THERE ARE SO MANY WONDERFUL PLACES TO SPEND FOURS YEARS. Don’t feel bad about wanting to apply to a few more! Image from Strange Sounds.
So I applied to a lot of colleges. I started thinking about the schools I was going to apply to during sophomore year, and the list I made then underwent dramatic changes right up until December of my senior year. And even after that, I continued to add schools with later deadlines until February. In the limbo period of waiting for decisions to come out, I felt kind of dumb for applying to so many schools and beat myself up over it. Then admissions and financial aid decisions started to roll in. I was mostly surprised–and not in a good way. (What’s worse than a rejection? Being waitlisted. What’s worse than being waitlisted? Being accepted with crushingly bad financial aid.) So, when I was getting ready to check my portal for my final decision to a reach school I added last minute, I was ready for a rejection. And when I saw virtual confetti falling and “Congratulations!” on the screen, I basically died, especially after I saw my financial aid award.
In spite of my college list being composed almost entirely of schools where I was guaranteed hefty merit scholarships and schools that promised to meet full financial need, this last minute add turned out to be the only one that was a realistic financial option for my family. Sometimes, I think about what I would be doing if I hadn’t applied to this school last minute, and it sends a shiver down my spine. Don’t be afraid to add schools. Heck, don’t even count the number of schools you are applying to. I still have no idea what my actual number was, and really, it doesn’t matter. So let’s talk about the actual reasons why it’s okay to add just one more school.
University College Maastricht. Image from Wikipedia.
1. Gut instinct.
Listen to your gut. If you feel like this is a school you honestly need to apply to, then do it. It could be that you just ate some funky chicken last night, but maybe it really is the cosmos sending you a sign that this is where you are going to end up. In two months, maybe you will think that you didn’t really need to spend your time applying, but maybe it’ll wind up being your only prospect. That isn’t really a chance you want to take.
2. You don’t have to know everything about a school before you apply.
Okay, this one sounds kind of weird, but bear with me, because it makes sense. I admittedly went through a list of schools with great financial aid and plucked a couple off. I fumbled my way through the “Why _____” essays and hoped for the best. However, after I was done with college applications and had a chunk of free time on my hands, I spent some more time on college websites and actually discovered some really cool things about the schools I had applied to that made me really excited. It’s okay if you don’t know a whole bunch about some of the schools you apply to, especially if you decided to apply to them just a few days before the deadline. The fact that they initially piqued your interest and that they have good financial aid or some other unique thing is enough to start with.
3. Admissions are weird.
You really never have any idea where you are actually going to get in. You might get rejected from your in-state safety, waitlisted to all your matches, and accepted to your highest reach. It’s weird and unpredictable. Really, adding a couple extra schools won’t hurt you because you never know what will happen. Just make sure that when you do add schools, see how they feel about demonstrated interest (you can easily find out by look up the school on Big Future and going to the “Applying–What’s Important?” tab of the school). If they are big fans of it, go ahead and schedule an alumni interview, just for kicks.
4. Financial aid is weird.
I made the mistake of thinking that net price calculators are actually totally accurate representations of what financial aid will look like. Here’s a pro tip–they totally aren’t. From a school that claimed to meet full need, I got aid that left me to come up with more than twice my estimated financial contribution, including loans. The school I am now attending is ridiculously lower than my EFC. If financial aid is a big deal for you, really don’t be afraid to add any school where the net price calculator gives you any figure even close to what you can actually pay. It’s weird, but you never know what financial aid offices are going to decide about your situation.
Financial aid is more than weird. it’s downright scary. Image from Westface College Planning.
5. Options, options, options.
Give. Yourself. Options. You are never going to think to yourself, “Oh no! I have too many schools to choose from!” Never. The theme of college admissions is unpredictability. So if you can find it in yourself to write a couple of more essays for a couple of more schools you might want to go to, just do it. Give yourself the chance to get in, even if you don’t think you will.
In May, I visited the three schools that I was deciding between. Two of these schools were ones that I decided to apply to in late December and early January. If you had told me a year ago that I would be happily attending Washington & Lee University this fall, I would have called you absolutely crazy. I can’t say it enough: You never know what is going to happen, and you never know what is going to wind up being the best fit for you. Just apply to that school you feel borderline about. Stop obsessing over keeping your school count below a certain number. Don’t risk painting yourself into a scary corner.