What is the perfect amount of colleges to apply to?

‘How many colleges should I apply to?”

It’s the question asked every year by high school seniors beginning the college application process. Today’s competitive college application environment and low acceptance rates have resulted in students fearful of not being accepted anywhere applying to ever larger numbers of schools in a misguided illusion that this approach will produce more letters of admission. Actually, the end result is just more stress and not necessarily better quality choices.

Planning ahead is the first most important step to creating a strong application. Students who take the time to create a well-balanced college list of schools that fit their academic and personal profile have a big advantage over others that have taken short cuts to arrive at their list. Each school should be carefully vetted and considered for its academics, size, campus culture and tuition, among other things.

The introduction of the Common App has further streamlined the application process by making it very easy to apply to multiple colleges, but even they have set the limit at 20 colleges. And let’s not forget the additional time that is needed to write the personal statement and supplemental essays often required by the more selective schools. Considering an Honors Program?? That’ll be another few essays to write.

Once ready, students must pay to submit their applications with fees ranging from $0 for less selective colleges and up to $75 per for the more selective colleges and the Ivy Leagues. The Common Black College Application still charges only $35 to apply to 36 HBCU schools. Once completed these admission fees, along with cost of taking the SAT/ACT several times and sending the score reports, add up very quickly.

So our answer to this annual question is to apply to no more than twelve (12) reach, target & safety schools. Applicants should always make sure that the list is well balanced, not top or bottom heavy, and that they would be happy and able to afford attending ANY school on their list, regardless of its selectivity. A perfect SAT/ACT score or high GPA are not enough. Strong applicants have a solid, well-rounded profile made up of a rigorous transcript, high GPA/class rank, solid scores & quality extra curriculars. No school with an admission rate in the single digits should be considered a safety, by any student. A well thought out application process will result in a student having good options to pick from when deciding which college to attend.