My friend was complaining how Common App only allows you to select 20 schools to apply for. I thought it was ridiculous how a limit of 20 wasn’t enough for her. How many schools are you guys applying for?
To me, 20 is a ridiculous amount. When you start adding up all the application fees plus the cost of sending SAT scores and everything else (unless they have a waiver), it definitely is a waste of money to not narrow it down. I personally am applying to 6 universities which I feel is a pretty good amount. In my opinion, I think the bare minimum for every senior should be at least 5 schools (1 reach, 2 fits, 2 safeties) unless they are applying to an open-admit school or they know they are going to CC. As far as the max amount goes, I guess it just depends on the person. But 20 is definitely too much.
20 is a crazy amount of colleges to apply to. I’m only applying to 5 colleges, but I might apply to a couple more. There’s no way you could have time to complete 20 applications to the best of your abilities.
20? holy cow! If one needs to apply to that many then I question that persons ability to focus on a decision. Sounds like that person might be too undecided.
This year, my daughter is applying to 13 in total… 3 safeties (1 acceptance in-hand already), 4 matches and 6 reaches. Yes… 13 seems like a lot, but in 2013-14, my older daughter applied to 17 and was rejected by 12. All of her stats were in the 98th percentile or higher, but she still only got into one match and 4 safeties. So, you never really know.
It could depend on other factors too… like your demographics, state of residence, potential “hook”, legacy status, etc. The cruel reality is that certain groups… especially Asians and Asian-Americans of both genders plus unhooked white females are the key groups with way too many qualified applicants at this time. Years ago, that was not the case… but it is now.
The key thing is leaving yourself with bona fide options to choose among in March-April, which means applying to at least a couple safeties… or gaining an early acceptance to a college you would actually not mind attending.
I read an article recently in the NYT that suggests the national average is 7-8 college applications now, with an alarming # applying to 15 or more in hopes of gaining a Reach acceptance.
Good Luck…
I applied to 10 and have already gotten 4 acceptances. I have no idea where I want to go, though I’ve visited a lot of schools. The schools I applied to are literally all over the country, and while I’m okay with being far from home, I’m not sure if I want to be. Is your friend applying for fine arts? That could explain why she’s applying to so many; you have to for programs like theater.
I’m applying to 9. I think anywhere between 5 and 15 seems reasonable; everyone is different.
I’m applying to nine or ten schools. Twenty does seem like a lot and wouldn’t be feasible for me financially or time wise.