What about Setting Application Limits?

The average student will apply to more than nine schools each fall, according to the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC). For those of us working with ambitious and talented students, that number can seem even a bit low.

The fact of the matter is that the Common Application represents the proverbial dual-edged sword. It makes the application process fairly simple for seniors in high school, but with this simplicity has come an explosion in the number of schools students apply to; this is placing a strain on systems at both the high school and university level.

It is therefore quite understandable that many counselors have explored the option of placing a limit on the number of colleges a student can send an application to. To any experienced counselor, a little détente in the college application arms race sounds wonderful, but is it feasible?

Let us begin by examining the many reasons why counselors, with the support of administration, should limit the number of universities a high school student may apply to.

First, application limits force students to do their research. Too many seniors mindlessly add higher education institutions to their list based upon motivations that have little to do with “fit.” For example, every year I work with students who apply to a university simply because there are no supplement questions.

This year my applications to Vanderbilt University jumped nearly 300 percent. In my opinion, this growth was because that university did not ask any supplement questions. Conversely, Boston College added supplement questions to their application this year—and saw a dip in applications, by 26 percent! This is quite a significant percentage and I think it is quite clear that application limits would push students to create a college list that addresses their needs, not their desire to avoid writing an essay.

Another argument for placing limits on a student’s college list comes from the teachers. Specifically, they want senior year back! The process has become so intense and prolonged that classroom performance inevitably suffers. By placing clear limits on the number of applications a student can send out, counselors will inevitably help students focus on what really matters: classroom learning, not hours spent on an application to Stanford that has little or no chance of success.

Finally, limits on application counts will also spare the admissions officer from slogging through piles of paper from students who lack the academic credentials to gain admission, or from students who are not genuinely serious about attending in the first place.

Let’s face it, once limits are placed on this process all parties involved must think a bit more about how best to use the limited number of options allotted. No longer will applicants with mediocre academic records feel compelled to send their credentials to Rice or Duke, on the off chance that they “just might get lucky.”

The shotgun approach, of sending applications to 20 or 25 institutions in the hope that you will “hit something,” no longer applies. And, on behalf of so many admissions officers, nothing would be more refreshing than pouring over a slightly smaller, and significantly more relevant, stack of applications.

Despite the many compelling arguments for application limits, it is still a policy that most high schools shy away from.

The first and most obvious reason is that the policy would be quite difficult to enforce. By nature, college counselors make for very poor policemen. Trying to enforce this policy when there is pushback from students or parents can hinder your relationship with the very people you are charged with helping. And, as we all know, it does not take much for a counselor to get left out of the process.

Furthermore, application results are increasingly unpredictable. I am certain that every international school counselor out there has had experiences in the last few months that left him or her questioning what constitutes a “safety” or “reach” school. It goes without saying that if trained professionals struggle with classifications and are at times surprised by the results, then students have every right to apply to a large number of schools just to “see if they can get lucky.”

Additionally, why place limits on a college list when student choice is so finicky? I have a student currently attending Oberlin College and she is having the experience of a lifetime. She loves the classes, the music program, and the professors.

Now, here is where the story gets interesting. She added Oberlin to her list the day before my school closed for the Christmas holidays. Moreover, Oberlin was the fourteenth school on her list. I am not certain why she added Oberlin at all. It might have been her research, a wonderful visit by the representative, or that feeling teens sometimes get that the school “sounds good—why not apply?” No matter, she was admitted and enrolled. That school and the corresponding experience she is having would never have appeared on her list if I had set and enforced application limits of, say, ten institutions.

Now there is, potentially, a middle ground on this issue. Meaning, application limits can be placed once early results come out. To explain, I have worked with a few high schools that require students to attend the university that admits the applicant in the early pool. In short, whether the student is applying early decision to Brown or early action to Santa Clara University, if admitted, they must attend.

This policy has not cut down on the number of early applications sent out, but it has made the decision a bit more serious. Moreover, when the policy is clearly spelled out in the school profile an admissions officer will be quite aware that they are evaluating a student who will be attending the university if admitted.

For highly competitive institutions such as your Brown or Johns Hopkins, this information may not help. But for one that is really looking out for demonstrated interest, this policy might be enough to push the applicant into the “Admit” pile.

Moreover, a policy that places limits on applications once decisions are made on the early cycle will discourage trophy hunters (those students admitted early to Yale who insist on sending their application to Bates “just to see if they will be admitted”). These students know that they will attend Yale no matter what other offers come in, yet they apply because each offer serves as a further ego boost.

What these students never seem to understand is that they are taking a spot away from a student truly interested in the university. As one admission officer at William and Mary mentioned, these applicants are “muddying the water, and encouraging a dog-eat-dog atmosphere in college admissions.”

As Shakespeare might have penned, “to limit or not to limit, that is the question.” As for my office, no limits are in place. The obstacles remain a bit too daunting. But that does not mean I have given up! No. This is a question my team and I will revisit once again as we prepare for a new set of students.

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