Okay I am seriously stressing out about college at this moment. I would love some opinions. I will try to explain it the best I can. So basically… I have a lot of schools on my list. I truly truly believe that I will get into 8 of my schools (the other 6 are high targets/reaches that can go either way). Of those 8, there are 3 that are clear front-runners. Those 3 I would most likely choose over the others (not including the reaches). But I still do really like the other ones a lot. Would it make sense to apply to just those 3 and my reaches and just not apply to the other 5? Just for reference, application fees wouldn’t be a factor for my family. I just don’t know if it would be beneficial for my mental health to be deciding between less schools that I know I love rather than a possible 8. But on the other hand, if I get money from the others or things change, I may want to pick one of the others (if I get in). Plus I really don’t know which schools I will get into. I know this is probably confusing but I hope I got my point across more or less.
Summary, if I understand what you wrote:
- You believe you have 8 safeties.
- You consider 3 of them more desirable than the other 5.
- But scholarship money from the other 5 may make the more desirable than your top 3.
Are there any that you would not pick even if they gave you a full ride but the other colleges gave no scholarships? If so, then these you can eliminate from your list.
Applying to 14 colleges, assuming your high school doesn’t have a limit under that, is a lot, but not obscenely so.
Having said that, you can probably craft a more careful application (one with greater odds for getting you an acceptance) for each one if you cut it down some. That will also reduce your stress levels because it will cut down on the work.
Relax. Can you narrow down the eight to six? Two safeties and four matches? Eliminate two of your six reaches. If not, focus on applying to the match and likely schools and then worry about the reaches. Once you have some kind of acceptance in hand, you’ll feel less stress.
@ucbalumnus @Groundwork2022 thanks guys. After talking with my parents and really thinking what would be the best for me, I’ve decided on 4 reaches, 3 targets, and 3 safeties. One of the reaches may be a target (it’s somewhere in between), but they’re all schools I love and it would cause me a lot less stress only applying to 10 schools.
Just be careful that your safeties actually are. If subjective criteria like essays or level of interest are important, or you are applying to an oversubscribed major, that may be less safe than if the college posts automatic admission stats to the college and major that you meet.
@ucbalumnus I will definitely take that into consideration. One of my safeties is my state school, and the in state acceptance rate to the school is about 81% with SAT and GPA averages significantly lower than mine. Thank you!
What kind of admit rates do your targets have? Asking because even if your stats look good for the school, admit rates below say 20% or 25% for holistic schools may still make them more reachy than a proper target.
@SJ2727 my target schools have acceptance rates that range between 35%-60%
Do some of your schools have an Early Action cycle? If so, you can “stage” the applications and hold back a few to see if you still want/need to submit after EA offers come out. Otherwise, it sounds like you have a solid plan.
@aquapt all of the colleges I have on my list I have been looking at for a while, and I love all of them. I’m actually applying to 11 instead of 10 (my dad really wants me to apply to this other college and I love it too), and out of the 11, 9 of them have EA. So I’m probably going to apply to all 9 EA, and then wait on the other 2 to see how the EA decisions come out. I’m getting my SAT score on Friday, so hopefully that will be good. I’ve written all my essays too. So I should be submitting all of my EA schools sometime next week.