My S25 is an average student. His weighted GPA after Junior year will probably be right at 4.0. He will most likely be NM Commended, AP Scholar with Distinction (7 APs by graduation) and a 4 year varsity athlete. No astounding ECs or amazing, unique hooks. We do not need to chase merit or financial aid but he thinks he wants to apply as an Engineering major. Right now he’s got 17 schools in his list only bc we’re caught up on the “what if” he doesn’t get anywhere? Are we just adding to the problem of applying to way too many schools? How many is too many in this crazy common app world?
My son applied this year to 12 schools. It was a lot of work. I wonder if the quality of the applications go down if you do too many? The supplemental essays add up. Although I think it is not uncommon to apply to more know he landed on 12.
1 Like
Yes that’s a good point. My D23 originally had 12 schools on her list but wound up only applying to 8 because she burned out on the supplemental essays!
1 Like
There is no “one size fits all” answer. A lot depends on the student, the colleges being applied to, etc.
One thing we did to cut down the number of applications was to find some match/safety schools that had EA or rolling admission. Once they got into a college they liked by December, we could eliminate applications to colleges they liked less than the ones they were already admitted to. The rolling/EA admits also took a lot of stress out of the rest of the application process.
I would also stress that if applying to colleges that require supplemental essays, that the quality of those essays will be critically important so don’t value quantity of applications over quality of applications.
12 Likes
One of mine applied to 20, needed merit, plus as a 2021 grad she didn’t get to check out many schools, no tours.
That’s a great strategy.
That’s not “average” by any stretch.
7 Likes
One kid applied to 15 and the other 21.
It depends on the kid, it depends on the goal (is it cost, a specific school, or is it something else, are their interests varied), it depends on the requirements to apply, and it depends on the fortitude of the kid - because what seems easy up front gets harder and harder and harder with each app and sometimes they just drop before the goal is finished.
For some, one is enough.
For others, 20 isn’t enough.
1 Like
It certainly seems average when we look at engineering admission stats!!
1 Like
His unweighted GPA is the GPA you should be using to categorize schools. If his school doesn’t calculate that, he/you can do so…using a 4.0 scale, core courses only.
I agree with Happy1’s proposed strategy, and add he should find at least one safety he would like to attend.
What math class will he have senior year?
2 Likes
Ooof. UW will be 3.7. He tanked second semester sophomore year. (3.1 UW)
He’s in AP Calc AB now and planning on AP Stats next year.
I like so many things about CC, but one negative thing is that people starting thinking that students who come on CC are normal. So they think that most students have at least a 3.9UW GPA and if they’re below that, it’s somehow a “low” GPA. Ditto with test scores that don’t break 1500, or more than one AP result below a 5. Being a varsity athlete throughout high school is child’s play as is any activity that didn’t win at least state recognition, if not national. So then students who are really amazing just think they’re “normal” and then students who are actually normal feel totally out of place.
So @COMom3, I’ve made a correction for you.
How many of those schools would he be happy to put a deposit on and attend for 4 years? If there are any that don’t meet that criteria, I’d look for ways to get him excited about them or eliminate them from the list.
Are there any schools on the list that have a general acceptance rate of 80% or higher, especially any that don’t have restrictions on entry to the engineering major? If he has one, and preferably at least two, that have an 80+% acceptance rate that he’d be happy to attend, then you could cut the list down as far as your family wants.
8 Likes
LOL!! Thank you for keeping it in perspective! He IS a great kid. Smart, funny, loyal…
We need to go back and figure out that sweet spot you mention of 80% admit rate and able to change majors. Here’s his current list:
U of Arizona
Pitt
Penn State
Indiana (he would apply business)
Purdue
Virginia Tech (his #1)
Oregon state
SDSU
Cal Poly
U of Oregon (business)
Cal Poly SLO
FSU
U Wisconsin
U Washington
Michigan
UF
We realize there are too many reaches.
1 Like
If you do your research well, and as long as you identify, whether by rolling admissions, auto admit, or very high admissions rates (so as to be a strong “likely”) you don’t need to apply to 20, give or take, schools. It can be absolutely exhausting for students, even if many of the schools are on the common app. There is still a ton of researching to do and essays to write. Look at his list and see if you can identify which seem to be high reaches, which seem to be low reaches, and which are hopefully matches. if you have a good mix and can be sure to have two or so of the likely. Since you don’t need to chase aid, you might be able to comfortably narrow it down to 12-15 at most. I say this # because a few that are currently on the list will fall off for some reason or another, and this is a manageable number for most students.
1 Like
If he were to apply to Arizona, and if was his top choice and there’s no budget concerns, etc. than in theory - it’s the only you need to apply to. It’s rolling - so you’d know early and it’s cost up front.
As Va Tech is his #1, that changes the dynamic.
But you could add a Bama, Ms State, Kansas or wherever - and have a similar situation.
I don’t get IU or Oregon at all.
Engineering and business don’t intersect academically. Some will say - Operations but…
Now many engineering majors who don’t cut it will end up in business but…
Once he gets his test score back, since he’s commended, it will likely be at IU, for example, he’d be a direct admit to Kelley - so there’s a semi elite b school that would be a safety for him (basing his SAT/ACT on his commended status - that it’s going to be good). But if you don’t want to study business.
Now, let’s say he did - would Oregon potentially win out over IU? If yes, keep it on the list. If not, it would be an easy removal because IU is a safety (once we see the test) - but a 3.8 on the transcript and a 30 ACT or 1370 SAT is all that’s needed.
But this student - with a top goal of Va Tech - can have a list from 2 to however many you want - but one (Va Tech) won’t be enough. It just depends on what the second school is - if the student knows up front…
So it really is a student by student scenario as to how many is too many.
1 Like
I’d classify U. of Arizona and Oregon State as extremely likely admits for your son, and Pitt is likely too, if he applies very early (like August). So if he’d be happy/excited to attend two of those, cut the list as far as he wants.
If he’s thinking about engineering, I’m curious why he has Indiana and U. of Oregon on the list, as those wouldn’t really jive with that.
Which colleges does he feel like eliminating/not feeling overly excited about?
2 Likes
IU and Oregon would be fall backs if he can’t get into an engineering program. He does like business and also happens to be extremely good at Math. But thinks accounting is beyond boring! When he did his personality test through school Biz and Engineering (and law and architecture) all came up very high.
He took the SAT cold in December and got. 1420. He took the ACT cold and got a 33. He has been prepping for the ACT in April and aiming for a 35.
These are all public universities. It’s possible that your instate public will be a better chance, but that depends on where you reside. You have a number of CA publics on his list…if you are a CA resident, that is great.
I would agree. He needs to first choose two sure things for admission. If they have early rolling admissions, all the better because he will know up front that he (hopefully) has an acceptance.
It’s wonderful that you can support his college education wherever he decides to attend. That is such a wonderful gift, and one not every family will do even when they have the finances to do so. Just wonderful that you can…and will. This means that costs don’t have to be a factor.
I do agree…if there are schools he doesn’t like for whatever reason, he should eliminate or replace them sooner than later.
And does he want to major in engineering or business? These are different fields and are often even housed in different colleges within a university.
I think you were typing your current list as I was responding above. You don’t need to add any more schools. If you do, you should remove others. As @AustenNut and I said, as long as you have some strong likelys, you really don’t need a long list of schools. It was a while ago, but my older s applied to 2 (one ED and one that notified him at the same time) and the few other apps he had in process went in the trash. Done. Younger s was similar - Heard very early from one school (the one he attended but did submit 3 others. Today unless you apply ED somewhere thats not likely enough for many students (though many actually stay close to home and don’t apply to more than a handful). Hopefully you can visit several schools and whittle the list down a bit. Good luck.