great questbridge placement. and many kids get really good FA deals - which are almost always inline with the NPC. also, our counselors have pretty good ideas about who gets merit.
plus they are very upfront about ALL of it. UCAS counts as one app. each school UC system counts individually (which is a a killer imo). All SUNYs count as one app (we're in nyc). and there can be exceptions made for good reasons, last year they had one exception. the year before none. clarity in this stuff is really important. about why and how etc
Anonymous
02/25/2026 20:32
Subject: high schools SHOULD limit kids to 12 college apps.
our high school limits to 12 - up from 10 pre-pandemic.
and the average, even when you take out the ED kids, is only about 7.
fewer apps = better apps
and the average, even when you take out the ED kids, is only about 7.
fewer apps = better apps
Anonymous
02/25/2026 20:31
Subject: Re:high schools SHOULD limit kids to 12 college apps.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Why this can't or should not happen:
1. Schools make way too much money from the application fees. They are not going to ask for applications be to be cut down.
2. Schools love to say they are "competitive" because 100,000 people applied for 3,000 spots or whatever. No matter if 90,000 did not have the stats in the first place! The school now looks competitive to anyone who loves highly rejective schools.
3. For those who need to merit shop, they need to apply to a wide range of schools. We were among those. Kids applied to Tuition Exchange schools, schools where kids would be eligible for merit, etc.
you can say it shouldn't happen, but it can happen. it's quite normal at the most selective private high schools to limit apps which is what this is about
Yeah, because everyone at private high schools is rich. If you look under the hood, most will allow scholarship kids to apply to more schools on the down low.