@petrichor11 and @eh1234 -the easy apps that require nothing but typing skills, access to scores, grades, and a list of activities to my knowledge include Iowa State (which incidently has a very cute video they send you upon acceptance - all within 48 hours). UMN also has an easy application but you still have to stress about making sure transcripts are uploaded so you don’t get the instant satisfaction of knowing college will happen for your child. To my mind for the forty dollar application fee the Iowa State application is totally worth it. As an aside, I can’t think of anyone I have ever met from Iowa that has not been very nice. Sort of the Canadians of the US?
State schools.
(though not all - I think U of IL, for one, requires an essay and so do a couple of the UW branches…)
Especially schools that are not the flagship school - the apps are basically fill in your vital info, GPA, test scores, ECs, declare a major or not, request a transcript, have test scores sent, maybe a couple of other quick questions, and you’re done. Well, two or three of D’s schools also have Guidance counselor forms, that GC must fill out and mail from school - those are basically asking what the senior schedule is, and how rigorous the student’s course load has been, and to verify grades.
D is applying to Ball State, SIU-Carbondale, UW-Eau Claire and UW-OshKosh, and Ohio University.
Only UW-EC requires an essay, I believe.
She might apply to IL State, but it’s at the bottom of her list… and ISU doesn’t even require a transcript right away, just at the end of the year - they’ll apparently accept you with self-reported grades. SIU-C may be the same, need to double-check…
I know all of the Iowa publics are like that, too, self-report grades and they get back to you in a couple of DAYS. U of Kansas, if I remember correctly, as well…
D was also sent several “streamlined” apps from small LACs that don’t require an essay, but I think they may require at least one LOR from a teacher or GC. I don’t think she’s going to apply to any - she’s decided these schools may not be good social fits for her, and she wants a little larger campus and student body. I think she also dislikes not knowing, up front, what the COA will be…
My thinking is the small LACs - like Wittenberg, Coe College, Susquehanna, etc. - feel like they’re competing with higher-ranked LACs like Oberlin, Kenyon, Macalester, etc., and they can get students to go ahead and apply with a fast app, and maybe even enroll later with merit aid offered.
I think the state schools are just busy and have a huge number of applicants! So they want to make the admissions decisions quickly.
ASU is the same. There isn’t an essay required or LOR until applying for Barrett Honors. The app for admission to the school itself is very basic.
Clemson University does not require an essay or LORs unless you apply to Calhoun Honors College, Winthrop University does not require essay either.
@petrichor11 - The easy apps tend to be Big State Us. Like @GeeDAre, I’m finding that many require one short essay or even no essay. This is ideal for my lazy B student who might get in somewhere with her decent ACT score. We are looking for the least holistic process possible and banking on admissions criteria being on the lower side for a prospective student in the Ag college in these Big State Us. She might be overly optimistic applying to OOS flagships, we’ll see.
For the kids applying to super selective small schools, Ivy League, honors colleges, etc., I’m guessing there is no way to avoid writing 35 different essays.
Right, I believe the Honors College app to many of these schools is separate, and they send you one for that after acceptance. And that requires an essay and LOR. Otherwise, the regular apps are very easy and should take half an hour or less - unless you’re my kid and it takes over a week, 
smh…
@Themommymommy
“As an aside, I can’t think of anyone I have ever met from Iowa that has not been very nice. Sort of the Canadians of the US?”
My wife’s Canadian, and she’s the nicest woman I’ve ever met. I once knew a guy from Ames, Iowa, but he wasn’t as nice as my wife.
Wow, go away for a few days and things are still hopping! Is it time to start the list of acceptances? Congrats to those of you who are ahead of the game, and good luck to those in the throes of essays.
Well, I won’t be starting the acceptances list. S16 still hasn’t submitted anything but the weekend trip to visit Tulane went well. We have progress on a major (though “Maybe I can triple major!” is not that encouraging). Tulane has emerged from Katrina with a major focus on community service which really appeals to my S16. He’s done only a little so far, but whatever he decides to do when he grows up he wants to have big impact. They also encourage exploration and don’t confine kids to one college when they apply. Our tour guide had changed his major four times but still expects to graduate on time. He was pretty funny. Said it was the one school his parent didn’t want him to apply to so of course it shot to the top of his list.
It’ll be a reach, but my goal was to get him inspired. And while Bourbon St is not my favorite vacation destination, New Orleans is a pretty cool city to visit any time.
Some of our state directional schools and the “other” flagship have very easy applications, no essay. They also have auto-admission if your GPA is above a certain threshhold, and test scores are used only for merit awards and placement. D easily meets the GPA for the two she’ll be applying to, so they are both safeties for her, in that she not only would get in, but would also be happy to attend them.
Some of her HBCU’s also have very basic applications, though for some there are essays needed for the honors program.Her top three all require essays, though.
Forgot to add-tomorrow is the senior parent/student meeting. Ack! We’ll be going over the Great Senior Project, all 11 components to it (it counts as a full credit-it’s basically an independent study). But we’ll also be discussing the senior trip and other more social aspects of senior year.
Thanks for all your support everyone. DS’s team just won a REALLY big game and now bravado is protesting icing the black eye that is forming because “that will keep me up until 2am doing homework.” I hope he can see out of it in the morning.
@Cheeringsection Before or after his interview? He should get lots of female
attention tomorrow.
Unfortunately, our Big State Unis require an essay, and are not rolling admissions. Both kids are applying to at least one-- D is applying to three, though not to honors colleges (flagship and two directional).
The interview was a.m. Game was p.m. No details have been shared and are currently overshadowed by the game. I will have to be patient for those.
I’m just glad he didn’t look like Rocky Balboa for his interview.
But that would have certainly been a good conversation starter, carolinamom!
@AsleepAtTheWheel I went to college in Canada (McGill U). I have tried so far unsuccessfully to convince my kids to go there for college. My daughter says maybe for grad school.
@eh1234 My son told me he has 24 essays to write. Nine are for one school. .
I wish my D had gone so far as to look at how many essays she needs. No such luck.
She applied to Kansas, essay only for Honors. Easy application. WVU, so far no essay–not sure if needs one for honors?
Tonight our (small private) high school’s college counselors held an informational meeting with the parents of kids in the senior class. They mentioned that 11 of the 88 seniors had already submitted binding ED applications. It’s barely mid-September. I guess a lot of these kids are awfully sure where they want to go.
@themommymommy – I grew up (a long time ago) in the northeast (now in sunny CA), and at that time McGill was very much on the radar of bright kids who were willing to think outside the box. My wife is from New Brunswick – grew up on an island of 1,200 people, graduated in a high school class of 9 kids (in the top 11%, I might add). Most Canadians outside of Quebec don’t exactly love the French Canadians, so McGill might not play real well with the extended family. But it’s a wonderful school.
P.S. We joke that the national sport of Canada is talking about the value of the Canadian dollar.
One of DS’s classmates has already heard back from his ED school and declared himself done. I suspect DS would love to be as well but is holding out hope that one of the two he has already applied to will come through with enough scholarship money to make that possible. Problem is that one does not even notify of official acceptance until mid-February so that is only wishful thinking. I will not push for more to be finished until we hit 10/1. We will see what motivation he is able to generate on his own before then.