Apply to how many colleges

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Performance information may have changed since the time of publication. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Forbes Advisor adheres to strict editorial integrity standards. Congress, reporting on issues related to college admissions and financial aid. This blog will answer the following questions: How do I identify the perfect college for me?

How many colleges should I apply to? What are common mistakes students make when creating a college list? How do I find the perfect college for me? How many schools should be on my college list? Common college list mistakes A classic, yet unfortunate college admissions outcome involves students miscategorizing dream schools as target schools. Andrew Belasco. Plan on investing time and effort as you probe, question and evaluate. Use your resources; seek insight from those you know.

Education Professionals. How Many Applications Are Enough? Helping your students build their college lists In this climate of competitive admission, students need your help finalizing their lists of colleges they plan to apply to. More than numbers Even if a student has a suitable number of colleges on a list, there is no guarantee that it contains the best colleges for that student.

To help a student finalize the list, Janet Stetson, associate director of admission at Bard College, suggests asking: Has the student really researched each college online or by visiting the campus? Does the college have the courses and programs the student wants to study? What are the student's financial needs? He prefers a selective college, but that's not his biggest priority.

George has a 3. He is not overly concerned with the cost or time needed to apply, but he does need financial aid and is worried about the cost of school. How many schools should George apply to? George's major of interest and desire to be on one of the coasts severely limit his choices. In order to give him options and a chance to attend a selective school, I would recommend that George apply to about 7 schools. That would give him a better chance of getting into a selective school, and he can compare the financial aid packages he receives or opt to go to an in-state public school if he doesn't receive the aid he's hoping for.

Here would be a sample list for George:. While there's no cap on the number of schools you can apply to, some students, especially those from affluent backgrounds who want to go to a selective college, can go overboard , applying to more than 20 or 30 colleges.

Personally, I would strongly discourage any student from applying to more than 15 colleges. If you do the necessary research before you apply, you should be able to limit your list of schools to 15 or fewer. Honestly, anything more than 10 feels excessive to me, but I understand that some students are capable of applying to more and want to give themselves more options.

On the other hand, some students, especially those who are low-income or the first in their families to go to college, often apply to too few colleges. Explore your options. Many are completely unaware of all of the college options that are available to them. Consider state institutions, private colleges, and out-of-state schools. Before you decide how many schools to apply to, familiarize yourself with the complete college application timeline.

You may also want to learn how to get into the most selective colleges. Once you start your applications, review how to write a great college essay. We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score.

Download it for free now:. Justin has extensive experience teaching SAT prep and guiding high school students through the college admissions and selection process. He is firmly committed to improving equity in education and helping students to reach their educational goals.