<p>Um, I think I'm applying to too many colleges? I feel like I have nothing to lose though (except time...I get fee waivers). I think it's just better to have a lot of options/offers?</p>
<pre><code>* Cal Tech
* Carnegie Mellon U
* Cornell U
* Franklin W Olin C En
* MIT
* Northwestern U IL
* Rochester I Tec
* St Louis U
* Stanford U
* U Calif Berkeley
* U Illinois Urbana
* U Missouri Rolla
* U Southern Calif
* Washington U St. L.
* Worcester Polytec I
</code></pre>
<p>That's my list as of now...Plus maybe another couple safeties (to see what aid will be)</p>
<p>It definitely is good to have lots of options. However, 15 schools? 15 schools? Do you know how many essays that is? How much postage? How many teacher recs? How many counselor recs? If you can, try to eliminate a couple of the "reach schools" (Cal tech, berkeley, MIT, stanford, washington u @ st. louis, northwestern). I'd suggest to apply to 2-3 of these instead of all 5 of those. Make sure all these schools have the majors/programs you want. If you investigate well, you'll know that at least a couple of these schools don't have what you really want. Also, don't apply to schools if you really truly don't see yourself there. It is a waste of time. Try to bring the list down to maybe 10-12 schools at most. 15 is just going to be a big headache; however, if you're up for it, good luck.</p>
<p>True, but most of those have the common app...I really should cut it down though I guess. Oh and they all have engineering...not sure what kind I want to go into yet though....</p>
<p>I question the advice to reduce the number of reaches. If you have a sensible but low chance of getting into one or two of a group of reach schools, it makes sense to apply to more, not fewer of them. What you don't need is too many matches and safeties.</p>
<p>I'd apply to more if I had fee-waivers. Go for it, if you want to spend time writing a bunch of essays. They don't take that long either, so yeah, it's not a lot.</p>
<p>BTW, I'm applying to 15 with no fee-waivers.</p>
<p>I can't really believe that you're actually serious about all 15 schools. Do you honestly have deep-rooted reasons to go? The ideal number is around 7, with 2 reaches, 3 good fits, and 2 no problem schools, according to Nicole Eichen, former admissions officer at the College of the Holy Cross. It looks like if you do more research, you should be able to eliminate many colleges from your list.</p>
<p>Are you also getting waivers for sending SAT scores and the Profile (if any of your schools require that?) It's not quite all free. Having said that, though, if financial aid is a priority then I don't see anything wrong with applying to more schools than the average-- you need to find matches and safeties for financial aid as well as for admissions.</p>
<p>64 recognized by the Advanced Placement program
34 National Merit Scholarship Program Finalists
2 U.S Presidential Scholars
1 National Achievement Finalist
5 National Hispanic Scholars</p>
<p>Average GPA: 4.3/4.0 scale
22 Valedictorians
4 Salutatorians
Middle 50 percent of SAT scores: 2090-2350</p>
<p>14 participated in student government
7 high school publication editors
11 academic team captains
74 participated in community service
68 members of academic teams
10 FIRST Robotics participants
44 members of athletic teams
12 entrepreneurs
1 patent holder</p>
<p>With Olin's class being so small, it's definitely hard to get into.</p>
<p>I'd cap it at around 10- cross off the ones you just don't know all that much about, or care about.
What do you want out of a school- all of the schools you listed are very different from each other.</p>
<p>But I agree with what someone said above- don't limit your reaches... and personally, I think the Holy Cross rep. generalizes too much. While 7 may be what she claims is the "ideal," some people would be fine with only 1 while others need much more than that.</p>
<p>why UM-Rolla? I know it has a good engineering program but i have friends that go there and they all hate it. ugly campus, bad area, and not so great people. i would take that off if i were you</p>
<p>My brother went there and he hated that, my mom doesn't want me going there, <em>I</em> don't want to go there, but my DAD IS FORCING IT ON ME...It's cheap an 2 hours away. Ugh. </p>