<p>I'm not quite sure what a good number is... 10? More? Less? Application fees are a pain, but I'm willing to pay. I'd also like to try my hand at a few Ivies, though they're far reaches for me, so I'd have to add those to colleges I'm more or less likely to get into...</p>
<p>Any advice is appreciated.</p>
<p>It all depends…</p>
<p>For me, 10 was the right number.</p>
<p>Just get a good number of safeties, matches, and reaches. Make sure you are really interested in every school you apply to. And check to see which schools don’t have application fees (Grinnell and Hamilton, to name a few).</p>
<p>I would recommend you research research and research your schools. Don’t just go by the rankings, or strength of program. Although important, it’s much more important that the college offers an environment you can see yourself at. If you can’t see yourself happy at your safety then you probably haven’t found a good safety. Be aware that if you’re depending on financial aid, and your parents look wealthy on paper ie more thank 125K a year, then your best bet is to apply to schools that also offer merit aid, just not need based aid. Don’t stick yourself to research universities, explore LAC’s you might find a better overall fit with some LACs.</p>
<p>One thing to also consider is that although you may think you know for a fact what you would want to major in, don’t just pick a school because its strongest in that, make sure that the school is strong overall in most majors.</p>
<p>In general your list shouldn’t go over 12, unless you’re in a state like California and can just apply to all the UC’s with one click. But please research. Don’t just throw in Harvard, Dartmouth, Brown, Stanford in your list just because they’re Ivies and Top Schools. They’re all completely different and will have different feels to them.</p>
<p>DD1 applied to six - two reach, two matches and two safeties. It’s important that you be willing to attend ALL your choices; otherwise why apply? If you’re not willing to attend the school then it’s not a safety.</p>
<p>I think 2 reaches, 2 safeties, and anywhere from 3-6 matches is a good choice.</p>
<p>How many schools you apply to in part depends on how good your state’s universities are. For instance, if you live in California, I would recommend that you only apply to the schools that are worth going to instead of getting in-state tuition at UC-Berkeley or UCLA.</p>
<p>I applied to 10 and regretted wasting the time and money.
I think 6 would have been a better number (2 safeties, 2 matches, 2 reaches). </p>
<p>I also agree with lgellar. If you live in a state with good publics, the rule of thumb is: don’t apply to outside schools unless the quality is good enough to justify spending the extra money (this will ensure that the schools you do apply to are schools that are actually worth the investment).</p>
<p>I live in MN, and the U is a decent school, but not one I want to go to. 50,000 is a little too big for me.</p>
<p>Ahhh..understandable.</p>
<p>I plan on applying to 10.
5 “reaches” 2 “matches” and 3 “safes”</p>
<p>though most of my reaches are like 50/50
and my safeties should be 95/5</p>
<p>See, my problem is that most of the schools I want to apply to happen to be reaches, but I want to add more matches, too, to make sure I at least get in <em>somewhere</em>. LOL.</p>
<p>Apply to at least 6 schools: 2 reaches, 2 matches and 2 safeties. Try to find a school you think you will get in that has rolling admissions (ex. U. of Pittsburgh, U. of Michigan) because if you hear a yes response early, you will feel better while waiting for other responses. Really think about what you want to study and look for a close fit of program/interests. Look at the on-line applications and see how much time you want to put into these applications. Some are really quick and easy and others (Stanford, for ex.)
take a long time to complete. Start your essay this summer.</p>
<p>My son started with a big list but early action and rolling decisions cut things down tremendously. Once you have a safety and a match from there, you can just focus on the chance schools, and then it is up to you as to how many you can handle.</p>
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<p>Aren’t the essays written in answer to certain prompts?</p>
<p>savs what is your list of schools now. we might be able to help you find schools that aren’t all reaches based on your interests.</p>
<p>If you do very good research, and have a good sense of exactly how good your record is, try 3, 3, 3 safeties, matches, reaches. You can reduce these numbers depending on how accurate you are.</p>
<p>My (very long) list of possible schools right now is:</p>
<p>Dartmouth
Williams
Georgetown
UPenn
University of Virginia
William and Mary
Amherst
Swarthmore
Boston College
Tufts
Villanova
Vassar
Wake Forest
Lehigh University
Fordham University
Sarah Lawrence
UNC
Providence College
Boston U
University of Minnesota
Gettysburg College
Macalester
UConn
UMass- Amherst</p>
<p>Obviously this will get shortened A LOT this summer when I make college visits. I just basically wanted to know how much I should limit it to.</p>
<p>(Oh, and my GPA is 3.97uw, and ACT is 34. I took the SAT and then retook it, but I’m thinking of just sending the ACT. I’m also taking subject tests this June, and am hoping for 700+ on USH and Lit).</p>
<p>Are any of those schools in state for you? In addition to admissions, you may also need to consider financial aspects in determining both the number of schools and which schools to apply to (unless you can afford list price).</p>
<p>I would apply to 10
4 reach
4 middle
2 safety
A reach school is a school where your SAT scores are in the lower range of the SAT scores the school accepts, or your SAT scores are in the mid 50% range or even the top 75% range, but the school is so competitive that there is no guarantee you can get in.
A match school is a school where you SAT scores are in the 50% range of the scores the school accepts.
A safety school is where your SAT scores are in the top 75% or higher that the school accepts, and at that school having scoring in the top 75% range or higher almost guarantees admission</p>
<p>A lot depends on whether you want a very small liberal arts school that has a freshman class of around 350, or do you want a middle sized school that has a freshman class of around 1,600 - 2,400 or do you want a large school. Also do you want to be in a rural area or near a city. Do you want a campus? Do you want a school that is liberal? Do you want a single sex school or co-ed, do you want a liberal arts school or a university?</p>