Remember: prioritize asking how you can apply HEOP to Vassar, Cornell CALS, etc.
There’s no ideal number, it depends on what you can handle.
Several of these will require extra essays that will be time-consuming, and you want to do a good job on these. (You can send me your draft.)
I’d definitely include more SUNYs, which should be easy since the applications should just be the same one as for Bing and SB, although there may be supplements. Include Geneseo and one more (Albany?) Do these first, by Wednesday for no supplement aps or Sunday for apps with supplements.
If admission to Honors is by application, complete the application before the priority deadline; if by invitation, watch your mailbox and respond to the invitation. Enter this in your calendar.
https://www.geneseo.edu/edgarfellows/selection
http://www.stonybrook.edu/undergraduate-admissions/academics/honors/
https://www.binghamton.edu/scholars/
http://www.albany.edu/honorscollege/
Once that’s done, fill out the “request information” form for ALL colleges listed on this thread. Do that quickly (or even today). This establishes “interest”; it means you’re not sending them an app just for the heck of it, but because you’re really interested in their college.
Then, focus on essays for HEOP matches: St Lawrence, Skidmore. Polish them. Be done by Dec 15.
You now have good, polished essays, and two weeks, with several days off school. Use these well.
Using your polished essays for the reaches, apply to Cornell CALS and Vassar. If you want to throw in Columbia HEOP (check what The Core is!), apply. Then, add the other colleges, one by one, as you can manage. You may need 3 days per college, even with your polished supplemental essay templates.
(Some universities, such as Colby, Kenyon, or Middlebury, don’t have supplements, but they’d be reaches. However if you were among the lucky few who were admitted, their financial aid package would be excellent. So, I’d leave them for the end, when you’re really tired of writing applications. However, only do that if you have filled out the “request info form” well before.)