Admission at most state schools is number-based. The numbers/criteria may vary widely by college within the university. No need to visit ahead of time if visiting is a hardship. It is very nice to visit as an accepted student, very empowering.

You must be in charge of the process. Do not depend on the counselor to do more than set deadlines. Make and keep a spreadsheet on Google Drive. Make a spreadsheet that lists the colleges, the contact info, deadlines, score ranges, scholarships, method of applying, and costs. No need to make the dinning room into command central when an iPad can do it all. Make sure you set reminders on phones and computers to give plenty of warning before due dates. Keep on track any and all updates to your spreadsheet so you have everything accessible to you and daughter at all times. It is very helpful once she starts getting passwords to log into the various college accounts that track her application at each school. When someone calls and says we need that recommendation ASAP because it is missing in her file then that info is at your fingertips. After acceptances start rolling in you can add to spreadsheet what transfers for college credit at each school so you can see if she can start off as a junior or qualify for an honors program. Do not under any circumstances decide now what school you like or hate. By the time this is over you will grateful for whatever acceptances you get because you will have heard the heartache from others. Only form opinions after acceptances. visit a bunch of schools nearby that you have no intention of applying to because you will see that most schools are phenomenal.

Anonymous wrote:We have gone through this once at a private school, and will soon go through it again at a public.

The private had great college guidance, so I'm following their schedule with DC#2 who is at a public high school.

The private school made sure every student had their common application essay FINISHED before the start of their senior year. Then the student can focus on individual essays for the schools they are applying to.

My advice: show a lot of interest in schools that your child really thinks she wants to attend. My DD got accepted at her highest "reach" school, probably because she pestered the school, visited twice, did an overnight, talked to professors, etc. She didn't end up attending that school, but she got in.

My DD got waitlisted at several "safety" schools that she never visited. I'm pretty sure these schools didn't want to admit a student they thought was unlikely to attend. All of the schools urged her to contact them if she was interested in keeping her name on the waiting list. If she hadn't gotten accepted to other schools, she would have contacted them, and I'm guessing, she'd have been admitted.

I don't think 11 is too many schools, OP. That's the reality these days. With the common app, it's easy to apply to many schools. More than 11 is too many though!

Just make sure you don't have the same expectation in terms of GC's support to DC2. Public is totally different in that department.

We have gone through this once at a private school, and will soon go through it again at a public.

The private had great college guidance, so I'm following their schedule with DC#2 who is at a public high school.

The private school made sure every student had their common application essay FINISHED before the start of their senior year. Then the student can focus on individual essays for the schools they are applying to.

My advice: show a lot of interest in schools that your child really thinks she wants to attend. My DD got accepted at her highest "reach" school, probably because she pestered the school, visited twice, did an overnight, talked to professors, etc. She didn't end up attending that school, but she got in.

My DD got waitlisted at several "safety" schools that she never visited. I'm pretty sure these schools didn't want to admit a student they thought was unlikely to attend. All of the schools urged her to contact them if she was interested in keeping her name on the waiting list. If she hadn't gotten accepted to other schools, she would have contacted them, and I'm guessing, she'd have been admitted.

I don't think 11 is too many schools, OP. That's the reality these days. With the common app, it's easy to apply to many schools. More than 11 is too many though!

I haven't read all the posts, but just wanted to add my experience.

I have a very bright child who is disorganized and procrastinates, as many children do.

There is NO WAY my child could have gotten her college applications done without her incredible college guidance department AND me. I did about 50% of the work, all behind the scenes. So when she asked me questions, I had the answers. I gently reminded her of deadlines, helped edit her essays (she asked me to), met with her guidance counselor when he asked me to. I generally kept on top of the entire process, especially deadlines and scholarship deadlines. DD did get some merit aid. State universities are accepting applications now (or will be soon), and most are due by Nov. 1.

If money is no object, OP, then you have less to worry about. But financial aid at some colleges gets used up by early applicants, so if you are applying for FA, then get your applications in early!

I totally disagree with the "your kid should own the process" posters for a disorganized kid. In my experience (and the experience of most of the parents I know) that doesn't work with a teen who's involved with a million things (sports, friends, schoolwork, EC's etc.) and has issues with organization. You must stay on top of the process for your child. Just stay in the background, though, so your child doesn't feel pressured.

Agree with PP about withholding judgment and very limited veto power. FWIW, I've had good luck asking DC what appeals to her about certain schools. She's had really good reasons in some cases. And it makes her more likely to ask me the same question in return, LOL! Plus it's not a bad thing for the DC's own decisionmaking process to get her/him to analyze and articulate what s/he is looking for and why.

I think you are wise to withhold judgment on your DD's choices. We decided we had one veto and used it before she even looked at a school we just hated. We were not thrilled with her ultimate choice but insisted she spend the night and attend classes before she decided. She did and continued to love it. She's there now. For her it is actually a great fit and she knows herself well. Our lesson was to trust her to do that.

Anonymous wrote:Not the PP being quoted, but I assumed it was more than just tracking. It's workload and the risk of sacrificing quality for quantity. In my DC's case, for example, most of the places under consideration require supplementary essays that are school-specific, some want to see expressions of interest, some require subsidiary applications for specific majors or honors programs (and the relative attractiveness of these schools may depend on whether and when acceptance to these programs is forthcoming).

How many schools is a manageable number really depends on the specific schools and, while good organization is crucial, there can be situations where no amount of organization can overcome the fact that there's too much work and too little time. And if DC is not only doing apps, but hoping to improve GPA or test scores and/or taking a particularly demanding Senior year courseload, then it'd be really counterproductive to get lots of apps done at the expense of improved academic credentials.

OP here. Now I understand. Thanks for the clarification. Not sure how to trim down the list much more than what she already did. Two of the schools I absolutely hate and would be glad for her to get rid of, she actually loves, so I'm keeping my mouth shut since I am not the one that has to go to school there and I don't want to "push" her towards them. Also, another two of the schools that don't take the CA, don't even have the apps online.

Getting folders this weekend to try and keep things organized.

I'm trying to get her to look at the curriculum of each school and compare the "core courses" for her program(which has more), the internship opportunities, and the study abroad programs. For her degree, all of this really matters.

I love the information provided in this thread so far.

Anonymous wrote:Not the PP being quoted, but I assumed it was more than just tracking. It's workload and the risk of sacrificing quality for quantity. In my DC's case, for example, most of the places under consideration require supplementary essays that are school-specific, some want to see expressions of interest, some require subsidiary applications for specific majors or honors programs (and the relative attractiveness of these schools may depend on whether and when acceptance to these programs is forthcoming).

How many schools is a manageable number really depends on the specific schools and, while good organization is crucial, there can be situations where no amount of organization can overcome the fact that there's too much work and too little time. And if DC is not only doing apps, but hoping to improve GPA or test scores and/or taking a particularly demanding Senior year courseload, then it'd be really counterproductive to get lots of apps done at the expense of improved academic credentials.

1- poster here....this sums up the point I was trying to make. IF you really do have a few schools that DC believes are "THE" fit, you really do need to focus on those. Sure, go for the "reach" if you'd like but 11....simply too many to fairly and adequately direct DC's time to given all other work/activities DC is likely into. For what its worth, THANKFULLY, we just completed the whole grueling process with a DC from Class of 2915. We directed attention to 7 schools, DC got into a top 25 college...week 2 report...."I LOVE IT"!......so, it seems to have paid off. Time will tell.

Good Luck!

^ plus playing a demanding HS sport..

Not the PP being quoted, but I assumed it was more than just tracking. It's workload and the risk of sacrificing quality for quantity. In my DC's case, for example, most of the places under consideration require supplementary essays that are school-specific, some want to see expressions of interest, some require subsidiary applications for specific majors or honors programs (and the relative attractiveness of these schools may depend on whether and when acceptance to these programs is forthcoming).

How many schools is a manageable number really depends on the specific schools and, while good organization is crucial, there can be situations where no amount of organization can overcome the fact that there's too much work and too little time. And if DC is not only doing apps, but hoping to improve GPA or test scores and/or taking a particularly demanding Senior year courseload, then it'd be really counterproductive to get lots of apps done at the expense of improved academic credentials.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:-1 11 is way too many if you have serious interest in some. You cannot reasonably focus on that many schools.

OP here. What do you mean by focusing on schools? What does that look like? Like I mentioned, 2 of the 11 schools are reach and I don't expect her to get admitted.

NP - I think PP was talking about different "pieces" you need to track. More schools you have, the more you need to track.

Anonymous wrote:-1 11 is way too many if you have serious interest in some. You cannot reasonably focus on that many schools.

OP here. What do you mean by focusing on schools? What does that look like? Like I mentioned, 2 of the 11 schools are reach and I don't expect her to get admitted.

-1 11 is way too many if you have serious interest in some. You cannot reasonably focus on that many schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've actually been paying very close attention. Michigan is a safety for some students but, increasingly, those students are deferred and admitted RD rather than EA. In the end, stats win out for full pay OOS, but perhaps only if the applicant is still sticking around (a kind of demonstration of interest). This phenomenon hasn't hit DC's school yet (qualified kids still get EA acceptances), but I know it's out there.

You're contradicting yourself. A "safety" is a sure thing, not a potential deferral. You're obviously new to the process.

No, you're being dogmatic and not thinking contextually or looking at this as a two-stage process. Empirically, high stats (full pay OOS private school?) kids applying SCEA to a win-the-lottery type private university may also apply EA to Michigan. If said kid hears in late December that s/he is admitted to Michigan (as a number from my DC's school routinely do), then Michigan is the kid's safety. If the kid gets into their true first choice (the SCEA school), game over. If the kid is rejected or deferred by the SCEA school, the kid feels safe applying only to other dream schools, secure in the knowledge that s/he has been admitted to Michigan. So the "worst case" scenario is pretty great and there's no downside to rolling the dice a few more times on extreme long shots rather than applying to more/different safeties.

Conversely, if the kid is deferred or rejected by the SCEA school and deferred by Michigan, the kid can then apply to safer safeties. Although, even then, with the right scores and transcript, an admission to Michigan in the RD process remains quite likely, especially for a full pay OOS applicant. Between budget cuts, court cases, and large class sizes, Michigan's admissions process is much more predictable (and in that sense safer for some candidates) than private schools that attract students with similarly great stats. But that predictability is (arguably/increasingly) at the RD stage than the EA stage. OTOH, that's often when kids hear from their safeties and most kids apply to more than one safety for that reason.