Denied at almost every school...

SamuraiLandshark
Sun, 25 Mar 2012 18:49:58 +0000

It is surprising to me that a student only applied to 4 schools in this competitive academic climate.

A good rule of thumb is 6-8 colleges as the bare minimum, if applying to reach schools. Throw in a mix of public and private, at least 1-2 safeties you are willing to attend and pay attention to whether they are FAFSA only or CSS PROFILE + FAFSA if you need financial aid.

And when that list looks comprehensive, look at the admission rates for last year’s class. How selective are they? Did they admit less than 10% of applicants? If so, that’s going to be a serious reach. Did they admit 50-80% of applicants - probably a safety.

Play the numbers, kids. Be smart about this process. Don’t compare yourself to the kid in your class who has the same stats as you. Everyone writes different essays and submits their scores and GPA, along with recommendations. Not everyone is the same.

In some ways, college admissions is a crapshoot and it surprises me every year.