Anonymous
07/19/2025 17:05
Subject: How many colleges did your DC apply to?
My DC is a rising senior and has 15 schools on the list. CCO said they need to get it down to 9 or 10. It is hard to know whether to cut safeties or reaches. High stats and full pay.
Anonymous
07/19/2025 15:48
Subject: How many colleges did your DC apply to?
Anonymous wrote:11
2 safeties- in at both RD
5 targets- in at 4 RD, waitlisted at 1
2 reaches- deferred EA and waitlisted at 1, waitlisted at 1 RD
2 super-reaches- rejected by 1, waitlisted by the other RD
Do you wonder if your kid should have applied to more reaches in RD? Do you think outcomes might be different given the WL?
Anonymous
07/19/2025 15:45
Subject: How many colleges did your DC apply to?
Anonymous wrote:2023: 1 ED, 1 Rolling, 1 EA (both safeties). In at all, didn’t have to keep going after ED admit to SLAC.
2025: ED Ivy reach (reject), ED2 T20 reach (deferral), 1 rolling safety and 4 EA Safety (accepted all), 3 EA Target (accept 2, defer 1), 2 EA Reach (defer both)
RD (included deferrals from above): 1 Target (WL), 12 Reach (accepted 3, WL 5, rejected 4)
We classified schools based on their acceptance rates, over 50% was safety, 26-49 was target, and bellow 25 was reach. But all
The reaches on the list were under 20, most under 15%.
Total applications: 22, accepted 11, WL 6, rejected 5
Where did your DC end up going?
Anonymous
07/18/2025 12:00
Subject: How many colleges did your DC apply to?
5
got into all of them (all target / reaches)
got into all of them (all target / reaches)
Anonymous
07/18/2025 11:58
Subject: How many colleges did your DC apply to?
11
2 safeties- in at both RD
5 targets- in at 4 RD, waitlisted at 1
2 reaches- deferred EA and waitlisted at 1, waitlisted at 1 RD
2 super-reaches- rejected by 1, waitlisted by the other RD
2 safeties- in at both RD
5 targets- in at 4 RD, waitlisted at 1
2 reaches- deferred EA and waitlisted at 1, waitlisted at 1 RD
2 super-reaches- rejected by 1, waitlisted by the other RD
Anonymous
07/18/2025 11:35
Subject: How many colleges did your DC apply to?
DC ED Chicago and got accepted. I’d rather him applying to 20+ schools and had the better options.
Anonymous
07/18/2025 10:52
Subject: How many colleges did your DC apply to?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:2023: 20 (including 12 reaches, after ED1 deferral). At ivy.
2025: 22 (including 14 reaches, after ED1 deferral). Enrolled at T10.
Why so many reaches?
Better question: how many acceptances from the reach schools?
But if the reach the kid eventually ends up at was a high reach, isn’t one reach acceptance enough?
That’s the whole point of the 20+ apps with 10-13 reaches, right? Just to get one reach?
this was my kid - accepted 3/3 safeties (T70), accepted 3/3 targets (T50), accepted 6/7 low reach (T25), accepted 1/9 high reach (T15) with 3 waitlist. T20 is just hard to predict. for next kid, will apply to fewer safeties/targets but we didn't know what to expect with first kid.
Similar for my kid. Applied to 22 schools. Attending T10 school that was admitted to in RD.
Accepted to:
5/5 likelies (applied to too many - with $$$ at most)
4/6 targets ($$$ from 2; WL at 1 and rejected 1)
3/7 low reaches (T16-25 and T10 SLAC) (WL at 2; rejected 2);
1/4 high reach (T15) (WL at 1; rejected at 2) - attending this school.
Anonymous
07/18/2025 10:38
Subject: Re:How many colleges did your DC apply to?
2024: 4 -- 2 target, 2 safety; in at all 4. Attending safety and lovin' it!
2026: 4-6 -- likely 3 target and 3 safety, mix of in- and out-of-state.
Why no reaches? Mostly because the few we could or would stretch to afford, the DC had/have zero interest in.
2026: 4-6 -- likely 3 target and 3 safety, mix of in- and out-of-state.
Why no reaches? Mostly because the few we could or would stretch to afford, the DC had/have zero interest in.
Anonymous
07/18/2025 10:28
Subject: How many colleges did your DC apply to?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:2023: 20 (including 12 reaches, after ED1 deferral). At ivy.
2025: 22 (including 14 reaches, after ED1 deferral). Enrolled at T10.
Why so many reaches?
Better question: how many acceptances from the reach schools?
But if the reach the kid eventually ends up at was a high reach, isn’t one reach acceptance enough?
That’s the whole point of the 20+ apps with 10-13 reaches, right? Just to get one reach?
this was my kid - accepted 3/3 safeties (T70), accepted 3/3 targets (T50), accepted 6/7 low reach (T25), accepted 1/9 high reach (T15) with 3 waitlist. T20 is just hard to predict. for next kid, will apply to fewer safeties/targets but we didn't know what to expect with first kid.
Anonymous
07/18/2025 10:07
Subject: How many colleges did your DC apply to?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:2023: 20 (including 12 reaches, after ED1 deferral). At ivy.
2025: 22 (including 14 reaches, after ED1 deferral). Enrolled at T10.
Why so many reaches?
Better question: how many acceptances from the reach schools?
But if the reach the kid eventually ends up at was a high reach, isn’t one reach acceptance enough?
That’s the whole point of the 20+ apps with 10-13 reaches, right? Just to get one reach?
Exactly.
Anonymous
07/17/2025 23:13
Subject: How many colleges did your DC apply to?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:2023: 20 (including 12 reaches, after ED1 deferral). At ivy.
2025: 22 (including 14 reaches, after ED1 deferral). Enrolled at T10.
Why so many reaches?
Better question: how many acceptances from the reach schools?
But if the reach the kid eventually ends up at was a high reach, isn’t one reach acceptance enough?
That’s the whole point of the 20+ apps with 10-13 reaches, right? Just to get one reach?
Anonymous
07/17/2025 23:09
Subject: How many colleges did your DC apply to?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Class of 2025: one rolling (so had admission to safety in hand), two EAs, one ED.
If you build your list thoughtfully, there is no reason to apply to more than 12.
Wrong.
DP, but I 100% agree with the PP.
If your kid is applying to more than 15 or so (and even that's a stretch), I'm going to think that either A) they were lazy and didn't run NPCs to find actually affordable + attainable schools; B) they were lazy and didn't do the work to find "very likely" schools they'd actually be good going to; C) you turned them into a prestige hunter. E.g. anyone whose kid applied to both Columbia AND Dartmouth, or Penn AND Brown — or, god forbid, every Ivy — did it wrong.
A lot of kids apply to Penn AND Brown. What's wrong with that?
Agree. Weird vibe here.
Anonymous
07/17/2025 22:42
Subject: How many colleges did your DC apply to?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Class of 2025: one rolling (so had admission to safety in hand), two EAs, one ED.
If you build your list thoughtfully, there is no reason to apply to more than 12.
Wrong.
DP, but I 100% agree with the PP.
If your kid is applying to more than 15 or so (and even that's a stretch), I'm going to think that either A) they were lazy and didn't run NPCs to find actually affordable + attainable schools; B) they were lazy and didn't do the work to find "very likely" schools they'd actually be good going to; C) you turned them into a prestige hunter. E.g. anyone whose kid applied to both Columbia AND Dartmouth, or Penn AND Brown — or, god forbid, every Ivy — did it wrong.
A lot of kids apply to Penn AND Brown. What's wrong with that?
Anonymous
07/17/2025 22:30
Subject: How many colleges did your DC apply to?
2023: 1 ED, 1 Rolling, 1 EA (both safeties). In at all, didn’t have to keep going after ED admit to SLAC.
2025: ED Ivy reach (reject), ED2 T20 reach (deferral), 1 rolling safety and 4 EA Safety (accepted all), 3 EA Target (accept 2, defer 1), 2 EA Reach (defer both)
RD (included deferrals from above): 1 Target (WL), 12 Reach (accepted 3, WL 5, rejected 4)
We classified schools based on their acceptance rates, over 50% was safety, 26-49 was target, and bellow 25 was reach. But all
The reaches on the list were under 20, most under 15%.
Total applications: 22, accepted 11, WL 6, rejected 5
2025: ED Ivy reach (reject), ED2 T20 reach (deferral), 1 rolling safety and 4 EA Safety (accepted all), 3 EA Target (accept 2, defer 1), 2 EA Reach (defer both)
RD (included deferrals from above): 1 Target (WL), 12 Reach (accepted 3, WL 5, rejected 4)
We classified schools based on their acceptance rates, over 50% was safety, 26-49 was target, and bellow 25 was reach. But all
The reaches on the list were under 20, most under 15%.
Total applications: 22, accepted 11, WL 6, rejected 5
Anonymous
07/17/2025 21:09
Subject: How many colleges did your DC apply to?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:2023: 20 (including 12 reaches, after ED1 deferral). At ivy.
2025: 22 (including 14 reaches, after ED1 deferral). Enrolled at T10.
Why so many reaches?
Better question: how many acceptances from the reach schools?