Applying to a TON of schools?

Pre-College Issues High School Life
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<p>So: thoughts on someone applying to a ton of schools (15+) because they don't have an application fee and are lower caliber, thus maximizing chances for financial aid. </p>

<p>This is what I started doing when I realized that a lot of my "dream schools" are academically realistic, but a financial pipe dream. (Net price calculator for Boston University said my estimated price was 40k..., etc.) -- so while I'm still applying to schools like BU, NEU, and Brandeis - I'm also applying to a lot of lower tiered schools like the College of Idaho and random schools out west. Schools that are like 75+% acceptance rate and whatnot. </p>

<p>Thoughts? I've seen conflicting things about this type of stuff - on the one hand, you're strategically increasing chances of being able to take out fewer student loans while still being able to attend college... while on the other hand, I might be ruining some kid's chance of getting into the College of Idaho if it was their dream school but I happened to have higher stats than them. </p>

<p>So yeah. Opinions.</p>

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<p>My mistake: The College of Idaho isn’t actually lower par - average SAT is like, 1800, GPA is 3.6. My mistake. I meant Guilford College in North Carolina (Average GPA 3.1, Acceptance rate: 80%)</p>

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<p>You probably only need to apply to two or three extreme safety schools to guarantee lots of merit aid. </p>

<p>I’m sure these schools understand that people use them as safeties, though…I would think they accept quite a lot more people than they actually have room for, because their yield is not very high.</p>

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<p>If colleges acknowledge that they’re a lot of peoples’ safeties - would that mean that they’d be less likely to offer merit aid in order to pander to kids with lower stats that are willing to pay for the school? </p>

<p>I got no business in Idaho unless I get to go for free.</p>