<p>Between 8-12. I personally applied to 11. My advice is to go for however many you want, and can afford 
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<p>Best of luck!</p>
<p>Iām a rising junior as well, and Iām sooooo confused about the application process.</p>
<p>My guidance counselor isnāt exactly helpful, so I was wondering if one of yāall could break it down for me?</p>
<p>I have an account on commonapp, and Iāve selected about 15 colleges to apply to. What now?</p>
<p>As a rising junior, wouldnāt you wait until next year? ^</p>
<p>VA Tech
UVA
William and Mary
George Mason
MIT</p>
<p>Iāll probably add Carnegie Mellon and Yale, because those are my other favorite 2 schools.</p>
<p>Thatās 7 schools. Another safety I could use is VCU, but I hate the people there.</p>
<p>v Itās not overachieving. I hate that word. If it is your standards, and youāre going for them, then itās not overachieving.</p>
<p>@rchhay: I would, but Iām that overachieving, overplanning type of kid.</p>
<p>^You might want to post a thread on the common app board. Or actually, do a search firstā¦ </p>
<p>I donāt think there would be much for you to do now but I suppose researching colleges would be a good thing? Iām also a rising junior, but I believe my school might be a tad bit more helpful so Iām not too worried right now.</p>
<p>^@thuglyfeNo school would accept you since your still technically a sophomore. In fact donāt start thinking about colleges until the winter of Junior year. Cause your choices will change a million times. You can start on your essay now though. What you should be doing is studying for your SAT.</p>
<p>@rchhay: Alright, Iāll take your advice and put it off. 
Yes, Iāve been researching like crazy. PLME is where I want to be. Yourself?
@toxic93: Haha, SAT prep is my life right now.
How would I start working on the essay? Is there a prompt?</p>
<p>I think the average university-bound student probably applies to 3, maybe 4. Of all HS graduates the average probably just goes to their CC, so 1.</p>
<p>The average CCer, probably more like 10-15.</p>
<p>I applied to 7, which is a lot.</p>
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<p>You wait until your senior year to apply. In the meantime your account will be deleted, as the application changes every year. Get a new account next August.</p>
<p>^^since your on common app, start looking at the essay prompts, and get an idea. I know one of the prompts is an essay of your choice.</p>
<p>@ thuglyfe: My dream is Columbia (not SEAS, though). Iād second the ideas of toxic93, but I would caution you from actually beginning to write the essay. Junior yearāat least at my schoolāusually brings about a huge change in writing style, especially if you take IB English, or what I think would be its AP equivalent, AP English Lit.</p>
<p>^yea very true, I noticed my essay writing got better. Because I was able to express myself better. I started my essay during later winter, perfected it during the spring. And, out it in my common app.</p>
<p>Iām applying to 11 or 12.</p>