I am still fairly new to this process. I am trying to help S build a good list of schools to apply to and would like to hear your thoughts on this.
I read that in general, students should keep the list short, up to 8 schools. As of now, we have 19 schools sitting on the “List of colleges I am thinking about” in S’s Naviance.
S is a B+/A- student. Due to his so-so stats, I feel compelled we need a bigger list for the following reasons:
- To boost his chances for admissions to as good of a school as he could get into;
- To cast a larger net for a bigger fish - I am talking merit aid, even if it is just a few thousands (our EFC is so high, S does not qualify for need-based aid for most of the schools on our list)
19 is too many. But 8? That is too short of a list. Am I crazy? How do I balance this list?
Take any reaches off where the chance for merit aid is slim or none. Build from the bottom up, start with academic safeties that offer honor colleges and good merit where he falls into the top 25%, list them in order of preference. Once you get to 5 or 6, stop. List low matches where he falls in the 40-26% category, list them in order of preference, get to 5 or 6 and stop. Let him add one or two solid matches. My D applied to 19 schools…there were at least 2 safeties she would attend only if they were full rides and at least two reach schools where the chances were so slim…these four should not have even made the list. I think a good number is 12…5/5/2.
And people will poo-poo you here and say you are wasting your money. Not true. There were more than 5 or 6 schools that offered packages saving us at least half our EFC. And not for nothing, its nice to have choices!
@NEPatsGirl Thank you!
That is a good strategy. For the most part that is what we are doing - except we have 3 safeties and more reaches and matches on the list.
I should have added in my original post that for ‘reach’ schools, we are fine with getting no merit aid. The admissions alone would be enough of a good news to celebrate.
I know S’s counselor will secretly roll his eyes at me once I tell him how many we are thinking (15?).
@NEPatsGirl you hit the nail on the head. It is great to have choices and you never know if you don’t even apply! I want choices for S.
Well, FWIW, I let D apply ED to a dream school where she was outright rejected (as I expected) but sometimes you just have to play the card. And this particular school, like many of the very tippy top ones, had a COA far under what any school would/did end up costing. But, I would limit his dream reach to one or at most two.
I should post S’s stats and the list of schools we are currently considering for the sake of discussion:
EFC: 50 to 55k (depending on calculators used)
We can help S pay any of the schools in the list for 4 years. Although, not all schools are worth the sticker prices. This is another reason we have a large list - we want choices.
Stats:
uWGPA: 3.5
WGPA: 4.2
SAT: 1300 (will retake in August, aiming at 1350 to 1400).
Typical ECs
Attends a reputable suburban public HS here in MA
Asian
S is interested in CS and Engineering but this is not set in stone. He is pondering applying as undecided, especially to more selective schools.
Reach schools:
U Rochester (thinking of dropping it)
Pitts
U Maryland
U Illinois - Urbana Champaign
UMass Amerst (reach for CS, match for undecided)
Purdue
BU (thinking of dropping it)
VT (low reach?)
Target/Match:
Binghamton
North Carolina State
Ohio State
Michigan State
RIT
Penn State
Syracuse
Safety:
UVM
Rutgers
Uconn
Be sure that your S is willing to go to the schools on the list. Too many students come back here stating that they hate their safety school, because they never thought their results would make it a necessity. My DS started with no opinion, but was able to shorten a list I made list by removing 1-2 schools he wouldn’t want to attend even on a full ride.
@TQfromtheU I guess that is ONE thing we have done right so far - we started this whole journey by focusing on finding good safeties and we have visited all of them. He is happy with all of them and can see himself happily attending any one of them.
I would compare his GPA and SAT with the 25th and 75th percentile for each school, and move any where you are below the 25th percentile (far below on either, or at all below on both) to a “not likely” list. Then run the NPC on every school that is still on the main list, and see how the results compare with your perception of what you can afford.
How many schools you want to apply to will depend upon circumstances, but 15 isn’t unheard of at all.
@MomtoAndrew2018 - That is great. The process is so much better with they are flexible.
I’m surprised neither WPI or RPI are on your list. UMassAmherst is probably a good safety for undecided but I agree that CS makes it a low reach. Other than that I’m not familiar with the merit aid at the other schools.
Both WPI and RPI were once on the list and have since been dropped.
WPI - This is a reach for S based on Naviance data. It is also too small. S prefers larger, diverse, coed universities.
RPI - Also a reach for S based on Naviance data. And we have other reaches that seem more appealing than RPI to S.
You have a lot of out-of-state publics on your list. Run the net price calculators and see how affordable they would be for out of state versus what you think is “worth it.” Ask yourself how many of these large state schools are significantly different from one another in terms of academic offerings or merit aid chances.
BU Is pretty notorious for little merit aid.
Applying as “undecided” to increase admissions chances is only a good strategy if the school name on the diploma is more important than the major and the classes. The most popular majors are also the hardest to change into later, so don’t think you can easily switch to CS or engineering from undecided at a large state school. It may be competitive or even closed.
@Aroundhere Thank you!
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You have a lot of out-of-state publics on your list. Run the net price calculators and see how affordable they would be for out of state versus what you think is "worth it."
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This has been done. UMass Amherst is S’s #1 choice and cheapest since we are in-state, but unless he applies as undecided his chance of getting in is very slim (20% admission rate for CS and Engineering!). CS has its own exploratory track program at UMass Amherst, if S decides to go in CS later he wouldn’t be able to do it. This is the main reason we have a lot of OOS flagships on the list, to boost his chances of getting into STEM majors.
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Applying as "undecided" to increase admissions chances is only a good strategy if the school name on the diploma is more important than the major and the classes. The most popular majors are also the hardest to change into later, so don't think you can easily switch to CS or engineering from undecided at a large state school. It may be competitive or even closed.
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Very true…and a great reminder. S shows interests in CS and Engineering, but part of him also wants to ‘keep the door’ open and explore what he wants in life. If he wants to go undecided then that would be his choice. We just need to make sure to carefully choose the offerings to ensure the ‘doors’ are open should he decide to pursue STEM in the end.
Just don’t make the mistake that “if my chances are 20% at one school, they’ll be 60% if I apply to three schools.”
To use an archery analogy: your student’s grades, test scores, etc. are the strength of the bow. The targets are the schools he wants to apply to. Far off in the distance is MIT, while your safest safety is right in front of you. The arrows are your applications. Shooting lots of arrows at a target that is too far away for the strength of your bow will not increase your chances of a bullseye. Schools at the same level of selectivity will be looking for similar things, so you will likely get into all or none at a similar selectivity level. For schools right at the edge of the range of your bow’s strength, careful aim (a well-crafted “why us” essay, demonstrating interest, etc) may make the most difference.
My D was both fishing for big merit at top schools, as well as applying to HYPS, so she had a long list. In retrospect, she probably should have applied to fewer schools (she applied to 19, not including UCs), but we had no way of knowing how things would shake out (she ended up getting in everywhere she applied and got a number of full tuition scholarships at schools that offered them, and top merit at those that didn’t), and she hadn’t visited any schools before applying.
Had she visited some/all of the schools, she might not have applied to them all, and would certainly have had an easier time in the spring.
Has your S visited the schools? Don’t be lured by “a few thousand in merit;” it won’t get you too far with a $75K COA. Some schools – even without merit – are cheaper than other schools with merit. Publics aside, the COA, without merit or FA, for the schools on D’s list ranged from $62K (Rice) to $75K (U. Chicago). This didn’t take into account huge differences in travel or health insurance costs, or additional expenses such as orientation week, etc.
I don’t think you need more than one or two safeties. Does U Mass allow you to have a back-up major outside of CS/Eng? If so, and if he likes U Mass, that can be his safety and you can get rid of at least two of the others on the list.
Has he taken the ACT? He might find that he prefers one test over the other (many kids do). Have you looked at Alabama? A lot of kids seem to like it for STEM – if he can get his test scores up, he might get some automatic merit there.
Do any of these flat-out guarantee admission for his stats? If not, he might want to identify one. Sometimes everything does go wrong, and the kid has no options but an unplanned gap year.
@happymomof1 This is the reason we have 3 safeties.
@LoveTheBard Thank you!
Now I don’t feel too weird with 19 schools on the list. 
I feel the same way, it is hard to see how things would shake out. College admissions can be so unpredictable.
Sadly, I don’t think we can count on UMass being a safety. S’s stats are a bit below average overall. He has a decent shot for non-CS, but not strong enough to be safety.
I know what you mean. I have the NPCs for all the schools listed in a spreadsheet so I can definitely see which ones come at the higher sticker prices. Frankly speaking I doubt S can get much merit aid at all. It is a nice to have, but not a deal breaker.
Visited so far:
UMass Amherst
BU
Northeastern
UConn
UVM
Rutgers
Road trips/flights booked:
Syracuse (with an on-campus interview)
Binghamton
VT
Purdue
Yet to plan:
RIT
Visit AFTER admission (if S gets lucky)
U Rochester (still unsure about this school)
Pitts
Michigan State
Visit AFTER admission (if S gets lucky). These do not track “Level of Demonstrated Interest” so we will rely mainly on virtual tours, online research etc…
U Maryland
U Illinois - Urbana Champaign
North Carolina State
Ohio State
Penn State
I’ve been pushing him to take a practice ACT to see how he likes it. He has already signed up for August’s SAT, I will have to find out when he can take the ACT if this works for him.
Why unsure about Rochester? I’ve heard great things about it – smaller than some on your list, but it’s a great school and they do offer merit. Why Syracuse? I’d eliminate that over Rochester any day.