<p>I just tried to add yet another school to "My Colleges" on the common app and this message appeared, "You have reached the maximum number of schools that can be added to your My Colleges list." Apparently they have a 20 school limit. I thought I might be able to delete the schools that I have already submitted applications to, but it won't let me. I don't understand why the common app would offer so many schools and then limit you to 20! Has anyone else come accross this? Any suggestions are appreciated.</p>
<p>Because most people don’t apply to 20!
That’s really a lot of colleges. I know you mean well but that’s a lot of money you’re using to apply to so many schools.</p>
<p>Do you have the money to pay for all those apps, and to send your SAT/ACT scores to them?</p>
<p>Well, I’m using NACAC fee waivers for most and most of them also accept my official ACT scores signed by my counselor with the school stamp, so that is saving me a lot of money. I know it’s a lot of schools but what I do end up paying is worth it to me… So there’s no way of getting around this?</p>
<p>Sorry but no there isn’t. If you wanna apply to other schools see if they have their own application other than common app. Or apply to Texas schools who use the applytexas applications. That’s really the only way. </p>
<p>I understand you want to increase your chances but 20 is a lot. I mean you’re only going to one. I hope you researched each school to make sure they have the program you want and they are in your price range.</p>
<p>You can create another version of your common app, basically another account. Kids do it to mold their applications for certain schools</p>
<p>I actually did create another version because of that very reson, but it still limits you to 20, it just lets you move applications from one version to another. Thank you though.</p>
<p>I think that if you tried to re-establish a Common App account under a new name and user id, that the Common App would still catch you and limit you because you would have to use the same Social Security Number, and the Common App would see that that number has been already used in its system. I suppose you might try and set up a completely new account (re-entering all the old information from the prior Common App account) and just not use your Social Security Number and see what happens. Of course, you would have to let your counselor and school know so that they could upload their materials again to the new account. Also, you could consider filling out the Universal Application (a different system but similar to the Common App), but again you would have to have all your school materials re-uploaded to that one as well. The only “work-around” to the 20 max apps is to fill in the Common App via a PDF text editor (Nitro is effective) or by hand and MAIL it to the colleges. Still, again, you will then have to have your school and your recs all MAIL their materials to the colleges. You may wish to put your SSN on all of this (or at least the last 4 numbers of the SSN, as Johns Hopkins requires) in order to assist the school in tracking. At this point, filling out the Common App by hand and mailing the Common App and its supplements to each new college seems to be your only option.</p>
<p>Creating two accounts within the Common App system is not permitted. The system has several check to prevent this. If the Common App team discovers duplicate accounts, they will close one of them and notify the applicant.</p>
<p>I suppose you should count yourself lucky, in some sense, with 20 schools. In the UK, their computerized application system (UCAS) only permits FIVE max applications and, further, if you want to apply to Oxford or Cambridge you can only select one of them, not both.</p>
<p>The Common App is very clear on this:</p>
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<p>You can attempt to use a method other than the Common Application to apply to schools that allow other applications.</p>
<p>20!! I think you need to have a little more faith in yourself and focus on the colleges you really want to go to. I know this is a massive clich</p>
<p>Yes, the idea of applying to more than 20 schools is, on its face, completely absurd and and highly counterproductive. But there is a very small number of students for whom, unfortunately, applying to more than 20 schools is absolutely rational.</p>
<p>For example, a student in need of substantial financial aid, with, for example, divorced parents for whom it may be extremely difficult to prospectively assess expected aid for one school versus another. For someone like this, it may be a rational course to maximize the number of applications, and expend the associated fees, if any, as an investmentaimed at increasing the “expected value” of aid by having more “entries” in the financial aid lottery.</p>
<p>Another case where the apparently irrational, even absud behavior of applying to more than 20 schools may be less irrational is a case where a student has an untraditional background and it is thus extremely difficult to assess the probability of getting into highly selective schools.</p>
<p>Lastly, I have no idea how difficult it is to use a second CommonApp - I suspect it’s quite difficult. And yes, for the vast, vast, majority of students, a more considered and complete assessment of schools earlier on would obviate the need to go through the insanity of applying to so many. But for a very few, more than 20 may be rational. And for them, applying to so many schools isn’t a cause of the current application insanity, but an attempt to deal with it in a way that maximizes their outcome in an insane system.</p>