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Possible College list - when is enough, enough?


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Ultimately, my question is, when do you know the college application list is good enough?

 

DD has a list of colleges to apply to, but I find myself still looking around to see if there are others I should suggest she look into. She looked at me funny the last time I put another name in front of her, asking me why I keep adding to the pile.

 

It isn't that I don't think she'll get in, but she really only has one college on her list that she's already visited & is happy with. The others are possible financial safeties (we are full pay) that fit the large possibilities of what she's looking for in terms of majors/programs, but are larger universities in large cities. Ideally, she thinks she'd want a smaller town (< 100,000 population) with a college in the 5,000ish undergrad range. I can't find places like that which offer large enough merit aid for her stats (top 10%) and the range of programs she's interested in (in terms of foreign languages). Her one good college is a financial match (with just auto scholarship $). It is the top $$ we'd pay per year. It is also the only one of the colleges that is relatively close to us (~5 hrs drive).

 

Right now, her list consists of one match school (visited, likes), one financial reach, and three (possible) financial safeties. We won't visit the safeties or the reach unless they admit her and offer her top scholarships.

 

So, should I stop looking for more schools (better fits with what she says she wants in terms of town/college size, but which are fits for our $$) for her to research? If she's happy with her one school, tell me it is okay for me to chill out.

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So to clarify, she has a school which is not a reach at all academically, which you can afford (not a reach financially), and which she likes, and she doesn't want to apply elsewhere?

 

I'd go for it. She probably feels comfortable and secure knowing what is going to happen. Unless I've misunderstood and the school she likes is a financial reach, then I'd explain why she should apply to other schools.

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So to clarify, she has a school which is not a reach at all academically, which you can afford (not a reach financially), and which she likes, and she doesn't want to apply elsewhere?

 

I'd go for it. She probably feels comfortable and secure knowing what is going to happen. Unless I've misunderstood and the school she likes is a financial reach, then I'd explain why she should apply to other schools.

Her one match school admits 70-75% of kids who apply. She's right at their 75% ACT score (from Sophomore year's test scores). I can't imagine them not admitting her. It is a rolling admissions school. If all she gets is their automatic scholarship (based on test scores/GPA), we can pay for it. (However, the GPA to keep their scholarships is 3.25. I wish it was a 3.0 to give her some breathing room.) If she gets any competitive scholarships, it would be much better financially. It is doable, however.

 

She's excited about two of the other schools in terms of programs offered and/or location (more southern) and she's happy (mostly sight unseen) with the list of five schools she currently has.

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I'd let it go. I can see why you'd want her to think about the possibility of a full ride, but I can also understand why she doesn't want to have to make the choice of "less desirable for less money". If you can pay, and pay for DD2 as well, I'd pay. This is her big chance. It would be different if she weren't qualifying for any merit aid or weren't likely to get admitted. Good luck to your daughter!

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Her one match school admits 70-75% of kids who apply. She's right at their 75% ACT score (from Sophomore year's test scores). I can't imagine them not admitting her. It is a rolling admissions school. If all she gets is their automatic scholarship (based on test scores/GPA), we can pay for it. (However, the GPA to keep their scholarships is 3.25. I wish it was a 3.0 to give her some breathing room.) If she gets any competitive scholarships, it would be much better financially. It is doable, however.

 

She's excited about two of the other schools in terms of programs offered and/or location (more southern) and she's happy (mostly sight unseen) with the list of five schools she currently has.

 

I think it's important to also broaden her horizons...way back 25 years ago, I remember applying to only a few- I lived in the northeast so I may as well give you the names-

1.NYU- got in, very minor scholarship, like I think it was 1k per year. - this was a reach school

2.Saint Joseph's in Phila- wanted to go so so so so so so so badly, still love visiting there- got in, and got 40% scholarships - this was my reach school 

3.  Saint Peters- a small-name Catholic college in North Jersey that my guidance counselor was knowledgeable about.  Got 100% scholarships

 

Unfortunately, that was it....I didn't visit some other great schools to which I would have gotten 50% scholarships, but had much lower tuition than either NYU or Saint Joe's....in fact there were even beautiful small private colleges in PA that I could have gotten very high, maybe 100% scholarships to.  

 

I absolutely hated Jersey City, hated the college, ...

 

We definitely should have done more visits and more applying...to a few colleges with less "big names" but beautiful campuses and vibrant college culture....or Big names, but admit more students like Rutgers.  or whatever. ....

 

So I don't know how this applies to your situation because the math is a little different, but I'd make sure that you apply to several non-reach schools that would offer a lot of scholarships and have different atmospheres so she can visit and see which ones strike her fancy.

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