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Originally Posted by munchkin
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Originally Posted by alum
This is definitely a generational phenomenon. When I applied to colleges in the early 80s, the college counselors were recommending 5 applications. 2 reaches, 2 matches and 1 safety. A couple of decades + later, my D was applying to schools and HER CC said the average hs student applied to 8 for a breakdown of 3 reaches, 3 matches, and 2 safeties.
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I think it's more regional than generational. I graduated from HS in the South, and I only applied to four, which was pretty standard for my HS. It wasn't until my freshman year, when I met kids from NYC, DC, Boston, and San Francisco that I knew that people who applied to 10+ colleges.
During the past rush recommendation season, I spoke to some of the hometown girls about their college search--the same thing was true in that most kids only applied to four or five schools. On the other hand, I do alumni interviewing for my alma mater, and all of the kid I've interviewed in this cycle applied to 15 or 16 schools. |
It's a vicious cycle perpetuated by the college admissions offices to get a higher number of applicants in order to increase their selectivity rate. With the advent of the Common Application and even online applications instead of paper applications (it's the same application, just electronic), kids are applying to more and more schools. Perfect SATs/GPA/ECs do not guarantee admission. The stellar classmates of my D's that were Ivy-bound ended up applying to all 8 Ivies because it is such a roll of the dice as to which school would accept them.
I do believe that there are certain regions of the country where the application numbers are higher per hs student. Although we are below the Mason-Dixon line, the DC suburbs are definitely not considered the South, at least not by true Southerners. I'd be curious if the Atlanta/Dallas/Houston suburbs produce more students who apply to a larger number of schools.
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Originally Posted by VAgirl18
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Originally Posted by alum
The opposite can be true as well. We visited UVa and my D absolutely hated it. We had her apply anyway as she also needed a safety school. She ultimately went with a different choice.
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uva as a safety school? wow. |
Not a big deal. D was an instate applicant.