<p>I have compiled about 15 schools that we are considering. This list includes a range of safety, target and a couple of reach. How many schools do most apply to when the student really is not sure which one is the "one"?</p>
<p>My S applied to 9 or 10. Two were reaches (for him statswise and they were also selective), 3-4 were matches and 2 were safeties. If we did it again, he would have most likely cut it down to 2 matches and 1 safety (since both were very similar and he was almost guaranteed admission.) BTW, he got into one of the reaches.</p>
<p>D has narrowed her list down to 11. One is guaranteed, two are safeties, two are matches and the rest are reaches. She started off with 26 that she “loved”, but after a closer look at majors offered, locations, courses offered, type of application required, amount of financial aid offered, etc., she was able to get it down to 11 colleges - 7 on the Common App., 3 on a single state app (no supplements!) and 1 with its own app. I wouldn’t recommend too many more than that.</p>
<p>Our son ended up applying to 9: 2 safeties, 2 borderline match/safeties, 1 borderline match/reach, 3 reaches and one mega-reach. This ended up being about right. There was probably one school that we needn’t have bothered with, in retrospect, because it had no distinct advantages and there was almost no possible scenario in which it would have been the choice. But that was easier to see in hindsight.</p>
<p>I’d say the more dependent you will be on financial aid (especially merit aid), the longer your list should be. If finances are not an issue, then the list could easily be as short as two or three schools as long as one of them is a safety that your kid is happy with. For us, we needed a long list as affordability insurance. I know some of my son’s peers applied to as many as 14 or 15 schools; that seems a little extreme to me, but then our 9 seemed extreme to some people.</p>
<p>Wow… I’m applying to 5 at the most.</p>
<p>Bananasplits, my son is applying to 5 like you.</p>
<p>optimally, i’d say 2 safeties, 2 matches, and 2-3 reaches</p>
<p>i was gonna elaborate… but then forgot what i was going to say</p>
<p>6 to 8 is a good range - you should apply to more if you want to add more reaches.</p>
<p>If parents are weighing in, give them one choice each. Do them first so you can a) have them be happy and b) get some practice in. Next do a really strong application to your safety (read the “love thy safety” thread). Think of this as your money shot that may help you graduate debt free. Lastly, do two that really speak to your heart (no matter whether they are in the spectrum of things.) </p>
<p>Once you have five that are complete, take a day off! That is a ton of work. Now you are in the place where you can do more or quit anytime. I hate to see people undertake 10 to 20 apps and be so exhausted that they don’t do a good job on any of them. </p>
<p>Putting five solids apps together is a major achievement. Start there and then reassess.</p>
<p>Thanks to all of you. It is hard to narrow down, but I like the idea of starting with 5 and going from there! We do have financial concerns so more may be necessary.</p>
<p>6-8 schools is usually about right. 1-2 safeties, 3-4 matches and a couple of reaches.</p>
<p>Run the FAFSA4Caster now, before you apply. It might help make more sense of your Estimated Family Contribution, which is just a starting point for financial aid. </p>
<p>If they are all CSS PROFILE schools, make sure you have some FAFSA only schools, too. The financial aid packages could be significantly different.</p>
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<p>I think this is pretty good advice … however for some students in particular situations getting into the 10-12 range may make sense. For kids appyling to …
- special programs like theater or architecture
- who want a school where the majority of students are very high academic performers
- who are looking for either merit aid or to compare financial aid packages
For each of these groups more aps might produce more options in these application areas with low acceptance rates</p>
<p>^^True.</p>
<p>So much depends on the student. I wouldn’t advise less than 6-8, but it could make sense for more for students such as you described.</p>
<p>I think this depends on what you are looking for. If you are interested in attending highly selective schools, I don’t think a couple of reaches are enough. My suggestion is 2 safeties, 2 or 3 matches, and then as many reaches as are practical for you. If the reaches include places like the Ivies and other schools with very low admission rates, you might want to apply to 6 or eight of them.</p>
<p>I agree with nightchef. If you need MERIT scholarship, your list has to be longer since it is very competitive for those merit dollars.</p>
<p>Each of my kids had applications to 12 schools ready to go. Our first three were admitted either early action or ED. Our daughter did not apply early and it was interesting to see what schools offered (or didn’t offer). Our sons did much better financially at the selective schools, than my daughter at the LAC did.</p>
<p>If finances are an issue and your child has very good stats, GPA, impressive ECs than he might want to have some of the more selective top schools in the mix…they do offer more aid to those who need it. Many top students do better financially at the highly selective schools than they do at the state schools, especially if the SATs are very good but not great. The kids with top scores and very high GPAs will do fine financially at the instate publics.</p>
<p>My older son applied to 8. He was a high stats kid so all of his matches, were those reaches for everyone sort of school. He applied to 6 reach/matches and 2 safeties. He got into one of those safeties before Thanksgiving thanks to a priority application which was nice.</p>
<p>My younger son planned to apply to nine schools, but when he got into a reach unexpectedly he dropped a safety and a match. He had high scores, 6% rank, but grades were all over the place so we had a hard time knowing how well he would be able to sell himself. He applied to 1 pie in the sky reach (for Dad), 2 EA reaches (got into one and deferred at the other), 3 other reaches and 1 safety (which he loved and offered him a nice scholarship and honors program.)</p>
<p>In my view 6 to 8 schools ought to be enough to ensure good choices come spring, but if you need to compare money offers, you may want to apply to a few more. Financial aid packages can be very unpredictable, especially if they involve merit money.</p>
<p>I like having 2 safeties. I think the best safety is an EA admission. If you like your safeties I don’t think the mix of match and reach is important.</p>
<p>Depends on the number of fee waviers I can get,I am about to apply to 11 schools.6 Big Reaches,4 matches and 1 safety.</p>
<p>Six to eight is a pretty good number. If you want to try for some major reach schools, you are justified in going even higher. In this era oc the Common Application, there are many people that go over 20.</p>
<p>I think you have to view it as a constantly evolving process and adjust as you go along. Perhaps you start with 8 - 10 in mind. Then, you get an early action or rolling acceptance to a safety school that you would be willing to attend in October - now you don’t have to apply to any more safety schools - you can focus on the match and reach schools with RD deadlines.</p>
<p>But, sometimes things go the other way. Maybe you get a deferral in November from the EA/rolling safety school that you thought was a sure thing - maybe now you add a few more safety and match schools and whittle down the reaches.</p>
<p>I think you have to be flexible and adjust what you are doing as you receive results.</p>