I don’t understand how high schools have any say in it at all. Do they deny sending transcripts to more than that?
My D18’s HS would support no more than 8 applications. Students could apply to more than that, but transcripts and rec letters would only be sent to 8. Counselors stressed to students that their chances were better with a handful of very well-done applications, and applying to more schools diluted the quality. It helped that her HS had a very good track record with elite colleges.
We’ve been told at college nights that lists should consist of 1-2 safeties, 2-4 matches, and 1-2 reaches. I’ve heard of students applying to nearly 20, but for us we capped at 10 mostly due to the cost of applying. But I do believe the number depends on each family’s circumstances.
One of our family’s criteria is distance. So along with his criteria it limits the number of colleges. We want to be able to drive to his college to visit once a semester or so for performances like we do for DS16. Also didn’t want the extra expense of air fare and hotels. Neither of their HS’s limit the number of applications. I can understand that it may be well intentioned but seems controlling, arbitrary, and unnecessarily restrictive.
I understand the logic of kids not applying to a ton of colleges but I don’t understand how a high school can legally restrict how many transcripts they will send. Receiving a copy of your official transcript is your right just like receiving a copy of your medical record is your right. Our school charges for each transcript sent. A student should be able to order and pay for as many transcripts as they want.
@ShrimpBurrito don’t the LORs get uploaded into the Common Ap? If so, how would the school know how many colleges a student sent the LOR to?
What do these schools that restrict the number of transcripts and LORs do if a kid is applying for a ton of scholarships?
@voyagermom thanks, that helps! I was adding an additional $35 in score reports to the application cost of each school. If we can send SAT, SAT II and AP scores all in one report, that will save a significant amount of money.
@lkg4answers
I don’t know whether lots of schools are doing “self-reporting”, but that is the route we hope will be able to take for scores, self-report now and only submit official ones once admitted and ready to commit.
@makemesmart yes, more and more schools have self reporting. I was trying to calculate worst case scenario to budget how much would be spent on application fees this fall. There are a lot of fees/donations included in the senior registration packet which is due in the fall as well.
I haven’t checked recently, but for me 2015 & 2016 high school grads SAT score reports were whatever SAT and SAT II dates you wanted to send. You paid per school and as many dates you wanted were sent. AP tests were self reported and only sent to the school they committed to. That was a separate fee. ACT is different. For ACT you pay for each test date that you want sent. You want 2 tests sent, you’re paying twice for every school you send scores to. We debated how important a 1 point higher superscore is because that means sending a second ACT test date to each school but one (one doesn’t superscore). Thats $13 for each school (7 of them) for a one point bump.
@lkg4answers I don’t know all of the details. D only applied to seven schools (and was accepted to all) so I didn’t push. I think only two of her schools were on Common App, though. I do know that D’s counselor has good relationships with AOs at many elite colleges. It could be that with a restricted number of applications, colleges know that students from this HS are more likely to attend. The “8 application maximum” was also phrased in the context of “how to succeed in this college admissions game.” I saw it as helpful advice rather than a restriction. Knowing D’s counselor, if there were extenuating circumstances that would make it beneficial for D to exceed their maximum, the door would be open for discussion.
@lkg4answers the AP scores won’t be included in the SAT score report. Seems silly since both are through College Board, but they won’t be. But, you should be able to self report the AP scores on all the applications and only send the official report to the one school that your child accepts to. With my D18 he had several high score AP tests so we thought we should send them to all his schools that he was applying to but the counselor said there was no reason at all to do that.
I’m glad to hear that more schools are doing self reporting for test scores and only asking for it to be sent from College Board after acceptance. Will definitely read carefully for that and not just get the scores sent with every school DD applies to.
@Cheeringsection Thank you for that information about Ohio. I hadn’t really thought about that, and you’re right, it’s hard to depend on a safety if they aren’t going to tell you if you’re admitted until the end of January. Something S20 needs to look into, maybe add another safety to the EA list.
@NYC2018nyc Before you go offending alums, students, or administrators…I think you mean Ohio State, not Ohio. Two totally different schools. 
@bigmacbeth Oh my apologies to anyone offended! Yes, The Ohio State University!
Just a friendly reminder to all that medical power of attorney will be needed for your DC once they are 18. Our pediatrician now has a policy that an internal form gets signed once a patient is 17 just in case the patient is not seen again until an emergency after they are 18. One more thing for the senior year to do list.
@Cheeringsection Do you need to go to an attorney to get that done?
@janiemiranda I’m pretty sure they are specific to the state they are in. I have one for each of my college kids in the state their school is in and the state the internship is in. I found them on the state government websites. They don’t even need a notary, but they do need witnesses. At least the ones I found. I also have power of attorney in case something horrible happens and I need access to their bank accounts.
https://www.consumerreports.org/health-privacy/help-your-college-age-child-in-a-medical-emergency/
@janiemiranda we did but I think there are forms for each state available online as well. I did not read the consumer reports article linked above. It may mention that.
visited ucsd during its “summer showcase.” it appeared to be well-planned leading up to the event. email reminders were sent a week and two days prior telling us to reply to their text inside of 30 minutes of arrival. we didn’t.
instead, there was a huge number of visitors who still had to check in and get tickets for snacks. they weren’t prepared for the sheer number who attended for the group tour. a bag of chips for your time was the reward.
the campus itself is contemporary. not a red brick building in sight. there were trees and grass. not like a business park that was implied by those who loathed their visit.
the walking tour did not show the interior of any rooms, much less a dorm. the break out groups didn’t schedule the more popular topics in the auditorium.
the tour guide said ucsd is the second-most applied to school. didn’t mention ucla being number one. can’t beat the weather. when applying, students give their preference to the seven colleges on campus to attend.
85% of freshmen live in triples. meals plans are required for residents. impacted majors can be capped/limited. because of the stem emphasis, it’s staying on the list.
@MuggleMom and @Cheeringsection Thank you so much with your help with this!
Do most high schools report both weighted and unweighted gpa on the transcript? My DC’s school transcript only reports weighted ? I am not sure if its an advantage or disadvantage ? I heard each college calculates the unweighted gpa using their custom GPA scale if its not provided by the school? is that right?