Anonymous wrote:DD is a junior now and has wanted to go to the same college since about the 6th grade and if I'm being frank, she has a pretty good shot of getting in. It's a very good school but not top twenty or anything like that. She is going to apply early decision which I am supportive of but I don't want her putting all of her eggs in one basket. Whenever I bring up applying to other schools she says, "Sure, yeah whatever I'll apply to Maryland or something." Her counselor and I have told her about the need for safeties and such but she has no interest in looking into colleges she would like attending and I don't want to make application decisions for her. Although I wouldn't mind her attending UMD (especially because it's so cheap), I do not believe it is the environment she would want and in addition to that, it is not a safety school at this point. How do I get her interested in looking at and applying to a variety of schools that she would enjoy attending and not just her dream school?

Good luck to your daughter! I felt that way too about Wellesley - what sealed it for me was the campus tour when I was a high school junior. Do you have any friends or colleagues that are alums? There’s lots in the DC area, maybe an informal chat could bring about some other colleges to add to the list.

Anonymous wrote:As my junior saw seniors being rejected from schools, her interest in safeties grew. I'd give it time.

+1 Standards have gotten tougher at some of the schools this year. A student that might have gotten into a school only last year is being outright rejected this year.

It's fine to get a feel for the various campuses and programs of study, but remain flexible and be sure to have some safeties. What is a safety today, might be a reach tomorrow.

IMO Wellesley IS a top 20 school

Make her watch season 3 of The Gilmore Girls. Rory was emotionally committed to Harvard but ended up at Yale.

I went to Wellesley. Loved it. Trust her gut on this.

I agree that she should look at other seven sisters. Each has its own vibe, but I have a good friend who went to Smith and she raves about it.

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Anonymous wrote:Backtrack for a moment. Is everything perfect with her dream school?
Has she visited to know if she likes the vibe?
Do you have the money? It seems like a private school from your description.
Does it have a strong program in the major she wants?
Kids change a lot from 11 to 17, you want to make sure she isn't just stuck in a childhood fantasy.
If all that checks out then I'm glad you are supportive of her goal. Prepscholar has a thing in which when you look up a school it will tell you reach, target, and safety schools that are similar which could be a useful tool to help find other schools.

We have visited twice, once "officially" and another time we just wandered around.
She doesn't know what she wants to major in but there a good programs in all of the things she is really interested in.
We have a high HHI and have the money set aside for full pay at a private university.
Thanks for the tip about Prepscholar - I'll take a look at that

What even is full pay for a school these days? You can't just google the tuition and other costs, multiple times four, and call it a day.

Why not? If you want to be nitpicky you can look up average tuition increases and factor that in, but a ballpark of $70k/year covered tuition, room, board and fees. At that level whether it was $68k or $72k wasn't that relevant.

OP, she definitely needs to expand her list. If Wellesley is her dream school, UMD isn't exactly a comparable school, nor is it a safety. Have her look at some of the other seven sisters (if a women's college is the top priority) and nescac schools (if SLAC is a priority). Holyoke and Bryn Mawr are worth a look. Maybe Conn College and Trinity for safeties (depending on her stats of course).

I went to one of the other seven sisters and it doesn't hold a candle to Wellesley. I 100% understand why she is in love with it. It's an amazing place. However, she should visit the others for sure.

I know some kids who did the 1 and done thing and were prepared to scramble over the holidays to get other applications in. The good news is that with the Common App she would be able to repurpose her materials from the Wellesley app to apply to other schools. That said OP if this is her dream school she needs to go on the offensive to make herself known to the admissions officers, attend sessions when Wellesley reps come to town, attend any special admissions programs they have on campus and talking to every alum you can find. Your DD needs to figure out how she can craft her app so the admissions officer says, "I want this kid on our campus." My kid had a dream school that she applied early to and this is what we did and it worked. If your DD has the stats, focus on putting together the best application possible. Also make sure she has some substantial activity going on this summer, as well.