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My greatest fear is that I'll get into a lot of colleges
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<p>You need a life.</p>
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Point is: I should have applied to 1 safety, maybe 1 match, and the rest should have been reaches
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That is the approach I took. Almost.</p>
<p>OP, are you sure that is your GREATEST fear? sounds like the GREATEST regret.</p>
<p>ee - my son took a similar position to yours several years ago, and went to our state U when he did not get into Penn, not thinking it was worth it for anything but the top. He was not super challenged academically but made great friends and was able to do internships in his field of interest that have more than paid off in job opportunities post-college. Having worked for 2 years, and knowing more specifically what he wants to do career-wise, he is now talking about getting a masters at an ivy. And he has saved a bunch of money vs being in debt. You are smart to at least think about the options if you have any doubts.</p>
<p>personally, I would take Swarthmore. remember, many of the smaller liberal arts colleges (Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore) are moving in the direction of HYPS financial aid standards (no loans!). even if one can get a comparable education at larger state school, there are some intangible qualities associated with smaller, more selective colleges, that can only be assessed by visiting the schools.</p>
<p>Fearing that you will get into too many colleges is a great fear to have. I'm sure a lot of people would love to have this fear.</p>
<p>I applied to 15....have gotten into 12....
I applied to 15 because I was paranoid n wanted to make sure I had SOMEWHERE to go. And about 8 of them were reaches!
So now I have too many choices...
So, OP, I feel your pain...
I should have applied to 4 schools...1 safety, 1 match, and 2 reaches...</p>