How many colleges did your student apply to?

[Nan in Mass]

How many safeties? How many middles? How many reaches?

 

Wondering how crazy our number is.

 

I've heard that standard advice is 3 safeties, 3 middle, 3 reach.

 

If my son were from a public school, I can see how this would be good advice, but as a homeschooling gc, I am having trouble telling which is a reach, a safety, a middle, so my son picked seven middles. Maybe? How do other people tell? Stats? That seems to be how the public school guidance counselor judged him when we asked for recommendations. She asked for his gpa and SAT scores, looked at her list of homeschool-friendly colleges, and reeled of a list. I gave her his cc gpa. He doesn't have one for me. I don't think his cc gpa is necessarily the same as his gpa would be if he were taking classes at the high school. I'm sure colleges wonder about that, too. That leaves the SAT for quantitative measures. I guess the problem is that I don't have much faith in the SAT as an indicator for homeschoolers and I suspect that if I don't, colleges don't either, despite SATs being required. *I*, from knowing my son and knowing which of my own classmates went to which colleges, can tell how good a fit my son is for some colleges, but only for some. Most of those didn't interest my son. And somehow, I doubt the two on the list I could guess about aren't exactly going to take my word for it lol.

 

So... having sent off all these applications, I'm now left sort of wondering what sort of applications they were and if we were crazy to send so many. And wondering how other people decide these things.

 

This, of course, leaves aside the money issue... That's another kettle of fish.

 

Nan

[Hoggirl]

I don't know whether there should be a difference between homeschoolers and pschoolers in terms of how many schools to apply to. The guidance counselor at Ds's schools suggests a minimum of three and that anything greater than 10 is probably too many. As far as distribution among safety, middle, reach it depends on how many one applies to in total. I have read an opinion on CC that it is important to have at least two safeties. That way, one will still get to make a choice rather than just having to "settle" if one only gets into safeties.

 

We will be going through this process next fall and were discussing this last night. I think ds will wind up with seven or eight, though it may depend on whether he decides to audition anywhere for music - that might increase the number a bit because he would likely do some schools for music and some not. He is not sure what he wants to do. I think he will be reach heavy in the mix. He does have the stats for any school, but we all know those at the top are a lottery!!

 

At some point the cost of applying and the burden of doing so (for schools with long supplements) would seem to serve as a natural restraint. I would think that the additional requirements that are sometimes foisted on homeschoolers would also serve as a type of limit.

 

I will be interested to see what folks on this thread think.

 

ETA: I have previously lamented our lack of "middles." However, I think if students have fairly high stats, there probably really aren't that many middles, kwim? I think once you get below around #30 on US News rankings (I am NOT saying those are the be-all end-all - just using as a point of reference), that if your stats match and there are no glaring issues/problems, one probably gets in. I have tried to quit worrying so much about the three classifications for my guy and am thinking more along the lines of two categories - will get in and reach. Maybe that's naive. I am trying to focus more on fit.

[Caroline]

My son goes to public school, and he applied to one. He applied Early Action. It was a safe bet based on his SAT and ACT scores. He was in the top 25%. There are three reach schools for his major (but still, he was within their top 50% for SAT/ACT,) however they are outside of our financial realm. So he is going to a top 5 school for his major, and it was all easy.

 

We did have four other schools that he was in the process of applying to when we heard from choice #1. Of those, one was a safety, two were pretty sure, one was a reach that we can't afford. (Ok, if we want his younger siblings to keep their current lifestyle, we couldn't afford it.)

[Caroline]

 

 

ETA: I have previously lamented our lack of "middles." However, I think if students have fairly high stats, there probably really aren't that many middles, kwim? I think once you get below around #30 on US News rankings (I am NOT saying those are the be-all end-all - just using as a point of reference), that if your stats match and there are no glaring issues/problems, one probably gets in. I have tried to quit worrying so much about the three classifications for my guy and am thinking more along the lines of two categories - will get in and reach. Maybe that's naive. I am trying to focus more on fit.

 

 

We had this issue, too, although I kind of saw it like a lack of reach schools. He had the stats to get into the top schools for his major. I suppose it is a little pompous of me to think he could get into these schools, but he did get into a tier 1 university that is in the top 5 for his major. I have been watching your posts about this issue, because I felt the same way. And I will be going through it 3 more times, so I will be interested to see how it turns out for you all. I have a feeling ds2 is not going I go as smoothly as ds1.

[Jane in NC]

My son applied to six. One was the financial fall back (a state uni); the other five were private colleges.

 

He did not have a reach/middle/safety list since my son seemed to go about the college application process a bit differently. Knowing that he wanted to study archaeology, he looked at departments and faculty to find programs in his areas of interest. There are few undergraduate archaeology programs so that in itself limited his choices.

[Gwen in VA]

I encourage everyone to apply EA somewhere! Receiving that first acceptance is such a relief!

 

My older two applied to ~6 each -- three definite reaches and three academic and/or financial safeties. Both of them applied EA to two schools so they knew before Christmas that they were in with merit aid to a reasonable college.

 

My third applied ED to his dream school. It is tuition-free so finances weren't an issue. He knew before Thanksgiving that he was in.

 

#4 wants to go into music, and it looks like music is an entirely different ball of wax. She can't apply to too many because the audition requirements look onerous, but we are unsure about how merit aid plays out for musicians (especially in her area of interest), and we have no idea how competitive she is. She will definitely apply to six and maybe several more.....

 

Best wishes. The waiting period is so hard. I felt like the college were judging the worth of the education I had provided, which I know isn't true....

 

Eat plenty of chocolate, focus on the here and now, see a good movie or two, and try to forget about the admissions process!

[Jen in NY]

My daughter planned to apply to 6: one reach, three fit, and 2 safety. We were hoping we had these classified the right way, because what if a "fit" was actually a "reach" and we were just naive? Or what if the homeschooling thing became an issue? Like Jane's son, they were 5 private colleges, one state Uni.

 

In the end, she actually sent 4 applications, was accepted to her ED "reach" and never did send in the last two that had later deadlines.

She was also accepted to one "fit" school before we shut down the application machine.

 

Prior to the actual application season there were about 12 schools on her list, but for one reason or another (no astronomy program, too far away, too urban, etc. etc.) she was able to whittle the list down. Sometimes the choices seemed a bit arbitrary, but since I was fairly happy with the six that were left I didn't push for any to stay on the list.

[Nan in Mass]

Cynthia (Hoggirl), I thought of you so much when I posted lol. Instead of wanting to know how to pick the middles, I want to know what are middles for my son lol. Going strictly by SATs, he probably has two middles and five safeties? It depends what you count as a middle. He looks very unconventional on paper, though, moreso than he actually is, so I just can't tell what colleges will think of his application.

 

My first two were easy (sort of). Oldest had one school he wanted to go to. If he didn't get in, he wasn't going to college. Fortuantely, he got in. Second felt similarly, although we might have been able to talk him into going someplace else. He applied to one early action and got in before we had to think about making out other applications. Youngest is taking almost all community college classes this year, so I guess it isn't really true to say 7 all middles because the 8th is the community college. He could continue there and then transfer to the state uni. He may opt to do that for financial reasons, anyway.

 

Nan

[AngieW in Texas]

My oldest and my middle both applied to just one school each and it was the same school. It was a safety though, not a longshot. And because they have rolling admissions, you usually get your answer within 3 weeks of application.

 

My middle dd was considering one other school, but decided she didn't want to apply there.

[Laura Corin]

In the UK there is a compulsory common application procedure with a five university limit. There's an added wrinkle that you can only apply to Oxford or Cambridge, not both.

 

Five is not a bad number: you really have to work out what you want with that kind of list. The habit always used to be to choose four that you really wanted to attend and one that you couldn't fail to get into. I don't know if that's still the case.

 

Laura

[JennW in SoCal]

I based what I considered "reach" or "middle" on admissions stats. Schools with a 20-30% admission rate, or lower, were definite reaches, because it would be a "reach" to get admitted. Schools with a 40-50% rate were the middles. I think it would be safe to assume SAT scores would be given the same weight as the scores for PS kids -- why shouldn't it be? The beauty of those standardized tests is that it is a measuring stick applied to all. Also, I wouldn't take the judgement of a high school counselor too seriously as their experience wouldn't include homeschoolers. It is the admissions counselors at the college who matter, and they are usually happy to answer a few questions.

 

My ds applied to only 3 schools, all which were middles and which we had already decided would be good fits, especially financially. The one school that rejected him actually turned out to be a reach school, by my definition, as applications there skyrocketed and the admission rate plummeted. It was ironic, too, that he was rejected by this school -- it has the most outside-the-box college curriculum I saw and likes to think of itself as being a home to independent and creative thinkers. Their admissions standards were however the most rigid of any of the schools he applied to, and clearly they weren't open to accepting people already outside the box! But he is very happy with where he is now -- he realized during the long wait til April that his current school is actually the place he belongs

 

Nan, has your ds interviewed with those schools? It was the best way for the admissions counselors to get a feel for my son, to understand his odd mix of homeschool, community college and charter school courses, and it was a great way for my son to showcase his unique non-school activities.

[nancy in nj]

My daughter applied to 6 schools but is going to withdraw 1 application. She had 2 financial & academic safeties (1 small LAC private and 1 state university). She is actually going to withdraw the safety LAC as she has decided she wants a bigger, research university. 3 schools which are academic good fits (she is in the top 25% or higher), 1 is our state flagship which luckily is very highly rated and very affordable, 1 is a medium size private university about 5 hours away, and 1 is a private college about 1 hour away. She applied to 1 reach school (an Ivy) regular decision.

 

We expect the decision to come down to the state flagship or her top choice private college. It took a long time for my daughter to warm up to the possibility of attending our large state flagship, but thankfully as she learned more about their specific programs in her major, she's gotten excited about it. This has made the process a lot easier! Both state school applications are EA so we should know by the end of January.

[Wheres Toto]

My oldest was in public school. She applied to: 2 reach schools - unlikely to get in, 2 financial reach but could work with amazing scholarships, 2 middles but would still need some scholarships to go, and 2 safety state schools that were close enough to commute, less expensive and she was pretty much guaranteed to get in. She's at the better of the last group. She got into all but one of her reach schools but the financial aid just wasn't there. We are having issues with her dad not wanting to pay like he's supposed to, a state that doesn't require my dh to pay anything as her stepdad, but the FAFSA that considers household income.

[JFSinIL]

Eleven. DS was my first to go, and he at first was most excited about Sewanee, based on the beautiful booklet they sent, showing the lovely campus. Of course, then we visited....and he decided it was too isolated even for him. Applied anyway. He also applied to several LACS - a couple out-of-state public schools, and the longest shot - Vanderbilt.

 

Only Vanderbilt and University of the Pacific turned him down.

 

In retrospect, a few of the schools, even with top merit aide, (which he got) he could never have attended as just too $$$$ (Wooster, Gettysburg). On-line calculators misled us as to our EFC - it turned out to be much higher than we anticipated!!!! If our EFC was lower I think more grants,. etc. would have been offered by those schools.

 

Now, for the next kids in line, I will be more careful and only have them apply where we can afford to send them (assuming they get top merit aide).

 

One school he really wanted to attend, in Montana, we belated realized the airfare to travel to and fro was too high.

 

I might add - the school he attends now I had never even heard of, until they started sending us mailings. Ended up looking more closely at it - merit aide guaranteed based on his ACT and GPA very high....brochures looked pretty - so visited on a day when they offered $1,000 scholarships just for visiting (awarded of course if you end up attending).

 

Note this school was (and is) arm wrestling another local LAC for the same crop of Chicagoland kids, so motivated to offer more $ to get the kids and "win". All to our advantage :-) esp. when they learned DS was also looking closely at the competition. It did come down to Augustana vs. Illinois Wes. , phone calls with Admissions, admissions folks at Wes. arguing with Fin. Aid.... Auggie won. The admissions contact at Ill. Wes. was very annoyed she could not get Fin. Aid to sweeten ds's offer enough to keep him away from Auggie.

 

So if it comes to it, let the school know if it comes down to money. They may be motivated to try and offer more to get your kid enrolled over letting them go to a rival.

[FaithManor]

My dd applied to 12! I WILL NEVER GO THROUGH THAT AGAIN! You reap what you sow. I applied to 12 when I was in high school with no real concept what I put my mother through...the universe returned the favor. LOL

 

The boys are all interested in fairly narrow focused STEM fields. As a result, it's making the narrowing process fairly painless, though there will be a number of campus visits before we make any final determinations of where they will or will not apply. Five sounds about right. Each boy has very specific parameters and as a result they've each come up with one reach school and thanks to their extracurriculars such as Team America Rocketry Challenge, competitive robotics, a few AP's, and some good projections on final test scores, each of the other schools actually turn out to be safeties.

 

I am so happy to report that never again will I ever have to assist a child through 12 apps before Dec. 1st of a school year. God Bless my sons! LOL :D

 

Of course, it does turn out to 15 apps and three boys prepping to leave home in four years. Sigh....don't get excited Faith, there is much crazy yet to be embraced!! :willy_nilly: :willy_nilly: :willy_nilly:

 

Oh and FASFA, don't start me on FASFA...the February nightmare of all parents of college bound students.

 

Faith

[creekland]

Oldest applied to 3 - all easy admits for him - our only concern was finances. However, he wanted something really specific, so applying to financial safeties didn't seem to be an option. We crossed our fingers and prayed and the finances worked out at his #1 choice. He's happy there.

 

Middle wanted pre-med so had far, far more options. Therefore, we looked for finances and fit. He applied to six.

 

He had one true safety (U Alabama - full tuition merit aid - no Fafsa - would have still needed room & board, etc, but we could do that with basic loans (his)). That safety didn't have his desired major (neuroscience) but we knew the finances might be more important.

 

He had one reach (WUSTL) and ended up waitlisted at it (for which we're grateful as the school he ended up at is truly a better fit for him anyway and he might have changed his mind over prestige vs fit if he'd had the opportunity).

 

The rest we knew he was likely to get it - it would just depend upon the finances. The finances worked out the best (even better than U Alabama) where he is going now. There was one hitch with an additional fee we weren't expecting (they don't accept our health sharing plan so he had to buy into their health insurance), but that's it.

 

Youngest and I just had this discussion this morning as the shift is turning to him with locating schools. I've told him to try to pinpoint 6. He can try his dream school, but I doubt it will be financially affordable (getting in is not an issue). He will be picking one of our state schools as a financial safety (he really doesn't want to stay in state). The other 4 he will have to find and then we'll look at the finances together. By this time next year he'll have applied and we'll see what happens with the finances. I'm ok with him going almost anywhere - as long as it's affordable. He doesn't want any big name schools and certainly won't get in to Ivy or equivalent places, so those aren't part of the picture. My goal for him is 6. Reality might be 4 - 8. No admission reaches. All but one may be financial hopefuls.

[cathmom]

My oldest applied to 6. I would classify them as: 1 safety, 2 or 3 middles, 2 reaches.

[Candid]

None so far, but I've read enough to tell you 9 is a too high. I'd shoot for around 5 or 6.

 

I don't think putting in lots of applications helps anyone except the schools who can turn down high %s which helps their own bond rating.

[unsinkable]

DS applied to 5...all in our city. :laugh:

 

4 private, 1 state university.

 

He got great merit aid at the first 2 privates. Haven't heard from the other 2 yet. It took the price down to within a couple thousand of the state uni. He's pretty much out of the running for any scholarships to the state uni...the standards are very, very high.

 

The private colleges are ranked well as regional univeristies but they are not like Boston College or Villanova type schools.

[dirty ethel rackham]

Ds applied to 4 - all safeties as far as being fairly sure he would be admitted. We had visited 8 schools before he decided to apply to his 4. At all 8, the admissions people confirmed that he would have an easy time being accepted due to his academic stats and extracurriculars. He didn't go for any reach schools for several reasons. He wanted a small school a la Colleges that Change Lives, which eliminated any reach schools within our geographical limit. Also we knew that going away to school would only be possible if he got a lot of merit money so we aimed for schools where he would be at least in the upper third of applicants.

 

ETA: All of the schools ds applied to were admittance safeties. None of them were sure things as far as finances were concerned as they all depended on merit aid. Since he applied EA to all of them, we did have a back up of a local LAC which was both an academic and $$ safety. We never needed to go that route.

[Brenda in MA]

My son applied to 8 schools -- 7 matches & 1 safety. He got into the safety EA, or he would have applied to more safeties. The rest of them were chosen for merit aid possibilities. In the end, he had 4 affordable choices, so I think the selection of schools worked out pretty well.

 

Brenda

[Luckymama]

Ds applied to four schools------one certain safety (financial and admission) and three reaches (admission %). He was accepted at all with the highest merit aid possible at the three reaches (he had Very Good Stats) and the second-highest merit aid possible at the safety. He is a pragmatist and chose to attend the safety because he will graduate without any loans.

 

Dd has applied to six schools. One is a definite financial and admissions safety (ds's school lol), two are admissions safeties, and three are reaches. We have no idea how our EFC will work out for the Profile schools (I received a significant inheritance last year from my parents' estate but most is in protected retirement assets). With two in college I assume our Fafsa EFC will be shared between the two kids (????).

 

We told dd she could apply to whatever schools she wanted, but that she was not allowed to fall in love with a school (so far, so good) and that we will have to make a decision when all the financial information is in. She knows what loan repayment would be (benefit of having a CFP dh :lol:) and that she cannot take loans if she is looking to a lower-paid profession. She also know EXACTLY how much money we can contribute each year.

[flyingiguana]

Two.

 

She would have applied to more, but her first choice told her she was in and had aid a couple weeks after she applied.

[Beth in OH]

Dd #3 has applied to 7 schools as a dual degree applicant. For the conservatories, that's two wholly separate applications to different schools--one academic and one music. She has passed her pre-screen auditions at all of the music schools so far (still waiting on one), so she will be doing college auditions every weekend from mid-January until the end of February. She won't really have any final information about the acceptances until the end of March. While she has some wonderful potential opportunities, it is very painful to wait until the very end to know anything!

 

2 are safety schools, 1 is middle, the rest are reach. We could end up with a strange mix of academic but not music acceptances, and vice versa. Who knows!

[Lolly]

My girls each applied to 4 this year. Since they were wanted for athletics, they were all pretty much on safety ground. They were accepted at all 4.

[MIch elle]

Seven total. Three reach; four safety. We didn't know what was a fit for him when he applied. Three of the seven were just thrown in there because we just didn't know what would happen (he didn't visit them but they had the major)!

[TheApprentice]

Not to steal the post, but what is the difference between "early action" and "early decision"?

[Caroline]

Not to steal the post, but what is the difference between "early action" and "early decision"?

 

 

Generally, Early Action is not binding while Early Decision is. My son applied to GT Early Action. That just meant we heard by December 15th. He still has until May to make his decision. Early Action does take higher stats than regular admissions. At GT you have to apply Early Action in order to be considered for the Honors College and the big scholarships.

[Kareni]

Since we are fairly low income, financial aid considerations were a large part of my daughter's college list making process.

 

I initally generated a list of colleges which met 100% of need, then we generated a list of colleges with good Latin/Classics programs. In 10th grade, my daughter contacted the Classics departments of the colleges (about 30) which were on both lists to ask about requirements and/or suggestions for homeschoolers. The answers she received to her inquiries plus additional research helped her make her final list of colleges. One additional college was added to her list after she attended a Classics conference there and liked the campus (note: that college ended up offering, by far, the worst financial aid).

 

In all, my daughter applied to ten colleges/universities -- one, the local state university's honor college, was an absolute financial and academic safety. The others ranged from low to high selectivity in terms of acceptance with the strength of their Classics programs varying from good to excellent. The outcome was that she was accepted at eight of the colleges, wait-listed at a ninth (highly selective) and denied at the one Ivy League college to which she applied.

 

Since financial concerns were so strong, the eight acceptances gave her a range of financial offers to consider. And, yes, they did vary widely.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kathy in Richmond]

My son applied to a total of five schools. He got into his first choice through early action, but had to wait till spring for their financial aid award. Not fun waiting, and he had to apply in the regular round to four more schools, including a financial safety. Fortunately, his first choice was the least expensive in the end & he went there.

 

My daughter applied to seven schools, including three in the early action round. She had a couple more that she was going to apply to in the safety school category, but dropped those apps when she had favorable EA results, including one we knew we could afford. She attends the school she applied to at the last minute, almost as an afterthought (in the what if? category). When the financial aid packages came in, it was the least expensive school for her & also became her first choice after attending their accepted students' weekend.

[RENEEinVA]

DD applied to her #1 choice ED and found out last month that she was accepted.. She had 4 other applications in process though - 1 middle and 3 safe - which she promptly withdrew.

[momofkhm]

DD applied to 4 - one safety which is actually her second choice. Her reach is her first choice. One "middle" (I assume you mean she should get in) is her third choice. Then the one out of state is just there. She wanted to apply and so she did.

 

I had heard (from when I applied) to apply to one you should get into, one reach and one safety.

 

DD has 2 friends who only want to go to one school and only applied to that one school. For C was NCSU. For E was App State. Both got into their respective schools.

[Chris in VA]

Each son applied to one school.

 

One.

 

The eldest only found one school in state that offered what he wanted, so we went with that. He got in.

 

The second didn't get in. Unfortunately, the essay he wrote, coupled with the fact that his transcript was weakened due to the addiction issues/resi treatment, totally sunk him. He was stunned, and it was awful.

 

 

Go for more than one.

 

 

Brilliant, eh?

[Karen in CO]

My ds applied to 6: 4 because his friend applied there, then 1 because it is in town and he hadn't made a decision about the other 4, and finally 1 because he really wanted to go there. In hindsight, I think that if my nerves could have handled it, I wouldn't have made him apply anywhere until he figured out where he wanted to go. I know that I wouldn't have so easily agreed to a school in Japan if I hadn't spent a year agonizing about whether he'd ever choose a school.

[AMJ]

My son applied to six. One was the financial fall back (a state uni); the other five were private colleges.

 

He did not have a reach/middle/safety list since my son seemed to go about the college application process a bit differently. Knowing that he wanted to study archaeology, he looked at departments and faculty to find programs in his areas of interest. There are few undergraduate archaeology programs so that in itself limited his choices.

 

 

Well, tell your son welcome to the study of archaeology! I have a bachelor's degree in anthropology, with archaeology emphasis. Regarding colleges: don't take just any college that offers anthropology (the basic degree most archaeologists get), but also keep in mind that more expensive doesn't equal higher quality. Join some societies, talk to people, find out what all goes on at each school. Talk to career counselors to find out what percentage of their students go on to GAINFUL employment, and at what level of education accomplished. BE FORWARD ABOUT YOUR CAREER ASPIRATIONS, and regularly (every semester at least) ask questions not only of the professors, but of the career center, potential employers, and other schools about what you need to study and what your options are after you complete your studies. Talk to LOTS of people outside of your chosen school about the realities of the profession.

 

Now for what I wish people would have told me when I was a student: the job market in archaeology is AWFUL. The vast majority of jobs to be had are seasonal (temporary, only a few months each year), not well paid, and lack benefits. When a full-time job (with or without basic benefits like paid vacations and health insurance) comes up the competition for the position is massive. To get it you either need to already have an "in" (private companies), or you have to have the best qualifications on paper, often much more qualifications than are required to do the work (government positions). If you are tied to a particular location (for instance, if you are married to a better-employed spouse) your options are severely restricted.

 

I would strongly recommend, as someone who has learned these things the hard way, that your son minor in archaeology and major in something more marketable. The marketable degree can pay the bills, perhaps even fund advanced studies that will better his chances at a more competitive archaeology career. It is a much-needed safety net. I have never gotten to use my degree for its intended purpose -- employment in the field of archaeology. Instead, it led to a career in data management and geodetics & cartography. This career path started at a "low" pay scale (since I had an "undesirable" degree) that was greater than many full-time archaeologists with years of experience were making, and came with much better benefits and stability. Had I had a more desirable degree, such as geology (another topic I love), Geographic Information Systems, geography, surveying, remote sensing, etc. I could have started at nearly double what I did start at, and had better opportunities for growth in my career.

 

And tell him to join societies, both avocational and professional. Professional societies have student memberships, and can be very useful networks for learning about schools, employment opportunities, field schools, scholarships, etc. Avocational societies are great ways to gain experience and meet more people in the field, and can be invaluable. Be aware that some "societies" are simply glorified pothunter networks, so do your homework into them before joining. Find societies with reputable by-laws and ties to professional societies. In SE Texas the Houston Archaeological Society is one of the best I've ever seen -- they not only do volunteer work with local archaeologists, but they also perform all ranges of the work -- survey, excavation, library research, lab analysis, artifact conservation, and THEY WRITE UP AND PUBLISH THEIR FINDINGS. (Without this last the rest of the work, no matter how well-intentioned or well performed, is usually worthless.)

 

I love archaeology, and fought hard to get my degree (worked for years to save money for school, then worked 30 hrs/wk while studying full-time). It is a part of who I am, though I have not had the level of involvement I would have liked. I do use my degree to educate my kids and their friends, and to better understand the world. But I could have done all of this with a minor, while acquiring something worth more in employ-ability.

 

Here's a link your son might find interesting, someone who writes from a perspective your son might appreciate: dougsarchaeology.wordpress.com

 

 

*sigh* Kids are in need of attention. Must go -- best of luck to your son!

[AMJ]

There's an added wrinkle that you can only apply to Oxford or Cambridge, not both.

 

 

Why only one of the two? Why couldn't someone apply to both?

[Jane in NC]

Well, tell your son welcome to the study of archaeology! I have a bachelor's degree in anthropology, with archaeology emphasis. Regarding colleges: don't take just any college that offers anthropology (the basic degree most archaeologists get), but also keep in mind that more expensive doesn't equal higher quality. Join some societies, talk to people, find out what all goes on at each school. Talk to career counselors to find out what percentage of their students go on to GAINFUL employment, and at what level of education accomplished. BE FORWARD ABOUT YOUR CAREER ASPIRATIONS, and regularly (every semester at least) ask questions not only of the professors, but of the career center, potential employers, and other schools about what you need to study and what your options are after you complete your studies. Talk to LOTS of people outside of your chosen school about the realities of the profession.

 

Now for what I wish people would have told me when I was a student: the job market in archaeology is AWFUL.

 

Snipped your post for brevity.

 

Yes, the dear Lad is aware of the financial realities of Archaeology. A state archaeologist and anthropology professor advised him as a high school student. Nonetheless, this is his passion. He will enter the field without debt and without a desire to become rich.

 

He is now a junior in college with a Plan A for the future. No Plan B but there is a minor Plan C. None of these may come to fruition but he is thinking of the next step.

 

I'll pass your post along to him.

 

Jane

[memphispeg]

Hey WTM forum folks...I'm back lurking...

My eldest dd applied to 7 schools. One local financial and academic safety, 2 that were large state unis with honor's programs and dance programs. The rest were top 20 LACs. She applied to one of the LACs ED2 and got in with a very nice fin. aid package. She withdrew all her other applications.

DD2 applied to most of her 11 schools early action. She applied to 3 "reach" LACs which she was not accepted to. She applied to the local academic and financial safety. The rest were state and private schools. She got in with a bunch of different FA packages. She chose to attend one that burdens all of us financially, but was the best fit for her academically.

Kind of a cross post...With DD1 we visited schools that were on the way to somewhere else. We did two "college tours": in the spring break of Jr. year and the fall break of Sr. year. Due to financial and logistical constraints with dd2, we visited 6 of the "accepted" colleges. She made her choice after the last visit. She is extremely happy there.

[Laura Corin]

 

Why only one of the two? Why couldn't someone apply to both?

 

It's just an agreement between the universities. I think that, as they get such massive numbers of applicants, they decided to cut out the duplication. As there is a compulsory common application process in the UK, it's really easy to police. Each of those universities interviews every UK candidate that they think might be a possible - you can't get in without an interview. Doubling that number of interviews would be unmanageable.

 

It's just crowd control, really.

 

Laura

[Tokyomarie]

My two oldest took different paths through the application process.

 

#1 had 2 Completed Apps:

 

Would have been a reasonable candidate for top 30/Ivy League level schools. We received tons of mailings from those schools & discussed the possiblities for admission. In the end, she decided that she wanted to attend a small school and one that had a strong Christian-faith element. She considered 4 schools, all of which were academic safeties for her stats, completed two applications and was in the midst of a 3rd when she made her decision. Merit aid at the two schools was similar and her decision came down to the chosen school a) offering Japanese language and B) just feeling like she fit.

 

#2 had 5 completed apps:

 

At all but one school, apps for music were definitely middles to reaches because of her quirky music background. Academically, 3 schools were safeties, one a middle, and one a reach. The reach school would have been the best fit musically. She passed the academic screen, but didn't pass the audition. I think it's possible that had she had one more year of preparation with the teacher she was working with her senior year, she might have been admitted the following year. There were also factors unrelated to my daughter that made her less likely to be admitted the particular year she applied. She passed the audition at 3 of the other schools and did not complete the audition at the last because she knew her decision was between two schools where she had already been admitted.

 

#3 We are going to start talking about college this week. He'll be applying in the fall. His academic background is very different from that of his sisters, including that he was homeschooled for most of his K-12 years but is now in a middle college program and will be applying as a public school student. He'll be looking for something in the computer science realm but will need to spend the next 6-8 months figuring out which specific area within the field interests him the most. I think that will help him narrow his choices. Also, he will have learning/teaching style issues to consider because of his specific learning challenges. I expect to be as involved in the search and application process as I was for the girls because I feel I know him so much better than any of the school personnel.

[southcarolinamom]

My dd applied to 4 -- all within our home state -- b/c it offers a generous Life Scholarship and SC Tuition grants, and tuition is much, much less staying in-state. She was accepted to all 4. Her ACT score was only a 23, but that didn't seem to matter. She was accepted within 5 weeks of getting all her info. in.

[rockala]

Our dd applied to 8 schools- only heard from one so far with a top scholarship, but depending on Finaid still may be a financial reach. Trying to get the Fafsa and CSS done by next week and dd is going to CA in three weeks its a little crazy!

[J-rap]

I think we've done it differently than most. Our son applied to one and got in. (It was the only one he wanted to go to.) Our oldest daughter applied to 3, was accepted to all of them, and then changed her mind and decided to study full-time at a private university in Central America a year later. (THAT was a long, arduous process, but worth it for her.) Our next daughter applied to one and got in. However, she will apply to probably 4 graduate schools in a year or so.

 

Next daughter is studying abroad this year on a year-long post-high school program. Next year for her is undecided.

 

Our youngest will probably be the only one to do it the more mainstream way, and though she will take a gap year next year, I'm going to encourage her to apply to 4-6 colleges.

[Nan in Mass]

... The one school that rejected him actually turned out to be a reach school, by my definition, as applications there skyrocketed and the admission rate plummeted. It was ironic, too, that he was rejected by this school -- it has the most outside-the-box college curriculum I saw and likes to think of itself as being a home to independent and creative thinkers. Their admissions standards were however the most rigid of any of the schools he applied to, and clearly they weren't open to accepting people already outside the box! But he is very happy with where he is now -- he realized during the long wait til April that his current school is actually the place he belongs

 

Jenn, Paradoxically, the out-of-the-box schools I talked to seemed to want students that had ALREADY had a very very solid, high level, in-the-box-education because they weren't planning on doing ANY of that part in the education they offered (except some high level writing instruction). The schools that were the most open to accepting out-of-the-box high schoolers were the ones that had the infrastructure to teach academic skills or basic knowledge (our communmity college is an extreme example of this) or who were planning on teaching something that pretty much required them to start almost from scratch in the first place. As the parent of an out-of-the-box high schooler who was looking for an out-of-the-box college education, I found this frustrating.

 

 

Nan' date=' has your ds interviewed with those schools? It was the best way for the admissions counselors to get a feel for my son, to understand his odd mix of homeschool, community college and charter school courses, and it was a great way for my son to showcase his unique non-school activities.

[/quote']

 

He interviewed at his first choice. There wasn't really time to interview at the others. With the older two's college, I got the feeling the interview was helpful. With the youngest, I got the feeling that the interview didn't really matter. I might be wrong, though.

 

Nan

[elizabeth]

Snipped your post for brevity.

 

Yes, the dear Lad is aware of the financial realities of Archaeology. A state archaeologist and anthropology professor advised him as a high school student. Nonetheless, this is his passion. He will enter the field without debt and without a desire to become rich.

 

He is now a junior in college with a Plan A for the future. No Plan B but there is a minor Plan C. None of these may come to fruition but he is thinking of the next step.

 

I'll pass your post along to him.

 

Jane

My daughter is taking Religious Studies from an archaeologist and although there is no dept per se between the ten courses from the practicing archaeologist(Bethsaida) and a double major in International Studies with a minor in Anthropology she is over the moon. And in the midst of her first class fortunately Akkadian does not frighten her one bit. She might not be wealthy but she will be well prepared for the most important task, a meaningful life. We too are entering this new chapter without debt. I am so happy she is doing what she loves and hopefully in her adult years she will look back and be glad we gave her room to become her own person.

[sdreeves]

Our oldest applied to 6, (2 safety, 2 conservatories and 2 liberal arts with great music) and our youngest did one early action (nonbonding). She had 4 others on the list, but when the early acceptance came, she dropped it to one more, where she knew she would be happy, and get a good foundation for grad school.

[Jackie in NE]

Dd has applied to 7: 2 reaches, 2 safety, and 3 middle. It was really hard for her to decide what type of college she wanted to attend. And her desires changed from her junior to senior year in high school. I told her to cast a wide net. She has 4 acceptances so far. Both reaches, and one of the middles have not yet responded. She feels she could be happy choosing among her acceptances, so it will all be OK, if she doesn't get accepted at the other 3. (I think she will be accepted, though, judging from the scholarships and high level of interest from the colleges which sent acceptances).

I think our next dd will be completely different. She will probably apply to the nearby state college, and be completely happy there. She's just not as adventurous, or as curious, as dd #1.

I'm really looking forward to all of this being settled, and knowing where dd will be for the next 4 years. I'm not good at not knowing. :tongue_smilie:

[Laura Corin]

Spam reported.

 

L

[Angie in VA]

Dd is one focused girl. When she was 2 yo, I told DH she'd never change majors in college, lol. She was going to apply to 6:

 

one ivy

one stretch (that I don't think was a stretch. The ivy? Yes. They contacted her, I believe to reject her to keep boasting that low acceptance %!)

three fits (2 more attractive than the *3rd)

one safety

 

She applied EA to the two fits. She was accepted at her top choice on 12/12/12. A week later she heard that she was accepted to that schools's Honors College (which I am not sure she should do). She never applied to the others. I asked her to apply to the safety and she said she'd rather do College Plus than go there. (Did I say focused? Perhaps stubborn is a better term, lol.) When the (asst?)dean of admissions at the safety called last week to ask if she would apply (since she'd had her SAT scores sent there but had not sent in an app), she just told him they didn't have the exact major she wanted (true!). At least she didn't tell HIM she preferred CP over that school! She was accepted at her 2nd choice too, the other good fit.

 

This month she will hear about a big scholarship at choice #1. She will go ahead and audition for choice #2's school of music. It will be a good experience, and is a week or so before her audition at her top choice. Music majors have to be accepted into the uni/college AND into its school of music. Not all accredited colleges have music schools that are accredited (*like at fit #3). Lastly, dd wanted to stay in state, so that eliminated a handful of good schools too. (See above references to her being focused and/or stubborn.)

[Laura Corin]

Spam reported.