<p>Is your dad aware of the fees involved in applying to each college? For each college you will have:</p>
<ul>
<li>The applicaton fee</li>
<li>Cost of sending test scores to the colleges</li>
<li>If you are applying for need based aid, these all sound like CSS Profile schools. There is a cost to submit the CSS Profile to each school.</li>
</ul>
<p>Make a spreadsheet of these costs and show your dad. Make sure he is willing to drop over $1,000 on the application process alone, because it will probably cost at least that. Also have him run the net price calculator for some of the schools to make sure he understands what colleges like this cost (although if he has a small business, trusts, or your parents are divorced, those calculators aren’t always super accurate – assume the cost will be higher than they show in those cases).</p>
<p>Also, if you are applying for need based aid, your parents are going to have a HUGE amount of work on the financial aid application side for that many schools. Most of the schools on that list have their own deadlines, some have separate forms to fill out, different schools want different tax forms sent, and they want the tax forms in different formats (some want fax, some want you to send them paper copies, some take the paper copies through the IDOC process). We did eight schools last year and it was a nightmare. So… if you are applying for need based aid, try to get him or your mom to commit to doing most of that paperwork/legwork. They might come around once they see the level of work for that.</p>
<p>At least your mom is more sane… 
She knows you need matches and maybe safeties!</p>
<p>I will say this – my D started out with a list of 20 schools. We developed the list from the Fiske book based on her area of interest, type of school she thought she wanted, geography, etc. And we visited ALL of them over the period from sophomore year to fall of senior year. Ask your dad about going on college visits – when he sees the logistics of seeing 28 schools, he might back down.</p>
<p>Also… your college guidance counselor should be getting involved in your junior year. You might talk to that person ahead of time and see if they can talk your dad off the ledge. Or if your parents have a lot of money, ask them to hire a college counselor to improve your chances of admission. Those people are often very good at talking sense to crazy parents. Sometimes they just won’t listen to YOU because they think you are a kid who doesn’t know anything (not true – at least you are out here trying to get the real scoop!).</p>
<p>Here is what I would do if you still have this problem the summer before senior year:
- Get your common application components all done.
- Make your OWN priority list of the colleges to apply to from the long list. Include a couple of safeties, a few matches, and a couple of dream school. Do those applications first and make sure you do them well (essays proofread by an outside party – I am thinking NOT your parents, at least your dad’s judgement sounds suspect).
- Then keep working your way through the others in order of your priority (and maybe where you think you will be admitted).</p>