<p>I've heard a wide range of numbers from guidance counselors and college reps. My friends are applying to anywhere between 13 (ridiculous) and 5. Personally I'm applying to 5 but I'm applying to one ED so hopefully I won't have to actually apply to the other 4 (I'll make up the apps but won't send them in to save myself the application fee). What is CC's opinion on how many colleges you should apply to?</p>
<p>5 is good. but personally im about to get 7.
depends on if i get ini Virginia tech or not, its earlier than other ones.</p>
<p>how to figure out the number of colleges you should apply to (the CC way):</p>
<p>1) look at the us news report of top colleges. 2) locate your lowest ranked safety. 3)now apply to every single college ranked above it in addition to your safety.</p>
<p>for me, my lowest safety is ranked 50th. so i will be applying to 50 colleges this fall. wish me luck=)</p>
<p>^nice</p>
<p>seriously though, 7-8 is a good number. also get a safety you love; makes it a lot less stressful.</p>
<p>7 was the magic number in this house. Definitely find a safety school that you love. Many times, over the course of the year, your safety school starts moving up the list and becomes one of the top three choices.</p>
<p>1 - go big or go home</p>
<p>I have one kid that's gone through the process already, and another one in 9th grade. I would have one safety (it is hard to love your safety in my opinion), 3 matches, 4 reaches and 2 high reaches, maybe 1-2 outside the box schools. My reason is that admission is very unpredictable. As an example, if Colgate, Bucknell and Lehigh are your matches, you may not be able to get in all three for whatever reason. It's the same for reaches and high reaches - people have gotten into Harvard, but not Princeton, Yale, Columbia. The list above is for kids with stats that could get into top 30-20 schools. If you have very good stats that could get into top 10 schools, then I would have more high reaches (all top 10 schools are high reaches for anybody), and less on reaches or matches.</p>
<p>Be realistic of your school list by knowing what kind of applicant you are. If you are a B+ student with no great ECs, then there is no point in throwing your money away at top 10 schools.</p>
<p>Come April you want to have options, not a complete shut out. One more thing, have ALL of your applications done before the ED result. Do not count on getting into the ED. If the news is bad, it is very hard to do 10+ applications in 2 weeks during your winter break, especially if you have tests and papers to do for school.</p>
<p>Do not fall in love with any school until you are accepted. This is all from a parent that has gone through a very tough application process.</p>
<p>Would 10-12 be a wee bit too much?</p>
<p>I only have 4 schools choosen. I think that's good enough for me, and if by some chance I just don't get into any of the schools I'll apply to a community college. Or go to college out of the country, lol.</p>
<p>My first school of choice, is an ED.
My next 2 are both Catholic schools and I have an 99.9% chance of getting into both.
My last one is UIC and I'm pretty sure I can get into that too, but my family members told me that for what program I'm going into that UIC will be hard. </p>
<p>I know people who are only applying to like 2 schools...and I know some kids who are applying to like 10+.</p>
<p>i am doing like 13ish. However, I am applying EA to about 5. The reason I am doing this is because a) i have an " interesting" application.. big upward trend, solid SAT ( or i will after october), unique activities/ passion, great/unique recommendations but a low GPA. Not every school will give me the benefit of the doubt so I want to make sure I get somewhere that wants me.</p>
<p>I want Son to apply to 11: 3 reach, 5 match, 3 safeties</p>
<p>H wants Son to apply to 7: 1 reach, 5 match, 1 safety</p>
<p>We compromised to 9: 3 reach, 4 match, 2 safeties</p>
<p>I'd go with 2 safeties, 2-3 matches, 3-4 high matches/low reaches, and 1-2 high reaches. If you're a strong applicant, that is.</p>
<p>I'm going to apply to a lot. I think it might be around 16.</p>
<p>2 UC Safeties. 2 UC Match(I still have a very, very good shot here. I'd even think it might be a safety because I'm in-state.)</p>
<p>2 EA Schools (All high matches)
2 Free Apps (UofP and Tulane, because they usually offer large scholarships)
8 Reaches (H-Y-P-S-Penn-D-Cornell-Brown) I know 8 reaches is too many, but I don't know where I want to go or what I want to do. I'd rather have options than be unhappy later.</p>
<p>I know it's too many, but I'm on the border of match and reach at those schools. I don't know where I could get in, and I would definitely like to go to either Penn or Cornell.</p>
<p>My EA and Free Apps are safeties, as well as 2 of my UCs (UCSD, UCI)</p>
<p>6-8 is usually the logical number.</p>
<p>With the common app available, and supplement essays that can be recycled quite easily if done tactfully, that magic number 7 can go up.</p>
<p>You can definitely apply to many more safeties through the Common app...it'll make it that much less stressful. </p>
<p>And you never know who might take you in.</p>
<p>on a serious note, i still have 29 colleges on my list and i can't narrow them down. it's ridiculous, but i love them all. i think i'll just apply EA to the ones that offer it and wait for those results before i narrow it down any further.</p>
<p>I have 10 colleges that I'm applying too. I tried to get it down to 8, but I just couldn't do it. I have 3 reaches, 5 matches, and 2 safeties.</p>
<p>Have you all visited these colleges that you plan on applying to?</p>
<p>It's important. My D had a big list but after touring or doing drive-bys she was able to go from 13 to 8.</p>
<p>Save yourself some money.</p>
<p>We did 10 last year, go into 8 as it turned out. Recommend for the "average" person try 3 reach 4 match 3 safety. Modify according to your record and other things, e.g., recruited athlete or urm, etc.</p>
<p>
[quote]
With the common app available, and supplement essays that can be recycled quite easily if done tactfully, that magic number 7 can go up.
[/quote]
If you can "recycle" your supplemental essays then you aren't doing them well.</p>