@ChangeTheGame - This young man attended a private IB HS in NOLA. It would be very hard to believe that they don’t offer good college application guidance.
And ieve if one is chasing $ and not fit, one can do that with 20 schools, not 100.
@jym626 That school is a charter school in NOLA that gets its funds from the state based on how many students attend the school. Take one guess as to what this publicity will do for the enrollment of the school as anyone can enroll at that school (Open Enrollment). Some reasons are more self-serving than others.
The practice of sending in large numbers of applications makes it difficult for colleges to predict their yields. Most colleges need to have relatively small variations in the sizes of the incoming classes, for budgetary reasons. They can’t accomplish reliably this if the odds that each admitted student will actually enroll are 10% or less. (At least, statistically I see no way to do this.)
So the colleges have to figure out how to make admissions more predictable for the admissions office. Generally, this makes admissions less predictable for the applicant. This means that the applicants need to send out more applications. This sets up a positive feedback loop of ever-increasing average numbers of applications. The result is good for no one.
ED is one means that the colleges have of increasing the predictability of their enrollment figures. ED is great for students who don’t need to compare financial aid offers, who have a preferred college (or at least one they would be very happy to attend), and who get in. It’s not so good for everyone else, because it reduces the available spots in the RD round, and it prevents comparisons of aid offers.
The Common App, the internet, and just the availability of word processors rather than manual typewriters and paper forms means that students are able to apply to more colleges. But I don’t think that is the root of the problem–it’s really the unpredictability of admissions, from the students’ and parents’ perspectives.
I also think that high schools should not publicize the total scholarship and aid dollars awarded to their students (some do). If a student gets $30 million in scholarships and aid (hypothetical figure), the student can only take the offer from a single school. That is all that should count and be advertised.
@ChangeTheGame -Regardless of how the school gets their students/funding, it sounds similar to the KIPP schools, and they have excellent college planning resources. Most likely this school does as well.
Just applying through HBCU common app, your app is automatically sent to all colleges. You don’t have to check anything.
Since that kid was likely needing a full ride and couldn’t count on one from the HBCUs, he likely added Louisiana State colleges then a few.
(It’s a NOLA charter school where most students are free or reduced lunch so likely EFC 0).
That’s way overboard but the school and Dollars did get a lot of publicity from it.
To be precise, most schools involved ARE NOT the ones mentioned on CC. They’re not super selective. Look at the CDS for Dillard, Alcorn State, Bennett, Elizabeth City State college for instance.
It’s not like he shotgunned all top 25 national universities and all top 25 LACs.
Understood but IMO, it doesn’t matter. Applying to 100 schools is not something to applaud.
I think it would be overwhelming to a kid to have to choose between so many different schools. Has he even had a chance to go to all of their websites and look at the course curriculum?
I know that my son applied to 5 schools and after researching their programs, dorm offerings, clubs, etc and going on campus tours there were times when they all sort of blurred together.
If my son had had 83 schools…ugh. Might as well just draw a name out of a hat. I would love to know how this young man was able to narrow down his choices from such a wide array of options. Did he go into this application process with any sort of parameters in place?
Sorry about that piece of misinformation… I haven’t looked at the Black Common Application since early October. The application is available for viewing or to be downloaded by all of the institutions that take part, but half never looked at my daughter’s application and only about 12 schools ever sent any information to us (some wanted to see interest before going forward). You have the capability in the application to send messages to any or all of the schools that you are interested in.
@jym626 I believe this is just the beginning and a majority of kids in America will be applying to 20 schools in the next 10-15 years. I would say a third of my daughter’s peer group (her high school had students accepted into Stanford, Harvard, Yale, U Penn, Princeton, Duke, Vandy, and other selective schools) applied to at least 12+ schools and it is like an arms race that only gets worse. The non-selective schools (55-95% admit rates) that are a part of the Black College App are seeing an uptick in attendance due to the visibility from the application (along with other factors), and they don’t care about yield protection (just want an idea of what there yield will be). I am not applauding the 83 schools (it is crazy to say it out loud), I am applauding that a young African American man is going to college and will likely be going for little to no money. Again, it is the way that the system is configured that makes this all possible.
@flmom26: actually it’s not that hard for an EFC0 kid:
- which school(s) offered a full ride?
- if there’s more than one which is the best academically?
I certainly hope this is the END of students applying to 20+ schools in the next 10-15 years. That “arms race” is feeding the problem, not solving it.
Excellent that a young AA student will go to college. NOT excellent that a student applied to 100 schools.
Please don’t keep calling me out in your posts. I am not going to change my opinion and don’t wish to get into a debate, which isn’t allowed on cc.
Yup applying to 80 or 100 schools is crazy.
But in this specific case keep in mind that whether he was only interested in 2 or 50 colleges on HBCU common app, his application was sent to all50+. That cuts things down a bit in terms of “applying” (it’s not like common app where you add colleges into a dashboard: you file with them,indicating your 4 favorites but all universities interested in your profile can look at it and admit you if they wish. You can opt out but few do because why would you bar yourself from a college that may offer a scholarship…?)
Well, if that is their system, then it explains 50 apps. It doesn’t explain (or justify) 100 apps.
^ I agree. I suppose there were other incentives for the 33 others. Common app = 20, Louisiana=5-6… I can’t think of where the others were.
@MYOS1634 You have basically captured what I am saying, but much more eloquently. Because if I think about it, my own daughter applied to 64 colleges since she used the black college application and I think of it more as she applied to the 12 schools she originally chose.
While I agree this is crazy and seems to make it hard for colleges to figure out yield I also think a lot of colleges make it easier to apply and have no fees and even advertise to students they don’t have any intent on accepting. The goal on that side is to maximize the applications to make it appear as a more selective school and reducing acceptance rate through increasing the number of applications.
I find this quote very telling and sad:
It is part of the process to make the high school look good and get articles written about it.
MYOS1634 - if the purpose is to cast as wide a net possible in the hopes of getting a full ride scholarship, I can see the applicant’s intent. However, there are not that many full ride scholarships (tuition/room/board) available. A kid can get offered significant tuition discounts by a fairly large number of schools - some close, some way across the country. I would imagine that they will most likely wind up choosing between the schools that offer money and are closest to home. That is just a guess though.
And surely of the 50 colleges that get the HBSU applications, the student can spend a little time un-clicking the schools they have zero intention of considering, no matter how much incentive they may be offered. Surely there are a few of those that can be eliminated.
Well, if kid is smart, ambitious and organized enough to apply to 100 schools and get accepted at >80 then there is no doubt his GC knew that being a high performing, $0 EFC, URM, he’ll get accepted into several good colleges for free and there is no need to clog the system for a publicity stunt putting other deserving applicants at disadvantage.
@cupcakemuffin: many HBCUs don’t have enough applications. Claflin or Alabama State are very happy to get extra applications.
You dont click or unclick anything on the HBCU app. It’s not like the common app.
This student may be a top student at a high school with an average 17 ACT and may have a 25…or 23. He may apply to lots of schools that meet need but had no way of knowing whether he might get in. He might have aimed at Howard (not on the HBCU app) or Loyola and not received enough FA, and not gotten into Tulane.
All in all I agree schools shouldn’t publicize the number of schools or total amount but rather that the student could choose among several full ride scholarships and chose Dillard. But it’s the culture in some schools often lower income schools that try to foster a college-going culture and use numbers as an easy measure to “prove” to their community that college is possible for students who try hard.
Having a choice is the ultimate luxury.
Context matters.
The lesson white upper middle class parents get from this is totally different from the lesson aimed at the community this school is in.
That being said, other schools do this too… in a "compete with the Jones’ " suburban way that is totally different also.