I keep searching how many colleges should I apply to and the answers are all over the place. Some people say 6, some say 20+, and now I genuinely cannot tell what is normal vs overdoing it.
Right now I have 14 schools on my list, and I am trying to be realistic about time, money, and essay burnout. I do not want to apply to too few colleges and regret it later, but I also do not want to spend months writing supplements for schools I am only half interested in.
My current breakdown is something like this:
- 3 reaches
- 5 targets
- 3 safer schools
- 3 that I added because other people kept mentioning them
The last category is what makes me think my list is getting messy. A few of these schools are probably not places I would seriously choose over my top options, so I am wondering if I should cut them now instead of applying just because I already researched them.
I am also confused about whether the number should change depending on your situation. Like, does the answer to how many colleges should I apply to depend mostly on these things?
- how selective your major is
- whether you need a lot of financial aid
- how many schools require extra essays
- whether you are applying test optional
- if your safeties are actually affordable safeties
That last point is stressing me out a lot. I feel like I technically have safeties for admission, but not necessarily safeties for cost, which makes me think I need a different strategy.
For people who already went through this, what ended up being the right number for you?
Did you make a hard cap first, or did you build the list by categories and see where it landed? Also, at what point did adding more schools stop helping and just become extra work?
I would really appreciate any advice from people who had to balance selectivity with financial aid, because I think that is what is making this harder for me. I can handle writing a decent number of applications, but I do not want to confuse being thorough with being strategic.
Basically I am trying to figure out whether 14 is reasonable, too many, or somehow still not enough.