Charger78

"Considering", touring and interviewing at as many places as you might be interested in and can reach is great. Some kids benefit from getting interview "experience" at schools they might be less interested in BEFORE going on to the more attractive ones. As I look at the acceptances thread, it just seems that lots of kids do fine limiting actual applications to around 5-8. Those numbers are enough to have a "range" of schools and get greater odds of admission, financial aid, larger/smaller, suburban/rural on the plate. Some kids and families can set tighter boundaries for what they want earlier on, while others need re-visits to get real clarity. 9-12 applications could indicate real indecisiveness. Schools that want to protect their yield number may react negatively to excessive applications, causing a credible admit to become a waitlist or reject. As a reminder, if you develop a consensus #1, tell the school that that's so.

GMTplus7

Keep in mind that unless it is "leaked" to a school (i.e. by student, parents, guidance counsellor, teacher), the school does not know what other schools you have applied to. As per U.S. Anti-trust law, it is illegal for school admissions to be colluding with each other.

That said... even though it's illegal, it's a black box to me what actually goes on behind the scenes.