Margaret Brown, Senior
Unfortunately, there is no simple answer to how many colleges you should apply to. It varies from person to person, but the recommended range is 3 to 10.
The main thing the number depends on is how much time and money you are willing to invest. Application fees can cost up to $75, with the average cost being around $50. It costs $12 to send a SAT score report and $13 to send an ACT score report. This can quickly add up to be around $500 for about 7 or even in the thousands if you are applying to 10 schools or schools that have high application fees. Even with the Common Application or the Coalition Application, the number of supplemental essays can quickly add up, since most colleges require them. Also, it is possible that having more choices can leave you feeling less certain that you have made the right choice.
On the flip side, it is important to apply to a variety of schools, so you can see which of the colleges you are interested in attending will give you the best financial aid package. This is important because college costs a lot of money, typically over $50,000 per year. Fortunately, you probably won’t have to pay that full price because many people receive scholarships and grants.
Another thing to keep in mind is the number of reach and safety schools you are applying to. A reach school is a school that you probably won’t get into. If you are applying to a lot of reach schools, the number of applications you send should be on the higher end of the range, meaning 7-10. A safety school is a school that you are almost guaranteed to get into. It is also important to apply to at least one safety school, but make sure you would be happy to go there and will get a good education there. If you are applying to colleges that you think you will get in to, try to keep the number of colleges you are applying to below 7 to minimize stress and costs.
Visiting colleges is a good way to determine if it is worth applying there. It is not worth applying if you did not like the feel of the college when you visited it. If you can’t see yourself being happy there, it means you probably won’t be very happy there. If you can’t see yourself being happy in any college, than maybe you should not be applying to college at all.
It is okay to only apply to one or two colleges if you know you can get in there, or if they are the only one(s) that meet your requirements. Just have a back up plan in case you don’t get into the only colleges you want to go to.
In the end, the number of colleges you apply to won’t matter very much, so don’t stress about it. There are many ways to reach your dream, and success in college depends more on your dedication to learning than on choosing the right colleges to apply to.
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