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<p>I applied to 15, which isn’t too far from 20. I had equally strong apps to all my schools and got into all but one. 5 of those 15 were Ivies, among MIT and Stanford too (Rejected at Princeton, which was upsetting because it was my first choice due to its amazing finaid). All such schools have great aid packages. Neither of my parents were professors or admissions officers or even went to college. Just because you don’t have inside connections doesn’t mean you can’t do well in the admissions game.</p>
<p>I had very good luck with admissions because I had good stats, EC’s, rank, and I knew how to write my essays and how to present my applications correctly. Everything has a strategy to it, and applying to many schools is part of the strategy. When all is said and done, you wind up with a wide array of schools with multiple aid offers, and then you’re able to narrow your choices down to a select few and attempt to negotiate aid packages by using OTHER colleges’ aid offers. </p>
<p>Even after reading this thread I still see no reason why one wouldn’t apply to many schools if they had the patience to do so. It’s simply in your favor!</p>