Myth: You should just apply! You never know

College Application Myth: You should apply to a school, even if you think you have no chance.

“Hey You Never Know”- Well actually, you do. Why Lottery Schools aren’t worth it.

College Application Myth: You should apply to any school you want to go to, even if you’re well below the middle 50% and know that you have no chance.

This myth is perpetuated by well meaning but under researched guidance counselors, ignorantly hopeful parents, and, unfortunately, the college admissions departments themselves.

They say, “Well someone has to get in, 25% of the incoming class is below the middle 50%, every year someone slips through the cracks- and that lucky student just might be you”

Lets talk about the reality of lottery schools and why you’re helping their admissions department more than they’re helping you.

First, I’ll make a point to say that I am talking about lottery schools NOT reach schools.

What’s the difference you may ask?

A reach school is a school you have a 50-60 percent chance of getting in to. You’re basically qualified but you can’t with any degree of certainty say you’ll get in. This is a school where you’re in the middle 50 percent, but just barely OR schools where the acceptance rates are so low that you have to consider it a reach.

A lottery school is a school that you cannot confidently say that you’re in range for. A school where, if by some miracle you get in, you’ll be in that magical, lucky, bottom 25 percent.

Someone applying to a reach school says, “Yeah, I’d love to go there, and it’s the most difficult school I’m applying to, but I think I could get in if the stars align.”

Someone applying to a lottery school says, “I know I have no chance, but I just need to know for sure I’m going to get rejected”

I’m going to break down how the myth of the lottery school is just that, a myth.

First of all: By applying to a lottery school you’re helping them more than they’re helping you.

“Wait?” You want to know, “How could that possibly be true? The school itself, the admissions rep I spoke to said that I should give it a shot”

Do you know what a school gets from an unqualified applicant (or a LOT of unqualified applicants)? They get your 50-70 dollar application fee. They get an easy applicant to reject (making their lives and jobs easier). AND the kicker? They get to decrease their acceptance rate! Which, as you might know, is a HUGE part of determining an USWorldNews rank. Schools try to get as many people as possible to apply, just so they can reject them and keep their acceptance rate low. Harvard is FAMOUS for this (I will write a whole other post about this strategy another day and link it here).

And what do you get? 10 minutes spent on your application (maybe not even that, cynical little me thinks they might look at your SAT scores and skim your personal information and throw it away) and a few months of hope finished by an envelope or email telling you “We’re sorry to tell you, you’ve been rejected. Thanks for the money and have a nice life!”

Secondly, I have to add, the bottom 25 percent probably isn’t for you.
Every school has a quarter of the incoming class who had scores below what they technically needed. But do you know who the lion’s share of those applicants are? The hooked applicants. I hate to use the word hook on this blog, but I will have to give you all an operational definition of hook.

A hook is a factor that will get a student in when they were otherwise unqualified. Hooks include recruited athletes, legacies from families that give money, famous people/children of famous people, and under-represented minorities (this does include geographic minorities).  

They DO NOT include: Being a musical genius, a child prodigy, a Mensa member, a national merit scholar, an Intel Finalist, being a friend of a famous person, being a legacy from a family that does not give money or much money, working at a prestigious place, being president of your school or club, or any “unique activities.” Those are all great part of your personal brand, but they are NOT hooks.

That bottom 25 percent is not saved for people who are unqualified. It is saved for people who will somehow bring prestige to the school despite their numbers.

Have I made myself clear? Good. Have I depressed you a little bit? Sorry.

I just have to give my two cents on these types of schools. To me, it is not worth your time or money. You’re better off using your enthusiasm to look for and apply to schools that you can actually get into. It will make you much happier (and save you money) in the long run.

Of course, several of you are going to apply to the lottery schools anyway. Because you are optimistic and you can’t give up. And I wish you luck! And if you somehow prove me wrong, send me a nice smug message telling me. I LOVE to hear stories of lottery schools paying off. Though, in most cases, it turns out the applicant was hooked after all.

Example: Everyone at a school was freaking out! This kid who had good but not great grades, and only decent SAT scores got into [insert prestigious school here]! Sigh there’s one every year isn’t there? But as it turns out, he had a connection to their program that he just didn’t brag about it when he was applying. He also had a lot of field experience in [whatever the program he got into is] through his incredibly well known family business, which the admissions committee for that program values heavily. And his family gives thousands of dollars a year. So not actually a lottery school after all.  

What I will say is; of the people I consult 1 on 1, everyone has ended up at their top choice school. Because they applied to top choice schools. Not type there is no way in hell schools.

So I declare the “Just Apply You Never Know” myth thoroughly busted.