After going through the application season this year with my oldest, I’ve decided to do our part to “right size” things and scale down applications for D26.
Even a relatively modest application count of 12-13 schools that my ‘24 would probably attend if admitted has been a lot, in retrospect.
If they’re carefully chosen and realistic for the student/our family, no need to exceed 5-8 apps for #2, IMO.
Some of the strongest kids at our school - academically, extracurrics and just great nice kids who actually add a lot to community- have been disappointed so far in comparison to some others. This whole “holistic” system (without really the time to do it well) can often hurt many of these kids in my opinion as it so easy for others to present themselves as much stronger than they really are with all the puffery possible in application process (and grade inflation), and then harder for these truly high-achieving kids to stand out.
My oldest (2022) applied to 15, this one applied to 9. I also have a son in 2026 and hoping to be even fewer for him. Maybe we can get it down to 5? Lol. I do think we did better narrowing it down before applying for this cycle. You learn more each time.
I’m especially fascinated by all this as the parent of a homeschooled kid (well, 4 homeschooled kids) who doesn’t fit in boxes well…or, you know, an algorithm. No school to put him in context, lower income kid in a high income zip code (but with two parents with advanced degrees…it’s just that his dad is an intentionally lower income public school teacher)…does this make schools give him a closer look because he’s hard to figure out, or do they toss him early because…he’s hard to figure out, and they don’t have time for that nonsense?
And a hill I’ll die on is that in this landscape it absolutely makes sense for high stats kids (and especially ones who need a lot of FA, but all of them really) to apply to a ton of colleges. It’s just impossible to predict the results, even with safeties and likelies). And so far my high stats kid’s top 30 LAC results: 3 waitlists, 1 rejection, 1 acceptance. The acceptance is from the highest ranked school. If the portal astrology is correct (yeah, yeah…I know. But sometimes it is!) he’s about to fail to get into Brandeis tomorrow, too, which will be an especially interesting data point if true.
D24, my first, applied to 6, all EA, and her last decision was in before Christmas. It took until this month for all of the scholarships and honors programs to settle and to be honest, D is absolutely landing in a program that is perfect for her, even though she only applied to the school because I was like, let’s have one high automatic merit school on the list. Look at these 3 and pick the one you like best to apply to.
I mean, it had bumps along the way, but the ultimate outcome is so great.
Based on what we’ve heard from the Yale podcast, it seems that at least some schools use experienced AOs to perform the first “viability” read, not brand new readers. It sounds as if that may be the case at Duke as well.
You’ll die on the hill? Well, I’ll still try a reasoned, non-lethal counter-argument. A targeted and careful approach to high-stats apps will beat the math of “the more the merrier.” A balanced list of 10 is better than a giant “high stats shotgun” because apps are hard, and personal, and it’s impossible to be sincere when applying to X number of schools when X exceeds, IMO, 10 or 12. They really aren’t lottery tickets, and schools really are looking for good fits that want to be at their particular school, and not at “The best US News Top 20 (or insert ranking) That Will Take Me.”
Oh man this is getting real. I just mailed out commencement invitations.
I’ve come around to this line of thinking too:
A balanced list of 10 is better than a giant “high stats shotgun” because apps are hard, and personal, and it’s impossible to be sincere when applying to X number of schools when X exceeds, IMO, 10 or 12. They really aren’t lottery tickets, and schools really are looking for good fits that want to be at their particular school
While I understand circumstances and preferences that might compel someone to apply to quite a few schools, I think as an overall trend, it’s an unneeded and unsustainable approach to the process of finding an affordable place to study for 4 years.
We have fairly high need, so most need-aware private schools or overly hyped expensive “circus” schools aren’t going to be a good fit in several ways for our family. My kids will only apply to schools where they are solidly at or above the middle range for stats (not doing TO for either), and that they sincerely feel are strong fits for them academically and culturally. My oldest did choose to apply to a few ivies that were excellent fits (if one works out, that will be our most affordable option). However, all the acceptances (and the one rejection) already received were exactly what I expected, based on research and careful selection.
S24 is our last child so hopefully we are done with this process (fingers crossed). D20 applied to 3 schools (1ED, 2EA), it jumped up to D23 applying to 4 schools (all EA) and then S24 went back to the 3 school application number (all EA).
They were all accepted at all the schools they applied to, and every school was affordable except one of D23’s schools (she didn’t receive enough merit to make it affordable to us).
None of them have expressed any regret from applying to relatively few schools. D20 and D23 both love the schools they attend while S24 is still trying to decide which of his top two choices he prefers. They all also had probably the minimum stress students can have applying to holistic admission colleges.
As we went through this process, I’ve thought a lot about the paradox of choice theory and think there is a lot of value in that. Having fewer choices not only made the process smoother and less stressful - there was also relatively little angst about making the final decision and no regret in either of the two older ones completely done with the admission process.
I can also say from listening to D20 and D23 - the college experience has changed greatly since I was in school. Neither girl attends in a school in the Top 50…and yet the support, education and opportunities they both have had thus far exceeds my own experience at a Top 5 school 30 year ago. By a lot.
For anyone worrying that a ‘lower ranked’ school (you know, one only in the Top 100) is somehow going to negatively impact their child’s opportunities - I can say with some level of certainty that hasn’t been our experience. Research, internships, fully funded opportunities, additional scholarships, incredible professor relationships have been generously available to both D20 and D23. They also had no problem finding their ‘tribe’ at their schools, students who are also getting those same opportunities and experiences.
I’d counter that a list longer than 10-12 is not, by default, a shotgun list. Neither is it, necessarily, a list that wasn’t chosen carefully or that isn’t comprised of strong fit schools.
If my D23 had only applied to 10, it likely would have been almost entirely schools that were matches based on academic/EC profile (with a safety or two and a reach or two). Based on her results, that approach would not have worked out well for her. She had little success with those “match/target” schools but a high acceptance rate to the “reach for all” schools (of which she had many on her list…hence its length).
She was absolutely sincere in her research, her interest, and her application/essays to a list longer than 10-12. It was a lot of work, but she ended up with great options (including among financial aid packages) to choose from that she wouldn’t have had with a list of 10-12 because we wouldn’t have built a list of 10-12 to include almost all high reaches.
Her older brother applied to 10 (not a high stats kid and with less financial need which was important for the need-aware schools that made up basically his whole list), and that was just right for him but not for D23.
Agree that a shotgun list isn’t the best strategy, but I don’t think shotgun is the only way to end up with a long list.
D24 submitted 4 apps - 3 likelies and 1 reach (although applying ED made it more in the target range based on Scoir data from her school). Was admitted ED, pulled the other 3 apps. A shorter list is possible if financials and fit are identified clearly. Most of her friends are on the 20+ bandwagon, that wasn’t a strategy we wanted to use.
About commencement–we’re ordering her graduation announcements in about ten days–but we want to put the future college on them, so we need to wait for the final results!
Also, her two biggest frenemies got into the college that is currently her number 1. Boo! At least the guy who says she looks like a bodybuilder (she is 5’9 and weighs 125 lbs) got rejected. 
This right here is the thing. People automatically conflate the two when it definitely isn’t necessarily the case.
One of our droids in particular has a very long list, fully endorsed by our school’s CCO, despite being a school whose CCO actively counsels for lists in the 12-14ish range.
So far that has proven to be the correct approach.
Now, I do agree that many long lists as presented clearly reek of prestige hunting, filled with schools that have very little in common. Which is not to say of course that there cannot be exceptions to the rule. But if you looked at the long list I referenced above, you would very much ‘get’ the thing my droid is going for.
This is a great point, and I would not judge an individual student’s or family’s need or desire to apply widely.
Still, I think on the whole, there is currently a cultural phenomenon in some socioeconomic (and social media) circles communicating that one must apply to a quite lot of schools, whether or not there’s a strong desire to. This phenomenon seems unhealthy.
Coming from a background that values balance, thrift, and intentionality, I feel like many students and families caught up in such circles might find relief in seeing that “college app circus” message countered.
Time to bring back their favorite phrase from toddlerhood - “but why?”
I totally agree. There is a student at my child’s school that essentially lied about being first gen and many more and was accepted to Cornell ED. I was shocked that s/he never withdrew from other schools. I wish there is a system that can make sure these are checked.
S23 applied to 5 schools, got into 4, and attended the one that fit best (honestly a bit of a financial stretch but wasn’t the most expensive school).
S24 had some conflicting preferences & a lot of uncertainties, so applied to 15. He is in at 10, it looks like the anther 5 will be rejections or waitlists, and it looks like the most likely outcome is he’ll end up at our state flagship. 
It might seem like he could have saved himself a lot of work (and us a bit of money!!) and applied more narrowly. But the process has been important for him to discover what he really wants, and having the varied choices he been helpful for him.
(By the way, he almost didn’t apply to the flagship! As late as a few days before the app was due he was debating if it was worth the cost — at $85 the most expensive app — and the hassle — required 3 essays AND official test scores AND official transcript from DE college.)
Thanks for not calling my bluff on my offer to die for the college admissions game 
I had to (gasp!) leave my computer for a bit, so I haven’t read any of the responses after our exchange yet…I will say first that I’ve done this 3 times now with my own kids; I’ve watched them apply to a lot of schools, and I’ve sat in on a LOT of info sessions and college tours. I also went to a big state school back in the day, lived in a small private college town where my husband went to school (Oberlin), gone to grad school and taught classes at a small private university (Brandeis), and sent two kids to college so far (one small LAC college and one medium sized private university). I’ve also, of course, spent way too much time here on CC and reading assorted behind the scenes books about college admissions, like Selingo’s and others. I’m not coming into this season blind, and I haven’t seen anything so far this go round that’s changed my mind. I suspect we just have fundamentally different views on college admissions, that mine is more cynical, and that neither is likely to change. But a bit more about where I’m coming from and why I’m staying on my hill.
I know that there is a school of belief that there’s a magical, sorting-hat like process in college admissions that assures everyone ends up in the right place. I just don’t believe in it. I think admissions officers are well-intentioned. They’re also often overworked and underpaid. And colleges have their own agendas that aren’t necessarily aligned with my kid’s best interests. Anecdote: we went to an info session at a midwestern LAC in which the admissions officer doing the presentation (who would, it turns out, be my kid’s admissions officer) failed to answer a couple of fairly basic questions and then said sheepishly, “sorry–I went to college in California.” I just don’t believe that this guy, who is a very nice guy as far as I can tell, can determine whether my kid is the perfect fit for the school when he can’t even answer a question about whether they offer a 5 year dual degree program (they do; I looked it up after the session). He was, incidentally, going into his second year working there. He was not brand new.
I also don’t believe that small LACs are as unique and different as they think they are. Again, I’ve been on a LOT of tours. I’ve done the drinking game (not really, but in my head) where you drink every time someone tells you about the open curriculum, or how it’s so great that undergrads can do research because they’re not competing with grad students, or tells you about the thing you can’t walk across or under or whatever or you won’t graduate, or explains why their squirrels are the most special squirrels on earth, or tells you about the time they got to cat sit for their English professor. Current senior applied to a lot of schools; there’s not any one of them where I don’t think he could be very happy and fit in just fine.
Even if we say there’s no element of luck even for a high stats kid at a school with a 10% acceptance rate, that it’s all about fit and crafting the perfect class–how on earth is my kid supposed to know what each school is looking for? How could he know that maybe last year he would have gotten in, but this year there were too many other kids who wanted to major in English and played French horn? And that the other French horn player’s music supplement was a little better or she didn’t need as much FA or her SAT score was 30 points higher and that was the tie-breaker?
But ultimately I’m mostly basing my belief on the actual results I’ve seen with my kids. My oldest kid got waitlisted at the two schools HE thought were the best fit. The one he ultimately went to probably wouldn’t have been on the list at all if he’d limited applications to 10 schools. There are a couple of schools I would have suggested he cut, in retrospect, but not many. Is my current kid really a better fit at Grinnell (where he was accepted) than Macalester (where he was waitlisted)? I mean…maybe? I don’t know. His brother went to Macalester, so I know it pretty well and so does he. We thought it was a great fit; in a city so more music opportunities than in Grinnell, and free bagpipe lessons, which my oldest didn’t take advantage of but which this kid mentioned in his LOCI after getting deferred EA (ETA: if Mac doesn’t think the kid who’s genuinely super-excited about bagpipe lessons is a good fit, then I don’t know how to convince them). My point is…whether the gods of holistic admissions are right and Grinnell IS a better fit for my kid than Macalester I don’t know…but there was no way for my KID to know that at any rate, when putting his list together. The results thus far have been unpredictable. And everything I’ve seen suggests it’s only getting more unpredictable, largely because of actions that the colleges themselves are taking. And we DO target a lot of top 30 LACs, but we do that because that’s where the best need-based FA is. Right now his in-state public is his most expensive option, and that’s in a state with lottery funded tuition.
I say all of this, incidentally, as someone who loves our quirky, messy, flawed, and, yes, unpredictable American college system. But I’m looking out for my own kids the way colleges are looking out for their own best interests as far as budget and yield and rankings and all that, and the results I’ve seen with my kids so far suggest that more applications leads to more/better choices. That won’t be true for every kid in every situation, of course.
/book
One of my roles at my school is that I am deeply involved in commencement. We are not a top-anything school, a regional private university that is affordable and accredited (which are my two criteria for my own kids) and I will tell you that every year I send HUNDREDS of graduates across the stage who are leaving happy, educated, most with jobs in hand, new friends and/or partners found from classmates, lower debts, and great experiences all around - and the arena is filled with thousands of family members just as excited and happy as our grads. I know this group skews towards higher stats/full pay/ maybe more weight on name recognition, but if your kid ends up at a school like mine, it’s not a failure or punishment, just the next step on their path forward with many positive outcomes.
It cracks me up a bit when kids are kids and think about making decisions based on an $85 fee. On one hand, fiscal responsibility (yay!) and on the other hand - the lack of perspective on how much parent(s) will be paying over 4 years and weighing that $85 too heavily.
The hassle of 3 more essays totally understandable and I applaud his ultimate willingness to do them. 
