<p>I am a junior in h.s. and i have begun making a list of schools I would like to apply to. My mother told me that I should do 3 safeties, 3 matches and 3 reaches. Is that a good rule?</p>
<p>Sounds about right, though I'm personally not adhering to that rule and goin super reach-heavy. :) </p>
<p>A friend of mine once told me that eight was the magic number, though I'm not sure what the exact S/M/R breakdown was. Personally, I'm applying to six and four are reaches. On the other hand, I know someone applying to 15-20 schools. He's crazy. </p>
<p>Just apply to schools that appeal to you, don't restrict yourself with a number or,conversely, feel like you HAVE to fill a certain quota.</p>
<p>i would go less safeties, and more reaches. Dream big!</p>
<p>lol. i'm applying to eight schools. hopefully that is the magic number :).</p>
<p>personally, i am applying to 7 reaches and 1 safety.</p>
<p>actually the seven reaches are like, SUPER REACHES.</p>
<p>i'm applying to about 18, although i'm still adding/take some off.</p>
<p>Make sure you have at least 2 safeties that you would be very happy to attend.
It's also nice to apply to a rolling admission school or two. It feels good when that first acceptance comes in. It reduces the anxiety a little.</p>
<p>um i like 8. its not very stressful during applications (yet i got lucky and have about 8 extra essays with the common app one....sigh). i consider 6 to be slight reach to semi reach and two to be hardcore, gimme money, safeties. i was told 3 reaches 3 matches and 3 safeties and i said no...i want a good school. the breakdown doesnt matter except for having 2 safeties. its all personal and how much work you are willing to do and how much research you do before applications to wittle that list down.</p>
<p>im also applying to 8</p>
<p>Though I didn't follow this philosophy I would assume that a general bell curve would be the best strategy when choosing the types of colleges to apply to. Such that you should have the most match schools, then reaches, and then safeties so that you can focus mostly on the schools you would be happiest with, and though I did 12, I would think 9 [2s,4m,3r] or 10 [2s,5m,3r] would both be comfortable.</p>
<p>8-10 colleges.</p>
<p>Yeah, I'm probably applying to eight or nine colleges. Three safeties, two matches, and three reaches.</p>
<p>out of curiosity, are people only applying to 3 or so reaches because that's all they are interested in or because they feel that's all they should apply to?</p>
<p>So much depends on your family situation as well. If your family can afford to send you to whatever school you wish to attend (provided you're accepted), your list can be shorter & more "reach-heavy" than if your family needs some merit and/or need aid to finance your education. For our S, we told him we really needed him to apply to at least a few schools he loved, where he was likely to receive good merit aid (like 1/2 tuition). </p>
<p>We conferred with the counselor several times & he did apply to 5 schools that awarded such merit aid to students like him, as well as 4 uber-reach schools. He got good merit aid & admission to 3 of those schools & admitted with no aid to one; rejected from the rest. He's a happy freshman & we're happy because the merit aid has helped make his education much more affordable for our family ($80,000+ over 4 years).</p>
<p>Find a financial safety you're very likely to get into & can afford & LOVE. It's much more important than you may realize right now, but you'll be glad in the spring.</p>
<p>Himom- excellent advice. Something else to consider....what will it cost to educate siblings who are younger? Do they have similar scholarship prospects? Will the upward spiral in tuition limit $$$$$ available for others in the family?</p>
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lol. i'm applying to eight schools. hopefully that is the magic number .</p>
<p>personally, i am applying to 7 reaches and 1 safety.
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<p>Precisely what my daughter did and it worked out fine. She only saw the need for one safety (which was rolling admissions) because it was completely safe: the admission requirements are cut-and-dried and she met them. Even so, she applied early so she would know for sure. Ah, paranoia ...</p>
<p>The rule-of-thumb I've always heard is 2 from each category. But given her interests, there really weren't any match schools that were any better for her than the safety. The best academically were the reach schools, so she loaded up on them.</p>
<p>I wouldn't see the need for three matches and three safeties unless you see the possibility of quite a difference in financial aid packages or you are having to decide to apply without being able to visit all the possibilities first. Then you would want more options.</p>
<p>It really comes down to you. There is nothing wrong with doing more as long as you don't spread yourself too thin in the process, slighting the quality of the applications or your schoolwork and/or losing sleep or sanity.</p>
<p>matches arent schools youd be happiest at. reaches are. matches are the schools that match your stats and make you an avg student there. you could be most happy with ANY of the schools M, R, or even S. Usually reaches are where you would be happiest and therefore, they are usually the most common in a list.</p>
<p>I disagree with you -- there are many folks who are VERY happy at their safeties & kids who are unhappy at their reaches. It is really tough to KNOW which school is the best fit for any individual, since most only attend one (or sometimes after a transfer two) schools anyway.</p>
<p>The reason folks sometimes apply to multiple reaches is that especially with uber-reaches, it is hard to know what the school is looking for & what award package you might get, if finances are a factor at all. Sometimes it's difficult to fathom admissions decisions anyway, since sometimes folks with higher stats are rejected at less selective schools and admitted to more selective schools (like son's buddy who was rejected by USoCal but accepted at UPenn & accepted with good aid award at BostonU).</p>
<p>hmm i just reread my post. the first two sentences were a very broad generalization.
"you could be most happy with ANY of the schools M, R, or even S."
this is what i meant to convey. i think reaches comprise the majority of schools kids can be happiest at but you are right. my sister went to one of her safeties with a 50% scholarship and loves it there.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the replies, personally I would prefer to appy 4s-4m-4r but it depends on how I do this year.</p>