There are more than 3,000 four-year institutions that prospective college students can apply to but deciding on the number of schools to pursue can take time, research and a little soul-searching.
“I don’t know if there is an actual best number,” says Matthew Proto, vice president and dean of admissions and financial aid at Colby College in Maine.
Applicants should carefully weigh the number of schools where they’ll submit applications to maximize their chances of being a strong candidate, and to avoid the drawbacks that can come with applying to too many or too few schools, admissions experts say.
While there may not be a specific number applicants should aim for, experts say, there is a specific range. Prospective students should have between four and eight schools on their list, experts say.
[Follow these steps on deciding on the number of college applications to submit.]
“We want to have at least two safety schools,” says Ian Fisher, director for educational counseling at College Coach, which guides families through the college admissions and financial aid process. “So you’ve got three target schools, and two reach schools to go with those two safeties.”
Safety schools are institutions that are almost certain to admit applicants, target schools are likely to take applicants and reach schools are colleges and universities that will be a competitive stretch for applicants. Prospective students can usually determine which category a school falls into based on the average test scores and GPA for its incoming students.
Applying takes work, experts say, and submitting applications to a large number of schools may ruin the quality of the prospective student’s applications.
“I think you can only be interested in attending schools that you know really well,” says Fisher, who previously worked in admissions at Reed College in Oregon. Prospective students can learn about institutions through online research or campus visits, experts say.
“If you don’t know the school really well, then it’s hard to write really good essays that are school specific,” Fisher says.
Applicants should also think about money when deciding on where to apply.
[Use this timeline when completing college applications.]
Many schools charge an application fee. In some cases, “People are going to be going up over $500 in application fees if they apply to more than seven,” says Chris Krzak, the assistant vice provost and director of admission at University of the Pacific in California.
Applying to too few schools, such as one or two, may prevent students from maximizing their financial aid offers.
“If you apply to multiple institutions, you could get multiple financial aid offers, and you can use those financial aid offers to negotiate the aid that you’re getting at one school or another,” says Fisher.
Applying is also about academic range, says Chris Clinton, assistant director in the office of admissions at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania.
“Sometimes I caution against applying to two or three schools,” Clinton says. If a student applies to two or three schools that are all academically similar, and they do not get admitted to those schools, they’ve put themselves in a tricky position, he says.
In some cases, applying to fewer schools makes more sense.
“There are certain students that might apply to two or three, especially if they’re going early decision,” says Clinton. Applying to two or three schools leaves early decision applicants with backup options in case their first-choice school doesn’t work out.
Many schools, such as Duke University and University of Chicago, offer early decision admissions, which requires the applicant to attend the school if he or she is accepted early. Some also offer early action admissions, which allows applicants to apply before the regular admissions cycle but does not require them to enroll if they are admitted.
[Find out how to reduce the cost of applying to college.]
When narrowing a college list, prospective students should also think about which schools will really prepare them for success.
“One of the most important things is thinking about this concept of fit and finding an institution where the student is really excited about the community that he, she or they are going to be surrounded by when they actually enter the institution,” says Proto from Colby College.
They should also keep in mind what’s their ideal campus size, if they’ll like an urban or suburban environment and the student body, college admissions experts say.
Applicants should put their best foot forward to leverage their chance at an acceptance letter from a school that embodies what they value most in an institution.
“It’s always about the quality of your applications and the quality of the match with the schools you apply to,” says Fisher.
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How Many Colleges Should I Apply to? originally appeared on usnews.com
