<p>flyingllama,</p>
<p>Then don’t apply. I personally am not a fan of putting all your apples in one basket, but if that works for you, go for it. There are no guarantees. In fact, if you don’t get into any of your 100% need schools, you’re going to go local, right? And your local public - unless you apply for and win a merit scholarship - is almost certainly going to cost you the full Stafford load, which is at least $25,000 over four years (so that would be your total). So right now, your bet is $25,000 or nothing. Personally, I think it’s important to apply to those schools in the middle ground. Not only do you have a very high chance of getting in, you frankly have excellent chances of graduating with $15,000 of debt or less. </p>
<p>No school aside from the very limited top 100% need, no loans schools is going to guarantee you anything. But what difference is a guarantee if you don’t get in at all? Then again, I DON’T believe in the “all reaches, one safety” approach to college admissions. I think we’re actually in a similar situation. I’m not applying to a lot of schools (even though I could and would have a better chance of FA) because I have a tough senior schedule, work and/volunteer over 35 hours a week, and have tons of essays to write and applications to work through. I think six is reasonable, but for you it may be four or five. I chose six schools with excellent prospects for financial aid. It just seems strange to me that you’re willing to invest in schools that you almost certainly won’t get into (face it - the acceptance rates are as low as 6% and as high as 25% depending on the schools you’ve chosen), but you aren’t willing to invest in schools that you will get into and will very likely get good packages from. Like I said, it’s your decision - I just don’t want to see you relegated to debt next spring when that’s not necessary.</p>