Hi all. I’ve been looking around college forums, and it seems that most students are applying to 10-15 schools. As it currently stands, I’m only interested in about 7 (1 reach, 2 hard targets, 1 target, 3 safeties). Is this an issue? I can’t think of many other schools I’d like to go to that fit my major AND my other preferences for college (e.g. location and price).
Not to toot my own horn but I’m fairly confident in my stats, essay, and letters of recommendation. I’m certain I can get into at least half of the schools on my list.
The list is very reasonable. When you hear of students (at least many here on CC) that are applying to a larger number, it may be do to pursuing merit $ at competitive schools so they can find and compare the best offers, or they are prioritizing financial aid $, and some are even pursuing the most selective schools and so they want to cast the net wide . This application process is your process. I wish you the best!
7 is fine and your breakdown seems good. Don’t worry about others who are panicking. With three safeties and three targets, I am sure you will have good choices.
My first applied to 12. Apps are a lot of work and she really wasn’t that interested in a couple by the time applications were being submitted. She could have easily just applied to 10. My youngest applied to 7, but really could have just applied to 5. He ended up at his safety, by choice.
Many kids apply to toooooo many schools. They think they increase their odds by applying to a bunch of reaches (they don’t) or they panic because they hear other kids are applying to tons of schools. Save yourself time, money and stress. You’re going to be fine.
College forums this one dramatically overrepresent a small subgroup of students who are not at all typical. Most students do not apply to 10-15 schools. There is nothing inherently wrong with applying to 7 schools or even only 1 school. Rather than applying to a specific number of schools, more important considerations are things like the following.
Are the colleges on your list ones that meet criteria that is important to you, you can afford, and would be okay with attending?
How likely is it that you would be rejected from all the colleges on your list? If chance is significant, are you okay with that outcome?
If your first choice is a college that you can afford for which acceptance is near guaranteed, then there is little point to wasting time, money, and effort on filling out a dozen more applications. A similar statement could be made for kids whoa are accepted to their first choice via ED/SCEA/REA/…
My son is still finalizing a college list. He applied to his safety EA to get it done (and to be 100% certain of getting in). If he applies to more than 6-8 total schools I’ll be shocked. A lot of what you read here is panic applying - or the mistaken idea that by applying to all top 20s somehow your odds of getting into one will improve. If you are happy with your choices and feel that you have safety that you like and can afford then you are good to go.
It’s easy to apply to more today. Many schools have no fee, no extra essays, and you can self report the sat/act test. However many are also chasing merit. How many one applies to is totally a personal choice.
Truth is, you can only go to one. If your desired school is a safety you only need to apply there. The only real rule I think is make sure that your safety is a school you would totally be good with attending. Otherwise it’s the wrong school to be your safety.
But whether you apply to one (I would do two just in case), 11 or 21, it’s totally up to you. If you do a rolling deadline school that informs you quickly, then you’re really ahead of the game in deciding do you want to submit more or stop right there.
Sounds like you have it all under control.
Ps. Worst case, let’s say you completely missed on your choices (ie you miss everywhere which I’m sure is 0% chance of happening)….but if it did there are so so many schools with late deadlines, even beyond May 1 that you’d still find a great home.
As long as you have at least one safety that you are assured both admission (including to your major if it admits by major) and affordability and that you would be happy to attend, then there is no issue with your list.