<p>There is no reason to apply to 15-20 schools!</p>
<p>You should be finding schools that you can get into and will meet your financial needs.
Otherwise you are spending lots of time and money on applications and then at the end you still have to pick from 20 schools. Less than 10 is what you should be shooting for.</p>
<p>SlackerMom - bopper is probably right but we let both boys apply as many as they wanted to apply. Each ended up applying to around 10 schools with mixed results. S2 got a pretty good merit aid from SM though.</p>
<p>thank you bopper. I wasn’t about to advise my child to apply to so many schools. When D told her senior friends she only wanted to apply to 7 schools, they told her she needed more. It’s nice to get confirmation that her target number wasn’t out of whack.</p>
<p>My DD2011 applied to 11, but she did 2 Ivies, NYU, 4 Big State Schools, and 2 Engineering Schools. In each category she got the same result (acceptance or not) and similar merit scholarship levels. Then she had to pick between the Big State Schools and the Engineering schools. If you had more than that, how would you even choose?</p>
<p>My older one ( college sophomore) applied to 8 schools, but the process was easier with her. I expected her to get into many schools but was not expecting any merit or FA. We basically allowed her to apply to schools that we could afford without any help ( FA or merit). She did apply to one private just for kicks, and she got some unexpected merit aid. </p>
<p>D15 is a different kid. She has the potential to get significant merit ( of course nothing is guaranteed), so she has to cast a very wide net. I don’t want her applying to more than 15 ( I understand 15 is a lot- if we can narrow it down to 12 or 13 I would be happy).</p>
<p>D1 applied to 10 , including HPY. Too many. If you have are looking for merit aid, an additional scholarship application can be required. …don’t under estimate the time taken to complete these. And… looking for external scholarships and completing the essays/ interviews. Interview weekends bite into seniors time. My d was very stressed her senior year.</p>
<p>I can think of several reasons to apply to 15 or more schools. A lot depends on the student’s profile and what they are aiming for. </p>
<p>Just one is this typical CC example. The kid with great test scores, grades and rigor, ECs respectable but not quite multiple national award winner level Kid and family want kid at a top private school. So everyone knows this is a crapshoot. It’s not far-fetched to apply to these places, but chances at any one are bad. So you blanket the market to increase your chances of getting into at least one.</p>
<p>That was my niece. She got rejections from several Ivies, acceptances at a couple, waitlisted/rejected at places they thought of as safeties like Harvey Mudd, Tufts and others. She’s at MIT now. My BIL, who lives for soccer, used to coach his kids’ teams when they were young, likes to say ‘if you don’t shoot, you can’t score.’</p>
<p>Of course, for this example to apply, you have to know where you are on the spectrum, that you are indeed a viable candidate for these places. If you overestimate your position, no amount of beating on carved doors will gain you entry.</p>
<p>Thankfully my daughter loves writing and prefers that over most other activities, so extra essays may not be looked at as stressful. My older kid did all apps and essays over the summer and was done by the time school started. My D15 feels that senior year will be less stressful than this year because the SATs will be done and she will no longer be taking the two hardest APs in the school ( physics and Spanish). Most of the schools on the current list do not require any extra work, although 4 do. The bottom line is that it’s her choice- if she wants to go for it then she has to put the time in. If she does not want to do the extra work and chooses not to apply, it’s fine with me. </p>
<p>Interviewing for scholarship weekends can get a bit stressful. We will cross that bridge if it comes… Hopefully she will be in that position.</p>
<p>I get why people apply to 10-15 schools. What I don’t always get is the choice of schools. (I’m not aiming this at your niece, Celeste, or at anyone in particular.) I know many who apply to all 8 Ivy League schools. Why? For the name? I find it hard to reconcile the idea that the person who loves Dartmouth also loves Columbia. But I don’t know, maybe there’s more to it than I realize. If it’s because the Ivies have a reputation for being generous with aid, then that makes more sense to me.</p>
<p>As an aside, Harvey Mudd is considered a very serious, reach school around here. I can’t imagine anyone using it as a safety.</p>
<p>Twogirls, just a warning, those scholarship essays are relentless and very demanding, no matter how much your D likes to write. My friend’s D (the one who ended up choosing Davidson) was completely worn out by the end of the process and she’s a humanities kid who has a writing intensive major. It’s very good that your D will have completed the really demanding classes and will have time to devote to the apps and essays in her senior year. I don’t want to be the voice of doom in any way but it’s good to plan.</p>
<p>Does the school create some time for seniors to deal with the applications? I’m not sure but I think my D’s school has a class period set aside for it. Then again, mine may not even be applying next year.</p>
<p>I don’t know. People do all kinds of things for all kinds of reasons. I’m just saying, without questioning the validity of the goal, that once that IS your goal, the 15 applications are a natural extension. One of my D’s classmates, whose father is in H’s dept., applied to all top schools and parents enrolled her at the highest ranked school to which she was admitted (Cornell.) All this sight unseen, zero visiting before or after. This was among H’s colleagues who were incredulous that my D was not throwing her hat in the HYPSM ring. Niece was similar, never visited a single school. Very happy at MIT, an easy kid, would thrive anywhere. Can’t imagine sending my D to a school she hadn’t visited. She’s a finicky anxious kid. Fit all important. OTOH, S15 probably will do well wherever, much different from sis.</p>
<p>My D’s school doesn’t give seniors special time for college applications or visits. seniors who went to college visits and missed schools had huge amount of work to make up. so many seniors ended up not visiting schools outside the area.</p>
<p>@Sally - I feel like we both went through the same process. :)</p>
<p>Sally makes a good point. A good number of schools asked for additional essays/LORs for scholarship considerations. That took a lot of time and effort as Sally pointed out.</p>
<p>I’m beginning to see why my niece and nephews applied ED. This sounds overwhelming and I’m not the student.</p>
<p>Our school does not give time for college apps. I understand that some of these apps are stressful and time consuming, but it’s her call. If she does not want to do them, it’s fine with me. We will sit down in June and figure out a list which takes everything into consideration. </p>
<p>I just met a friend for coffee and it helped me put things into perspective. I know things will work out fine. My kid will succeed wherever she goes- I just need to find the fit for her. That’s what I worry about. She likes to have relationships with teachers- won’t really get that in a very big school.</p>
<p>Sorry in advance for crashing the the thread, but wanted to get a straw poll of parents.</p>
<p>For background, i am a junior, college bound in 2015 (hopefully) with an older sibling in college today. My parents are the most supportive in everything that i do in school, sports and other interests - I couldn’t want for any better.</p>
<p>I’ve read with some amusement that high school seniors sometimes display behaviors that suggest a “soiling the nest” phenomenon. In a round about way making it easier for parents to let go of their college bound kids. I saw a little of that with my older sibling, but understand the spectrum of behaviors can be quite broad.</p>
<p>Question: Is there a similar phenomenon with parents - particularly with an only or last kid - where the parents will subconsciously (or otherwise) “nudge” the kid out of their - soon to be empty - nest?</p>
<p>Look, just because I left your luggage out in your room after our vacation doesn’t mean your mom and I won’t miss you when you head off to school. ;)</p>
<p>I accepted your explanation of the luggage being to “air them out” after the trip, but I have to say that I am still cynical about the new locks on the doors. </p>
<p>I am fairly certain that Home Depot can give us more than 2 sets of keys </p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>When my older kid went away her freshman year I cried for about 3 weeks. The crying came in spurts depending on my mood etc. Her senior year was stressful for me as she was never home- she is a very social kid. I spent my time worrying whenever she was out with the car. </p>
<p>So- it does not matter if the kid “soils the nest” or not- parents ( I think) will be sad and there is an adjustment to be made. The funny part is that my D2015 did not seem to flinch. I thought that was a bit odd, until others started telling me the same. I think it was ok because they connect in so many other ways. </p>
<p>When my hs junior leaves the house I will have a lot of free time on my hands despite having a full time job where I am out the door at 6:45 every morning. I won’t be happy.</p>
<p>I think it is the party that is leaving that generally distances them selves (soils the nest) as they are the one changing. I tried to keep that in mind and wasn’t so much happy that she left but was happy that I didn’t have to put up with the behavior. She is back to being her semi-surly self when she visits now (as opposed to superobnoxious).</p>