Am I the only 2018 mom not stressing about college? Seriously, the schools my kids are looking at are nearly sure things for them based on GPA and test scores. As in, such a sure thing I'm not wasting on second of time on stressing. LOL. There ARE schools out there where they WILL get in. Maybe it's just my area of the country, but I don't know any parents stressing over it.
Maybe if my kids wanted to go to Harvard (which thankfully, they do not)...although my son did look longingly at the Harvard brochure he got sent....he KNOWS it is unaffordable (and please don't waste my time saying that it is...believe me, I've done the net cost calculators for ALL those schools, and they are not as we are expected to pay for it in it's entirety...). Since his scores are "good enough" to get recruited to all the big name schools (yes, they ARE that good), I know for a fact that there are literally 100's of other schools which would be more than happy to have him, probably with some merit aid tossed in.
My daughter has settled on a school where her already existent GPA and ACT score gets her in, with scholarship money. Done. She loves the school and it's a good fit.
My DD is a college junior but we did not stress, Texas is an auto admit state so she had her pick of any state university. She did apply to one private/reach because you hear so much that they will often give the money. I think that those stories are very anecdotal and completely untrue for most students. Don't believe me- read the stressed out college threads.
My nephew is a senior this year and also in Texas so he's going to UT as an auto admit. He did have some stress regarding whether he would be accepted into Nat Science but he was so it's all done.
I encourage everyone we know to apply to a couple of safeties- and make sure that you can afford them. It seems the problem for some though is that they thought there was a lot of money out there and didn't expect to pay or didn't give their kid a clear idea of what they could pay.
And get that SAT/ACT as high as possible. We should have gone the private tutor route. DD is on the Excellence scholarship at her school. A couple of more points on her ACT would have gotten her 3K more per year.