Contrary to popular belief, students may disadvantage themselves when they apply to too many selective colleges.
The thinking goes like this -- the more top colleges I apply to, the higher my chances of getting into at least one of them!
But surveys with our students prove that this is not a successful strategy. It’s often students who apply to fewer colleges, who are the most successful.
Why?
In short, college admission officers want to see three things in your essays and personal statements—
You have a strong sense of who you are and what makes you unique
You have a strong sense of the college’s culture, programs, and what makes it unique
You have an idea of how you (see item #1) will be a good fit for the college (see item #2) during your four years at the college and in the world after you graduate.
If you apply to too many schools, it will be difficult to understand what makes each one different, let alone articulate in your essays how you will be a good fit at each one of those schools.
What is the right number of schools?
That depends on each student. But it’s safe to say that more than 15 is almost certainly too many (or at least you have better have a compelling reason for doing so)
Typically, students are encouraged to apply to between 6-12 schools, with an even distribution between:
likely schools (your GPA and SAT or ACT score is above their typical applicant),
target schools (your GPA and SAT or ACT score is similar to their typical applicant)
reach schools (your GPA and SAT or ACT score is below their typical applicant)
So how do you determine if you should apply to 2, 3, or 4 each of likely, target, and reach schools?
If you have access to an excellent college counselor, ask him or her what they recommend (if you don’t have one, we will be happy to recommend an honest one to you).
If you don’t have access, ask yourself this simple question — how many essays can you reasonably expect to write to accurately articulate who you are why you want to attend each particular college?
In the end, don’t obsess over picking the right number of schools to apply to — focus instead on:
creating a balanced list (an even number of lieklys, targets, and reaches)
properly researching a wide variety of schools to determine what colleges will be an excellent fit for you
writing unique, original personal statement essays that articulate your voice
At Test Prep Gurus we teach students how to raise their ACT and SAT scores so they can reach their goals for college and beyond.
It all starts with 3 steps:
Complete mock ACT and SAT exams.
Schedule a free 15-minute consultation to review your exam results.
Create a 1-on-1 test prep plan to reach your goals for college and beyond.