I am interpreting this to mean that you’re planning on using your 20 Common App slots and that you plan to apply to the Ivies (8 schools) and other schools in the top 30 (whose top 30?) and perhaps some targets, which for some people that means schools where they think they stand a 20-40% chance of being accepted.
If my interpretation is correct, I have a couple of questions for you:
- Do you have at least 1 school where you would be extremely likely to be accepted, that your family is willing and able to afford, and that you would be happy to attend? Ideally, you’d have more than 1 such college on your list, but you at least need one. If you just put your state flagship on there with the assumption that you won’t have to go there, that doesn’t work. There are too many students who were extremely strong candidates whose college list was all schools where their chances of admittance were well below 50% and then they end up at their “safety” school and are trying to find another place to go or are planning how soon they can transfer. Don’t let that be you. Make sure you would be happy to enroll and spend four years at whatever college(s) are extremely likely admits for you.
- This isn’t so much a question as a comment. Make sure that every college you apply to is one that you think would be a great fit for you. If you like the name/prestige, but don’t care for the curriculum, or that a significant percentage of the student body are into X, or that the location is Y, or the weather is too Z, I would urge you not to include the college on your list. If prestige is important for you, that’s fine, but there are lots of different schools that are “prestigious” that have different fits/vibes, and you want to find the ones that are right for you.