@bearcatfan, he is just being stubborn. The essays are done to certain extend. If he puts in a couple of hours over the weekend everything would be done and sent. But that’s how he has been all along. The stress level in this household will be going up exponentially over the next few days 
So, here at camp Puddy, we have 7 apps submitted. Most of the simple, auto admittance variety. That assumes that the apps are filled out correctly.
DP Jr. has 4 accepts in hand.
1 recently submitted app needs more time.
But 2 apps we have not heard back on, and are still “pending”. We know accepts have gone out for these schools. We know other students who have these accepts. Frustrating.
Still need to submit a program application, a private scholarship application, FAFSA, CSS, and 1-3 more school applications…
ok so it sounds like you agree with emphasizing the GPA when you sort schools into target, reach, and safety, too.
D and I had a good talk about college apps this morning. Today she will look over her completed-but-not-yet-submitted USC application, submit it, and then she’s done. I brought up all the logical places she could yet apply: Toronto, Pitt, SDSU, Indiana, Boston U, but she says she’s had enough. She doesn’t want to do any more essays or ask teachers/counselors for any more recs. SHE IS DONE.
That’s six apps. She says she will be thrilled if she is accepted to any of her top three, and will be completely fine if ASU is her only option. Her top recommender still has two letters to submit, but otherwise, it seems we are now on to the waiting game.
Even though logically I know she will have multiple acceptances, I am still expecting the worst. This is SO nerve-wracking!! X_X :(( :-S
Congrats to everyone who’s hit submit!! Big milestone!
Hugs to those still waiting, this rollercoaster keeps on dragging us up and down doesn’t it? Perhaps a bit of @traveler98 's bribery solution could move those reluctant submitters along? 
@ShrimpBurrito I hear you. My D is DONE as well, or rather wants to be. We’ve negotiated that she will still complete the two additional essays necessary for the honors college at NAU, but at this point I have given up hope of UC Riverside staying on the list. She’s never wanted a UC, and the 4 essays is just too big a hurdle, especially for a safety. We were scheduled to visit in November, and we might still, and we’ll see if she can be convinced to put forth a minimal effort and re-work some of her already written essays. Honestly I wouldn’t care except I wanted her to have a close to home financial safety on her list. The 6 schools she likes that she’s applying to are all safeties, but she needs to get enough merit aid for them to be affordable, and only one has guaranteed merit for stats if admitted. Of course that’s the school farthest from home. So yep, she’s very much in the “I just want my life back” camp and I’m the “But what about…?” camp.
We have relative peace this weekend though since she did get everything done and we have a college preview visit day tomorrow.
Good luck to everyone who’s prodding progeny on apps this weekend! My your sanity and relationships remain intact!
Congrats to all those trudging along and hugs to those in camp frustration.
How many colleges are your students applying to? My D has a friend applying to over 20. 
We were in the range of 7-8 but because of new programs D has discovered and mostly because of the financial uncertainty of merit aid, the list is inching up a few. We are also among those families who, if applying in the future, would have dropped a few colleges that she has already applied to. Funny how perspective changes as it all begins to get “real.” X_X
I think D will top out at 8, at most. The last ones are going to be bears and I predict essay fatigue to set in. And how many of those are safeties? ONE. That scares the hell out of me, and goes against all the advice I give, but I do think she’d be happy there and every other safety suggestion has been nixed. The wait until “mid-December” (give us a firm date already!) is going to be rough.
@Kayak24 My D has 3 applications currently in. And 2 others that may go in if she doesn’t get a good financial package from her top school. She only applied to matches/safeties as her #1 and #2 choices fit that category. She had 2 other potentials but they are ED schools that are her 4 and 5 choices so there may be no need to go through the application process. She is very set on what she wants to study and knows 100% where she wants to go to school. She’s already been accepted into her #1…now it’s the merit package waiting game. She has the stats to get a good package based on last year’s merit but we all know things can change and this college gets continually better applicant pool each year. Fingers and Toes crossed.
At our school, most kids apply to 2-4 colleges. My S has applied to 5 with 1 acceptance in (safety-rolling admission). He would be okay with the safety, they have an Honors Program he thinks he would like. The others include another safety, two matches, and one reach. Some we would hear in December, others longer. But first…could he just finish some scholarship essays that are due Nov 1!?!
At our school the GC recommends between 6 to 10.
There was a thread in the general parents discussion forum that made me have a twinge of regret.
DD so far is in at five of the seven colleges she applied to - two of those five she is waiting on the nursing program decision, which is separate from general admittance, but three she’s fully direct admit into nursing. Radio silence from another school, and another has summoned her for an interview next weekend. Most have rolling admissions, and she was squarely in the admission pool (maybe towards the top for a couple). Not super selective, but good programs. I kind of suspect she will go 7-for-7, when all is said and done. She narrowed it down to these 7 after looking at other programs - instate, direct admit BSN programs were the limiting factors.
We both decided Case Western was too reach-y for her, based on ACT scores alone and what we heard from friends last year, and wasn’t worth the time. Her friend, with higher ACT scores, got waitlisted last year for a different program. I think that kind of scared her off.
Then I read a post that said every kid should have a reach … experiencing rejection, etc. I wonder if she should have gone and applied to Case. Who knows? But we both decided that she might have been a step behind at Case, rather than with students who were about her level.
I guess she still has two more chances at rejection. :-SS
@bearcatfan I wouldn’t have regret. If your child is happy at her list of schools, that would be good enough for me. My older daughter never applied to reaches or matches. We visited several over two years, with a mix of safeties, matches, and reaches. She did an overnight at a safety, it was good in her field, and she knew it was the one for her. When she got the phone call she was the first in her class to put down a deposit, she was thrilled. Now a sophomore, she loves her school and is doing great.
@bearcatfan she still has plenty of time to apply to Case. But, if she doesn’t really care about getting in, I don’t think she is really going to experience the rejection. I was once on a job interview and when I was offered the job, one of the things they said to me was that they loved that I played a college sport. They figured that I had learned rejection from that and learned how to pick myself up, and that most new workers they hired never experienced a defeat and were crushed when they suffered one. They were mistaken; I had always thought the sport was just a game, and when I had a defeat at work, I was just as crushed as everyone else because this time it MATTERED.
My D has an acceptance via rolling to her #1 choice, which is great. However, it makes other applications look like a lot of trouble. I think having a few choices when it comes to fit, distance from home, and financial aid would be best. I have also heard of instances where kids change their mind during acceptance days…She needs to complete EA supplements by Nov 1 and scholarship applications to make first choice feasible. This is our first time with this process, I realize senior year is tough and the college process is much more difficult than when I went a million years ago. How do you push to get these things in without being too pushy?
S has applied to 3 schools and has been accepted to 1 already, rolling admission.
D has applied to 11 schools. Does anyone like to play the LOTTERY? We normally don’t buy lottery tickets, but for college application season - we’re rolling the dice. We all know the game by now - although her stats give her a chance, I’d label 10 of her choices as reaches. I know, I know, what about those safeties and matches???
I’m personally good with it as she’s already accepted to her safety school and she could always apply to one of our State U’s down the road if the need should arise. So, with the safety school tucked away, It’s kind of exciting to see what will happen.
I’ll let you all know how it all turns out…
@jcmom716 my older daughter did exactly the same. Was a safety school in every sense but she fell in love on an overnight, applied ED as they are well known in both her programs (double major); it was the best decision she ever made! They gave her an amazing merit package and the rest is history. She’s working on her Honors dissertation and visiting grad schools this year. She’s doing so well. I think each child is different and as parents we can embrace that and trust them to a large extent. So glad to hear your oldest is doing well also! 
@MPT3D your daughter has Pitt as her top choice as well right? I think I’ve seen you on that thread! Is she really set on Pitt? My D18 is so “all in” for Pitt but honestly we are anxious on this darn merit package. Looking at the stats on that thread of accepted students…looks like a strong group. Obviously CC is probably a skewed sample, but still I’m impressed with the stats of the accepted students!!! What’s your best guess on merit packages going out? I’m thinking middle November!
S is applying to 12, possibly 13 schools. When he raised the prospect of the 13th school, I asked if he was sure given that it would be extra work. He replied that it was “just one more essay, what’s the big deal.” Which is funny because essays have been a real sticking point with him.
If he decides to apply to the 13th school, he will only have 2 more schools to apply to, and the deadlines for those are 12/1. He has submitted apps for all the other schools on his list, including 2 regular decision schools. There is still much work to be done, though, as he has a bunch of merit scholarships applications to complete for several of the schools.
Good luck to everyone!
We started with 10 schools, and now it’s looking like we’ll be down to 7 as our final tally. One of those is her financial safety that she’s already been admitted to, leaving 6 that she hopes to be able to choose from. I think I’ve said before many times, they are all safeties because the type of school she wants, small, LAC, needs to give her merit aid to come within her budget. But the other reason we went safety heavy is she is prone to anxiety and didn’t want the stress of dealing with a reachier application cycle. But I am very excited to follow along on @LMHS73 's lottery journey! I agree that when the pressure’s off a bit with a good safety, it’s a bit fun to see how things shake out! We’ll be hoping to shake some merit money loose from these safeties! That’s our journey.
As far as experiencing rejection and failure, there’s all different ways to experience that without going for a reach school if the kid doesn’t want and/or the family can’t afford it. My D actually did it on a much smaller scale when she applied and was rejected to a local private HS for 9th grade. In hindsight, it was a very predictable rejection, and I was honestly worried they might accept her and I’d have to tell her no we can’t afford it, so it was all for the best, but it was shall we say, a dramatic time… 8-}
@MPT3D It’s a tough balancing act isn’t it? Pushing without being pushy? I think the only thing you can do is make sure she knows what the deadlines are, and what the implications are if she misses them. If she misses an 11/1 deadline for a scholarship, is her #1 school unaffordable? If she has made it clear to you she understands all the things you think she needs to understand, I say just stand back, let her do her thing. Bring her snacks, drinks, etc while she’s working, offer her your support but it’s on her now. It’s honestly the hardest thing to do, but it really is up to her. Then, when she does it all, without you having to nag her everyday celebrate with her. It’s an accomplishment for you both. I say this as someone who has been and continues to be where you are, it’s hard, but worth it. Good luck to you both!! >:D<