@whataboutcollege Since it is ‘self-reporting’ you can report whatever you want I guess. If you say you took the ACT with writing then you have to report the writing score. If you say you took just the ACT with no writing, then you’re fibbing. On the other hand, most schools don’t look at the writing section of either test. I don’t think we need to think that much about it, but I know others feel that Admissions Officers are looking for any reason to deny a kid. Like it’s a big conspiracy. 
You’re going to have to send the official scores anyhow and you can’t send it without the writing.
We had what is probably our last school visit. We went to NC A&T’s open house and enjoyed it. S wasn’t sure if he would like attending a HBCU, but had no problems seeing himself there. The honors program is really good, better dorms, early registration, paid for abroad trips, smaller general class sizes.
Per the head of department, 91% of engineering graduating class had jobs before graduation.
Duke is still his number 1 pick(for now), but he said he may like A&T better than NC state.
I would love some advice. My D has 5 colleges on her application list - 2 safeties, 1 reach, 1 medium reach, 1 high reach. I realize there isn’t a target or match school but her criteria has limited that. She feels great about her 2 safeties so I think her list is fine. She said her friends have like 12-20 schools on theirs so she keeps trying to find more. I just don’t want her putting unnecessary stress on herself. Anyone else in a similar situation? Or does anyone think she needs to apply to more? I appreciate different perspectives in case I’m missing something.
@MommaCat If she is 100% happy with both safeties, and it at least one is a “super safeties” (near 100% chance of getting in and 100% ability to pay), you are fine. Extra bonus points if she can apply rolling or EA and have one or both acceptances in hand soon.
12-20 schools is crazy IMHO (speaking as the parent of a D17 who applied to 12, which was about 5 too many…). D20 is planning to apply to 7 and I wouldn’t mind if she dropped a couple between now and submitting. She already has Pitt acceptance and would be delighted to go there.
@Mammacat, Nope she needs to do what she feels comfortable with and not worry about what other people are doing. As long as she has at least one true safety, one that’s affordable, that she is sure she can get into and she’d be happy to attend she’s good. Remind her that in the end she can only attend one school.
@MommaCat They can only attend 1 school. Having multiple acceptances is unnecessary if they have a school they want to attend and will be accepted. The only reason to apply to a long list of schools is if they might face rejection or they are applying for competitive merit that they might not be awarded. If there is a possibility that between September and May they might change what they want to major in or decide on wanting an LAC vs. a large public, having a couple of different options they like might also be a good plan.
I have had kids apply to only 1 school and I have had kids apply to 8-10. The ones that only applied to 1 knew exactly where they wanted to attend and acceptance was not a concern. The kids thatbapplied to more were shooting for top merit bc decisions needed to be made around affordability.
My current sr is applying to her 1 school this weekend.
@MommaCat Once you have found a safety that they are happy with, the rest is gravy. That is usually the tough one for most people. If they are all affordable (and the safeties are true safeties: i.e., admission based on stats alone), then you’re good. Call the ‘reach’ school a target if you like. There is no ‘medium reach’ vs ‘high reach’…those are just ‘reaches’.
My D17 had mostly safeties, but she applied to 11 schools looking for merit. So, there is that consideration that many on CC are shooting for.
DD20 has 2 reaches, 2matches and 2 very likely schools on her current list. She may add 1 more reach but our deal is that all the others have to be submitted first. I think 12-20 is sheer madness unless they are all common app with little or no supplements, but even then, WHY?? Seems like way too many application fees to me.
Thank you! I just wanted to be sure that I was being rational. I also told her that having too many choices could be stressful because then you have to make a decision that could be tough.
I wish EA was an option, but we are in California and she’s only applying in state to the public universities that have one deadline with spring notifications.
You are definitely being rational. I think what she’s doing is perfect. Mine only applied to one and I wish she would apply to one or two more but she feels good about it (for now). My older kids all applied to 3-5.
@MommaCat “I appreciate different perspectives in case I’m missing something.”
A couple of things to think about.
A) you only get one chance at undergrad college admissions so it can’t hurt to apply to a couple more IF there are a few more that meet her “fit”. It shouldn’t stress her out, especially if most of the essay are written for other college apps.
B) it’s not unheard of for 17 year olds to change their mind from September to May 1, and having a few extra acceptance might be important options.
C) every year there seems to be so much uncertainty in college admsissions that it’s better to be safe than sorry.
With my D20, she will be applying to 14 colleges but 6 of those will be at UCs with a mostly shared application. In addition, since she is applying to ED, EA, ED2, and RD her applications will be spread out over several months giving her plenty of time to complete them. Some application will be to college with direct admit to her business major, others will be applied to under public policy or economics so she wants to have many options in case she gets into a college but not direct admit which she will have to weigh the pros and cons of program and costs.
Each family has different priorities but for us we want as many options as possible to evaluate the best fit possible.
No wrong answer here.
My d applied to 13 schools, most of them small LACs. By decision time, she felt they were all too small and she wanted something bigger. Luckily she had applied to one mid sized uni, where she ultimately enrolled. Had nothing to do with safety/match/reach. So if your child is applying to all the same “types” of schools, you might want to include an outlier in there.
@taverngirl My D18 applied to 8 schools, but they were her favorites in each possible category. So, they spanned the spectrum from ASU to Grinnell. Kids grow and mature so much senior year, it’s good to have options come May 1!
The blessing of living in California is that you have two applications that can be sent to multiple schools without additional effort. I’m not sure why you feel applying to more CSUs or UCs will put more stress on her.
The CSU application is stats only without an essay. Once she fills out the application, it costs $55 to send it to additional schools. SDSU sends out acceptances to top students in December. It is a nice early surprise for many kids.
The UC application is a bit more work but, once completed, it costs $70 to apply to additional UCs. UCB, UCI and UCSB notify top students in Feb.
I would encourage you to apply broadly within both systems. My eldest claimed to have no interest in SDSU or UCSC but I sent the application there just in case. If he was shut out of the other UCs and CSUs and had to decide between UCSC and SDSU, at least he had options. Even though they weren’t on his list in the fall, a lot changes in 6 mos and he was thrilled when he received acceptance notices from both of them.
My first applied to six UCs, three CSUs and two privates.
My second will apply to six UCs, two CSUs and three privates.
D20 only had 4 schools on her list, 1 reach and 3 matches ( we think these are probably safeties for admission but closer to matches for her major- nursing. She’s been stuck on those 4 forever and not really wanting to discuss others which has made me super nervous. All of a sudden she has been open to looking at a few true safeties and I think she is going to apply to 2-3 of them - partly to be safe but also for merit options. The applications won’t take much work and I’m thrilled that she is keeping her options open.
@bigmacbeth That is what we thought. If you took the ACT with writing, you should choose the “Act with writing” drop down. Then you will need to fill in the essay score. You will have to send it to match what you self-reported anyway. S20 has a terrible essay score ( he didn’t practice a thing). I signed him up with essay without thinking and of course didn’t think he would be one and done. We are hoping when school say they don’t require essay score, they actually don’t consider it:)…
@Mommacat sounds like she has 2 safeties and 3 reaches. As long as her safeties are true safeties(no doubt she can get in and is feasible financially), she sounds OK. It wouldnt hurt to look for another school that she is likely to get in just in case she changes her mind about her safeties.
Each student has different reasons on why they choose the schools they apply to and she shouldnt feel like she has to match what her friends do. S right now has 3 reaches, 2 matches and one safety. He may apply to a couple more through Questbridge, but he is not sure yet., so that will bring his total to about 8. One of my nieces only applied to 1 and was really happy with her choice with no regrets. Different strokes for different folks. ?♀️?
Re AP deadline being Nov 1st, that’s a national thing by the College Board, not specific to any school. It changed this year.
@whataboutcollege We were in that exact position with D18. She never looked at an essay and had to take it on the ACT, not knowing it would be one and done. Needless to say the essay score was terrible, but it did not affect her acceptance to a (top 10) school that said they don’t consider the essay. They claimed, “we won’t even look at it.” Clearly they didn’t. Hope that helps!
@MommaCat , D18 originally applied to 10 schools and in hindsight regretted that and feels some were a waste of time and money. S20 is applying to 6. Every kid is different but those supplemental apps can be really time consuming. If your student has a true safety, that’s a win. Good luck to you all!