Rising Junior Seeks Merit: 32ACT, 4.0W/3.5UW, 19 AP/Honors, 4+2 FL. Public Policy/History

[PolllyDactile]

@allyphoe

It can be a bit confusing in that we have folks suggesting he broaden his list and then his guidance counselor suggesting he focus it.

Folks here IMHO are suggesting that he broaden his search, not actually apply to an enormous number of schools. His guidance counselor is unlikely to be saying “pick some subset of your current list,” but rather, “don’t apply to an enormous number of schools.”

It’s totally normal for a list to see enormous movement between junior year and the last application. My kid’s tentative list (which had been highly curated by me, based on criteria she picked, starting in her sophomore year, so it included zero schools we would have been unwilling to pay for or which were otherwise unsuitable) was about 30 schools long at the start of junior year, about evenly split between safety, match, low reach, and high reach.

Yes, you’ve lived la vida loca for sure! The list is nebulous, of course, at this point in the game. With suggestions from various folks here, he’s added probably six or seven schools to his list (ie, search) and is now on their mailing lists. He will certainly not apply to everything, and we will not be having him appy ED anywhere.

We’ve gotten some great suggestions on schools in PA, and he’ll have time to investigate further over the holidays. Best wishes to your daughter!