<p>Hi there, first post, but I am really in need of advice! </p>
<p>I am a senior in high school that is also enrolled at a community college. I am taking 1-2 courses there (@ the college) per semester, since the end of 11th grade (I transferred in the middle of the second semester from my old school- sorry if this is too confusing, just some background info, but it's not very relevant to my issue). I am in pretty good academic standing- I have a 3.4 GPA (unweighted) and do a lot of extracurricular stuff, and as mentioned before, I am enrolled in a community college. I've also been getting even better grades this senior year! My relatives have been helping me a ton with the whole college applications process, but they are insisting that I apply to at least 70 colleges. It has been causing me a TON of stress and I feel very confused because they are saying that if I don't apply to at least 70, it will be a huge mistake, but my brothers and boyfriend and other friends have all been telling me that 70 is way too many. I find myself agreeing with them as applying to 70 colleges is driving me insane! But if I go against my aunt & mom's advice, will I really be making a huge mistake? Someone please help!</p>
<p>1) Insanely time-consuming (e.g. school specific essays)
2) Insanely expensive
3) Do you have 70 colleges that you WANT to go to?</p>
<p>5-15 is a reasonable number of applications. 20 is pushing it. At 70, there’s a serious flaw in logic. With a 3.4 GPA, you shouldn’t have to worry about the prospect of not getting into college at all. Just apply where you fit academically, financially, and environmentally.</p>
<p>Um… I am wondering if this poster is serious, or is pulling our legs (post #1, after all…). But just playing along as if it is real, then if you are applying for need based aid, meeting the financial aid paperwork requirements alone would make you (and your mom!) crazy. And the cost to put in applications and send scores is very high. Put in a couple of rolling admissions applications right away where you are well qualified to get a couple of admissions in hand. Then, well… I would pick the top dozen or so colleges YOU want to attend and start working on the essays and applications. Take the time to do them right… don’t let your mom or aunt rush you into a high volume of poor quality applications. You will run out of time eventually, and you also will hopefully get a couple of admissions and your relatives will calm down.</p>
<p>Thank you guys for such quick replies- I know it’s really hard to believe but I am absolutely not pulling anyone’s leg. I am completely serious. My aunt is a very successful geriatrician, so I think to them the cost of applying to all of these is not a cause for concern, even though I don’t want them to spend that much when I will only end up going to one university in the end! It’s really hard to go against my support system (family), but the stress is absolutely killing me and I don’t think they even understand how much of a toll that stress is taking on me. I went from a regular sleep pattern to waking up at all hours of the night, and experiencing sleep paralysis. These should be obvious signs that applying to 70 is way too much to expect of me. </p>
<p>I agree with all of your points. There aren’t even 70 I want to go to! I feel that I’ve worked hard enough and been a focused enough student to ensure that I will be able to get into a college that will work for me. I don’t think I’m such a bad student that I need to look at 70 colleges to </p>
<p>Yeah, I’m kind of dying with 10 apps, can’t imagine 70. As long as you have 1-2 safety schools that you’d like to attend, you don’t need to take 70 chances. Imagine the stress afterwards, when you have to pick 1 out of, say, 50 offers of admission! I’d say 12-14 is a healthy max.</p>