How Many Applications are Too Many?

The conundrum of applying to too many schools.

If admissions seem so unpredictable and the safety schools of the past are no longer “safe,” you should spread your risk by applying to lots of schools—that seems to be the current thinking.

But here’s what will soon happen if students apply to more and more schools insincerely and colleges’ yield numbers drop: Colleges will be forced to be even harder on applicants and will need to gauge sincerity where they may not have done so before.

Applying to five or six schools is reasonable and expected, with a few true safety schools (including at least one public school) and a few reach schools included. Apply to schools of the same genre (size, atmosphere, location, academic focus) that you want. If you want a small school, focus only on the small ones. If you want quiet, do not apply to urban campuses. Applying to the entire Ivy League is silly—they are quite different schools.