Too Many Choices????

cptofthehouse
Fri, 04 Jul 2008 11:29:33 +0000

Bul, your D has a great list. Good luck to her, and I am sure she will have a goodly number of choices.

DadII, the fact of the matter is that you are right. The chances are very small that a top flight student with great stats is going to be shut out unless all he has on his list are HPYMS. THAT may be a problem, I’m sure you agree,even if he is perfect. So what if we add Brown and UPenn as matches or safeties since statistically that is what they are for such a kid? Still a bit uncomfortable? Yeah, and we are already up to 7 schools. Would throwing in Vanderbilt do it for the list? Probably. But I would get a bit nervous if there were a number of kids applying early to Vandy and the adcom there is friendly to the GCs at the school (a situation that does exist at our school) What if the GC lets it out that maybe Vandy is a safety for you? THere had better be a lot of interest in that safety.

What I am saying is that though a kid like that would probably get into even more than one school out of that list, there still is a significant chance of missing the boat. As you add a few more schools on that list, it does increase the chances to give one breathing room, I agree. But why not spend a little more time and effort to find a school that is not so selective, that will surely take you, and that you love? One that might give you a good merit package. Such a skill would not be in vain, as it teaches much. And since you are already in college search mode, this is the time to do it.

Also if things do not go well during the year, it is nice to have a safe harbor there. Grades can suffer, kids do stupid things, stuff happens. Financial matters may take a plummet and is it really worth $52 to go to Vandy when a full or generous scholarship for another school is on the table, and the family financial future is suddenly not so bright or cetain? A little insurance can go a long way.