<p>Limabeans, I do have only girls, and I do know that many things in the educational system leading up to college are not working for boys right now. I have five nephews, no neices, and we are a close family. So, I do understand that there are especially challenging situations faced by both sexes in education these days.</p>
<p>High stat boys, however, do have an edge over high stat girls, if only in the college acceptance months, simply because there are more high stat girls than boys. I am not so obtuse that I do not “get,” however, that this is partially due to the system the students go through up to that point. </p>
<p>The other stuff that is a pain about daughters, I won’t go into. ;)</p>
<p>For us it didn’t work to play one school against another (I tried!). We are out of gettiing any need based aid however potential merit scholarships make a big difference. There often seems little rhyme or reason to these awards (unless your student is an academic superstar). Find as many fits as possbile. Each $50 or whatever application fee may end up being worth $5 - $10k or more per year for four years.</p>
<p>Increasing applications is a rational act in the crazy marketplace of colleges.</p>
<p>I won’t say it’s the worst because I have nothing to compare it to (first child applying), but I do think this year has a few factors which make this year tough: we’re in the third year of a recession, which means more people need financial aid which generates multiple apps hitting schools with limited funds. There’s been no break in this market – no uptick in the economy that has loosened things up. 2nd, each year, the student/parent learning curve improves because there have been multiples articles on the web about the advantage of apply ED, etc. 3rd, decline in actual guidance counselor involvement at the school level because they assume every does their own research (or in my town, hires a consultant). </p>
<p>But what do I know…like I said, it’s my first, and every rejection hurts.</p>
<p>"How does applying to more colleges increase your chances of getting what you want? " - It allows you to see the actual financial offers from the college. It’s really not all that predictable. So a wide range of apps makes sense in many cases.</p>
<p>The application fee is small change in the grand scheme of things. For us the last addition (Case) was done with application fee waiver (a post card, based on test scores). They ended up giving the 2nd best private merit aid… making cost about the same as state flagship.</p>
<p>At the very top stats for girls, there is wide swath of students. At the very top stats for boys a thinner band.</p>
<p>Also, schools unambiguously go for gpa over sat and high sat low gpa is seen as a huge negative. </p>
<p>It is what it is. I’m not arguing girls are smarter than boys, or vice-versa. Just these are the circumstances the system is producing right now.</p>
<p>Boys at high school stage are typically less mature than girls. And not putting much effort in studies as girls do. Boys may catch up in college and graduate schools, however. If you look at graduate school, boys are dominant in numbers as well as in scores, in general.</p>
I have read otherwise in many places including A is for Admission by Michelle Hernandez. High GPA and low SAT signal to admissions officers a “grind.” High SAT low GPA indicates unreached potential which is a bit more appealing to the elite colleges looking for budding intellectuals. Of course the idea is to have killer SAT scores and a killer GPA but elite colleges seem to prefer higher SAT and lower GPA. </p>
<p>Just a students perspective – Waitlisting is DEFINITELY up. My counselor predicted it and I can not tell you how many students have been waitlisted. I was not rejected at any schools, but waitlisted at 2 (Wesleyan and Georgetown). Villanova waitlisted an unprecedented 4 from my class of 54. Of the 7 who applied, 3 got in and the other 4 were waitlisted. </p>
<p>I didn’t do too badly admissions wise. I got much nicer merit awards given the state of the economy which was really unexpected. I got into my highest reach (Swat) and waitlisted at my lower reaches. Most people at my school are in a similar boat as I am.</p>
<p>OP: The US birth rate has been growing steadily during the 1980s peaking during the 1991 - 92 years and have slowly gone down till 1997. So the number of applications have seen a steady growth since the class of 2010 (HS class of 2006), the year that actually had the most abrupt change was class of 2011 (HS class of 2007).</p>
<p>Now other factors are also keeping the number of applications growing, most importantly:
The ease of applying (common application)
More colleges reaching out to URM through a separate application process
More students wants to go for 4 years college.</p>
<ol>
<li>Many more internationals applying to US schools.</li>
<li>Applying to more schools to compare FA offers or obtain merit aid. And yes, they vary widely for a kid from acceptance to acceptance. That’s clear just from reading the HS class of 2011 thread. It’s the same application, but the $ results seem to be all over the place.</li>
</ol>
<p>I’m in Northern VA. I don’t have a child in this year’s Senior class, but based on what I am hearing from parents here, it seems as if it is a very tough year. Lots of kids getting waitlisted. I don’t envy the students or their parents and just hope that it is better in 2014 when younger child goes through this.</p>
<p>My son and his male friends (don’t know about the girls) have been pretty happy with their acceptances. Friend 1 got into a number of prestigious colleges but was unfortunately denied at his 1st choice (a reach). He did get into University of Chicago which was also a reach. He applied to 8 schools in total. My son was admitted to 6 schools (3 safeties, 3 match) and waitlisted at his one reach (BC). Another friend with GPA of 3.33 or less got into some pretty good colleges. He applied to 10 schools since his stats were not as strong. Another was an early decision at Connecticut College. I think they were generally realistic about where they applied and their chances of getting in. If anything, their Guidance Counselor made it seem more competitive than it really was.</p>
<p>Reading the posts and still confused. I have not had a child apply to college yet, so I truly have no idea…should a child apply to more schools to see which school will offer more merit aid? Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I really have no idea. :-/ </p>
<p>In response to another post on here (sorry don’t remember who it was) that proposed if app fees were $70, maybe it would discourage so many apps (at least that is what I think I read; sorry if I misunderstood)…I think it would for some and not for others. I was talking to my H about when my D starts applying and his view was that she should apply to around 10 schools…when I looked at him like he had two heads and told him how much app fees were at most schools, he said, “It’s worth $500+ when you are ultimately talking about paying out hundreds of thousands in tuition, etc.” I never thought of it that way. I think it would definitely discourage lower income families (and cheap people like me). :-)</p>
<p>It’s not only worth $500+ when you are ultimately talking about paying out hundreds of thousands, it’s worth it if you end up getting an additional $1,000 in a financial aid offer from a school you might not have applied to in the days when students were only applying to 2 or 3 colleges. So long as the colleges are all ones that the student would want to attend the risk/reward ratio in applying to 10 schools really isn’t that bad.</p>
<p>gluckie, the reason to apply to “more schools” for financial aid purposes is that deciding to apply to “financial aid safety schools” increases the number of categories for applications, e.g.,
1 - reaches - 2-3 schools
2 - fits - 2-3 schools
3- safeties - 2-3 schools
4 - financial aid safety schools -2-3 schools</p>
<p>Yep, there can be overlaps, but looking specifically for schools that have a history of giving signficiant merit aid to a higher percentage of students AND where the student is in the top of the applicant pool does tend to increase the number of schools</p>
<p>That said, only on CC would the norm be 8-10 schools; the national average last year was 4 :-)</p>
<p>Yes, when the number of students starts to drop, it will be interesting to see if this whole “industry” of college admissions survives. It is based on numbers and scarcity.
Kids need to stop applying to the same handful of schools!!</p>
<p>“Reading the posts and still confused. I have not had a child apply to college yet, so I truly have no idea…should a child apply to more schools to see which school will offer more merit aid? Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I really have no idea. :-/”</p>
<p>This was definitely our strategy with our S last year. Two early action “academic safeties,” two Ivy reaches (with no illusions), one top-10 “match” LAC (that “meets full need”) and two top-20 match LACs, and four match universities. He was accepted to the safeties, the three LACs and one of the match universities (honors colege); waitlisted by the other two universities, rejected by the third, and rejected by the Ivies. In the end financial aid was good but not sufficient from the safeties - the same at the university. He dropped interest in one of the LACs and we worked with the other two to get FA into a range where he is limited to Stafford loans and we can swing the balance out of current income. He ended up at the one that meets full need, which actually costs about $2,000 more per year out of pocket for us than the other choice ;-)</p>
<p>Clearly we were glad we employed this strategy. Despite feeling like it was still a close call financially, he ended up with a meaningful choice to make. And he is thriving as he closes out freshman year.</p>
<p>I have been largely a lurker this year, as we will be doing this again next year.
My oldest applied 2009 it was a tough year as it had the most graduating seniors. She had many dissapointments, but ended up in a good place. I still have some bitter feelings LOL. Now I am going through the panic stages , just like childbirth the memories come back!! yikes!! I have a friend dealing with this now. Her daughter is a Val and got waitlisted at a favorite college and rejected from another, ultimately she is in a great school but it stings! She has worked so hard. I do see agreat deal of waitlists this year. I know in 2009, there was one kid that got waitlisted everywhere.
I dont think the colleges know what to do, they dont know what their yield will be so they are waitlisting many kids. It would e nice to know if you are “seriously” on the waitlist or not. In addition the “lesser” schools are being indunated with more apps. It is my impression that no school is a safety. I have seen the acceptance rate decrease at many other schools. maye people are starting to understand, that you can do well, save money, get merit. and not go to an elite school. I do think people are sending out multiple applications, I saw one where a kid sent out about 20.
My daughter is going into nursing, so we will cast a wide net, she has an excellent GPA, and EC’s. top 5 percent But the “word” is to apply often and early. We will take nothing for granted. She is already getting the business form kids that is is not applying to IVY’s. and she is going to be a “nurse” not a doctor.
Anyway, my heart goes out to all of you. I was in your place two years ago and will be there next year. I am hoping, that I am better armed with knowledge, and support form CC. I want you to know it really works out. My D is happy and never looks back. My second child is very practical and realistic so is not expecting the moon. I am hoping to just remain sane!!</p>
<p>Read your posts (thank you) and now have another question: How did YOU determine which schools were reaches, safeties, etc. My D has pretty high stats (4.0 uw and over 5.? w - she’s a HS Jr.). Ranking 1 of @450. I have a hard time remembering numbers, so please bear with me. I understand in-state schools would be financial safeties as they are cheaper and she would automatically get some money from state scholarship and recently rcvd letter from one LAC offering money for being chosen as “scholar.” What I don’t understand is how you choose the academic “fit” if you base it on their median. For instance, she fits in the median for Duke but would be a reach b/c of selectivity…??? Is that right? She’s above the median for Clemson, so is that a safety and should she choose to apply specifically b/c of that and the fact it is in-state for her? (i.e. her financial safety?) Is that all you base it on (the school’s medians SAT’s, GPA’s, etc.)? She will do her undergrad in bio, so finding her major at a school is not a problem.</p>
<p>downtoearth: just read your post. I think you may be right about no school being a safety nowadays…a friend just had her son apply to College of Charleston and when I asked her why he didn’t apply to Clemson as he had planned, she said that Clemson was getting hard to get into. What’s up with that??? I have always considered Clemson the “catch all” school along with Univ of South Carolina…seems like everyone graduated from one or the other.</p>