How Many Colleges Should You Apply To?

By February 2021, the Common Application had already processed over 6 million applications for the 2021-22 cycle. There were around 1 million unique applicants, indicating that each student submitted applications to around six schools.

Every year, prospective college students wonder, “How many colleges should I apply to?” As a general rule of thumb, some admissions experts recommend submitting applications to 4-12 schools.

In reality, though, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. Applicants must consider their preferences, admission odds, and financial situation to determine how many college applications to submit.

How many colleges can you apply to? There’s no limit on the number of applications you can submit. In 2018, North Carolina high school senior Jasmine Harrison submitted applications to 115 colleges — and received admission offers to 113 of them.

But there’s a reason most students don’t submit 100 applications. They simply can’t complete that many applications or afford the application fees. Additionally, it would be difficult to research so many schools.

Still, you also should avoid applying to too few colleges. In general, it’s a good idea to apply to a minimum of five schools. Submitting more applications increases the likelihood of an acceptance and the odds of receiving financial aid offers.

Before putting colleges on your list, consider key factors like your budget, financial aid opportunities, and personal preferences. Every school on your list should be a place you could actually see yourself attending.

College applicants have roughly 4,000 degree-granting postsecondary institutions to choose from in the U.S. alone. So what’s the best way to narrow down your list of prospective schools?

Many applicants start by putting together a list of their top picks and looking for gaps. If your list only contains Ivy League schools, for example, you should add other colleges that offer a higher chance of acceptance. On the other hand, if your list only contains schools that almost certainly will admit you, it’s a good idea to add some reach schools.

Think about your strategy as if you were Goldilocks. You want a handful of target schools that offer a “just right” fit for your grades, your SAT/ACT scores, and other admissions materials, but you also want to add safety and reach schools to your list.

It can be helpful to separate schools by the level of admission likelihood. The following sections explore safety, target, and reach groupings and what each category might look like.

A reach school is any college where an applicant has a lower chance of getting in. The schools that count as a reach depend on the applicant’s record. How can you identify reach schools? Check the college’s statistics on admitted students.

Most schools post the median, 25th percentile, and 75th percentile GPAs and test scores for their first-year classes on their websites. If you fall below the median, that school would qualify as a reach school for you.

Reach schools often include highly selective colleges that admit a small number of applicants.

Schools that report acceptance rates of 10% or less — such as Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, and Duke — are reach schools for nearly all applicants. Even students with high grades and test scores may be turned down by their reach schools.

As with reach schools, applicants can identify target schools by researching the admitted students from the past admissions cycle.

If your GPA and test scores fall between the 50th and 75th percentiles for admitted students, you can consider that institution a target school. If you apply to a school in this category, you should have a solid chance of receiving an acceptance letter.

Nevertheless, applicants should not apply to target schools simply because they have a higher chance of getting in. Your target schools should also match your budget, academic goals, and overall college plans.

A safety school offers applicants a strong chance of getting accepted. However, the definition of a safety school varies depending on the applicant.

If your GPA and test scores exceed the 75th percentile GPA and standardized test scores of admitted students, you may consider that institution a safety school.

One common myth claims that safety schools are academically or socially inferior. The truth is that the majority of colleges admit most applicants, according to a 2019 Pew Research Center report.

Many students add at least one in-state public university to their list. These schools can offer significant tuition discounts to — and often prefer — in-state applicants.

How you spread out your applications among school types depends on your ambition and your desired level of security. The College Board recommends applying to 5-8 schools, with approximately 50% of those applications dedicated to your target schools.

Use the remaining 2-4 applications for your safety and reach schools. If you feel confident about getting into your one safety school, you might take more of a risk and apply to more reach schools.

In general, prospective students should apply to multiple schools to increase their odds of getting accepted. However, there are cases when applying to just one school makes sense. For example, college applications can be costly, and a single application may be your only option.

Other possible scenarios include students who can only attend one school or program, possibly limited by location or program offerings. In these situations, additional applications would be rather useless. Despite the suggestions, the ideal number of applications depends entirely on you and your specific needs and wants.

Applying to multiple colleges takes time and money. Fortunately, there are strategies applicants can use to help streamline the college application process, save money, and potentially add schools to their list.

Over 950 colleges accept the Common Application. With a single application, you can apply to multiple schools without having to fill out a dozen or more individual applications or complete specialized essays. The Common App helps students save time on their applications.

Many colleges waive the application fee for qualifying students. For example, students who received an SAT fee waiver can receive college application fee waivers at participating colleges. The same applies to students who qualify for Pell Grants.

Applying to 10 schools might mean writing 10 college application essays. Because many schools use similar prompts, applicants can often reuse or recycle their essays.

That said, proceed with caution. You want to customize each essay so that it fully answers the prompt. If it’s obvious to admissions advisors that you’re recycling an old essay, it could hurt your application.

Many schools accept early applications. These have earlier application deadlines than regular decision but provide you with a decision sooner, usually by December. Applying early decision or early action can increase your chances of admission. Additionally, if you’re accepted, you might only have to complete a single college application.

Your high school guidance counselor can offer advice on which colleges might be a target school or a reach school for you. Counselors also have great tips for completing applications more efficiently.

Completing college applications can be time-consuming and stressful. Creating a calendar to track deadlines and manage steps like requesting recommendation letters makes it easier to stay on top of applications.

Feature Image: Dejan Marjanovic / E+ / Getty Images