Page 3 - KnightTime News May 2019

KNIGHTtime News
GUIDING YOUR COLLEGE PROCESS
THE BALANCED COLLEGE LIST
By Matt Mettille
We often get asked by students and parents about how
many colleges students should apply to. Some seniors only end
up submitting one application, because they apply Early Decision and they are admitted. At the
other end of the spectrum, we saw 20 students from the senior class submit 20 or more applications
to colleges, and one student applied to 31, which was much higher than usual. Despite having a slightly smaller senior class with only 137 students, we saw 1,474 total applications submitted to colleges around the world this year. This resulted in almost
eleven applications per student
on average, which was up from only nine applications per student the previous year. As an office, we work tirelessly to help students be thoughtful about their college list and to only apply to colleges they would really love to attend.
Here are some tips for building your 1college list.
We always recommend
that students apply to 8-12 colleges which reflect a
range of selectivity. An ideal college list will include an equal number of reach, target, and likely colleges which the college counseling team can
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Be confident in your college list. Students, parents, and college counselors work throughout the summer and fall to help students make sure their list is reflective and balanced. It’s important to stay the course and remember that one college decision
isn’t a reflection on what will happen everywhere in case a student receives bad news. This year, after December
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15, we saw 106 application extra applications added
in December after some students were not admitted to their early choice. Most were far reach schools and 88 of those applications resulted in denies. This is not a strategy we would recommend, and it resulted in a lot of extra stress for students and families over winter break.
As families visit colleges, make it a priority to find target and likely colleges that students are super excited about. It will make the process feel 100% less stressful once a student has found a likely school they would love to attend. Always remember that the admit rate doesn’t at all equal the quality of the education. There are amazing transformational likely options out there for every student. Students that often have the hardest process are the ones that kick off college visits by only visiting colleges that have single digit admit rates and only focus on reach schools.
“AS AN OFFICE, WE WORK TIRELESSLY TO HELP STUDENTS BE THOUGHTFUL ABOUT THEIR COLLEGE LIST AND TO ONLY APPLY TO COLLEGES THEY WOULD REALLY LOVE TO ATTEND.“
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