<p>I'm trying to figure out what's a good number of applications to send out. There are 11 schools I'm interested, but my guidance department seems to have an unofficial limit of 10 applications. I know that it's just one more - should I do it anyway? How much is too much?</p>
<p>What if you feel each school is a good fit and don’t want to take any of them off the list?</p>
<p>You probably need some editing advice. Insistent on eleven versus ten? Boy, those college marketers did a great job on you.</p>
<p>c’mon. It’s not that big a deal. Really.</p>
<p>Thanks for your reply, but I’m a little confused by your comment about college marketers. Are you telling me to go for it? I’m looking for an honest reply here. I understand that it’s not that big of a deal, but I’m wondering at what point does a person decide they have too many colleges on their list.</p>
<p>You have too many colleges when you think you’re overstretching yourself. Do what you want to do. I wouldn’t worry about an unofficial limit, as long as applying to eleven isn’t somehow seen as disrespectful to your counselors.</p>
<p>Applying to too many safety schools or schools that you don’t really love is frivolous. That being said, counselors cannot limit how many colleges you apply to simply because they are lazy. If there are 11 schools you apply to that you are in love with then apply and make sure you tell your counselor that you’re not removing any.</p>
<p>nyuhopeful: when I say that college marketers have been successful, what I mean is that many of them have got you “sold”. You’ve been hooked. Being hooked isn’t bad. Being hooked by 11 schools is bad.</p>
<p>zooeyking: some school districts enact various limits. Some impose fees after a certain amount, some flatly impose a limit. Now is not the time to go annoyinng counselor offices for something as frivolous (my opinion) as the last of ELEVEN schools.</p>
<p>You didn’t really say how many of the schools were considered “reach”, sure bets or middle of the road. Without really knowing where you stand (academic stats, test scores etc) i’d say apply to the schools you want to-- if 11 so be it… But that can get pretty expensive at 50-60 dollars a pop for application fees… Also, do you plan to visit all 11 and then make a choice? (It’s already Oct). Just my 2cents worth…</p>
<p>I’m confused. Counselor needs to do extra work for each school? Don’t they just copy paste the same whatever they’ve come up with for you 11 times?</p>
<p>Counselors have to send transcripts and often fill out a form for each college. If recommendation letters are required, teachers need to write letters for all of them (and they aren’t paid any extra to do so). If high school sets a limit you are potentially stuck with. If you have 11 schools and can’t get it down to 10, you are most likely one of those who does not realize that he is among those who really have no idea yet where they want to go to college.</p>
<p>Our high school has streamlined the process so that counselors and teachers write a single letter and then upload it so it is sent out automatically. The OP is the one most likely to be troubled by the extra work/expense (essays to write, fees for test scores and transcripts). I recommend taking a look at the 11 colleges and seeing if any of them are redundant (perhaps two are extremely similar to each other). If so, consider eliminating the one that looks the least desirable of the two. Possibly two or three schools could be removed using this process.</p>
<p>Thanks for your responses.
@powayparent, that’s what I’m trying to do. I’m working on it!
@college4days, two are high reaches, a few are low reaches/high possibles, and then the rest are pretty much safeties.
The schools I would like to most attend are my reaches, which I think is my real problem.</p>
<p>If anyone’s looking for an update on this:</p>
<p>I added another one at some point, so then I had 12. But a few weeks later I really evaluated all the schools I had on my list, and took two off. I have 10 now, and I’m sticking with those as I really do love all of them.
@college4days, some are far away and I’m planning on visiting them if I get in and serious consider them.</p>