@northwesty where is Evansville? Northwestern is in Evanston. And I don’t even know what to think of your other comments. I was just making it clear that calling Northwestern “NW” is incorrect. The school does not refer to itself with that abbreviation. And Northwestern is not a state school.
I’m sure the OP doesn’t really care about college abbreviations at this point in the process. 
Northeastern…commonly referred to as NEU…no NU.
And not to drive things further off track - but I went to what was known at the time as the Northwestern School of Law (which was at Lewis & Clark in Portland, OR!) I always found the “other” Northwestern to be confusing!
BTW - taking lots of good advice received here. Researched Pitt with DD last night. Love what I saw. Will be adding applying early under their rolling admission to the Honors College and maybe the GAP.
If admitted that will allow her to drop a number of the safeties currently on her list and greatly lessen the work and the stress involved.
Thank you all for your wise advice!
Actually, for those who dont use the full formal name, Nebraska University goes by Nebraska Lincoln, Northwestern is NU, Northeastern is NEU.
But it’s OT to the OPs question, let’s focus back on the OP 
Pitt EA sounds like a good first step.
Next step would be to see what, if any, reach schools you can and want to apply to early. You could do MIT and Chicago EA. Or Yale SCEA, since Yale’s rules allow for apps to state schools too. Or a binding ED app to WUSTL, JHU or Brown. Or NW.
Getting some early feedback from the reachy schools can really help the process.
P.S. Northeastern is officially NU too. So there’s two schools using the same confusing brand. From their website:
NEU, neu—Do not use this outdated abbreviation. In external communications, including website copy, use Northeastern or Northeastern University. When you must use an abbreviation, use NU instead—and then, only for internal communications. (Exceptions may be made in the case of athletics, e.g., university-authorized athletic wear.)
MODERATOR’S NOTE: Please get back on topic.
A couple of notes about RPI from a 1980s grad:
Is your daughter an American citizen? I’m assuming so since RPI’s BS/MD program is only open to citizens.
Diversity is odd in that there is a focused engineering/CS student body with a variety of skin shades, not much variety of life goals like you would get at Brown or Barnard or Chicago.
Troy, frankly, is a disappointment if you like cities. It has the blight and unemployment without having many of the things that make cities attractive. I love that area but I grew up near a city similar to it and wasn’t really looking for museums and fine dining. Like your D, I volunteered in the projects, no idea if the program still exists, but that type of opportunity will be in all cities.
Update re: Pitt - just thought some of you might find it interesting. They have their own online application (they do not take Common App.) They ALSO require that the transcript from a foreign high school be evaluated by a private company. The cost of the private evaluation - $180!! Plus the application fee of $45. This makes Pitt by FAR the most expensive school to apply to for a US citizen applying from abroad. Just a strange little quirk I guess.
^ Pitt was removed from quite a few high level contenders of mine for that reason.
Well…it’s costly to apply for sure…BUT if you netted one of their excellent merit awards…it could be well worth it.
When D16 applied from outside the US, all of the application fees were pretty much doubled because the credit card’s mailing address was not in the US. It didn’t matter that the credit card was in USD and issued in the US. Most of the application fees were in the $100-$140 USD region.
I set a budget of $1000 for college application of my D2. That should be enough for up to around 8-10 schools max including tests and score reports.Realistically, she will apply to 5 or so schools. Note that time is also limited not just money. NPC is the first check point.
There are only three limits to the list length that matter:
- The Common Application allows only twenty schools, so that can be your absolute limit.
- Cost. Is there a limit on how many application fees and test score sending fees you can afford? If so, help your child figure out how many college applications fit within that budget. But unless you are struggling to meet the rent/mortgage/car/utility/insurance payments or put food on the table, the fees should not be a consideration. This is a once-in-a-lifetime event for your child.
- Time and effort. How many supplemental essays is your child willing to write and write well?
If 2 and 3 do not limit you, then your daughter’s focus should be on developing a list of reaches, matches and likelies that she would be happy to attend if admitted. The number is less important than the thought that goes into each choice of school. Don’t set an arbitrary number.
I agree with you, OP. Factors such as yield protection often drive applicants to apply to more schools, creating a vicious circle in the application process. While it would be nice in theory to say, “I am taking a stand against this process by limiting my child to 6 schools,” who the heck would want their child to be the kid with fewer or even no options at the end of the process? And so the cycle continues…
Applying to 5 schools with a 10% admission rate does not give your kid a 50% chance of admission to at least one of them. And it’s possible that your particular kid’s probability at a particular school is a lot closer to zero than to the published admissions rate.
I cannot imagine turning in 20 high quality applications and paying for them. But GreyKing- 20 is about as arbitrary number as they come. So what’s wrong with 12? or 10? If that list of 12 includes two schools that your kid is almost assuredly going to get in to, you can afford, and the kid is willing to go to, then sure, be ambitious with the rest. But absent the rock solid safeties (which STILL cost money, and STILL take time) “throwing in” applications to a bunch of unrealistic reaches is an exercise in frustration.
I see no problem with 12-15 applications as long as your child is willing to do them (and neither did my kids’ college counselors). In the current application environment, unless you have a shoe-in state type option that fits the bill or a school where you are an automatic admit, 5 is too few for most applicants these days, imo, if one is chasing selective, mainly private colleges, and hopefully a little merit money.
I would say it depends. Five is not too many or too few if you have an excellent instate option.
Back in the day (WAAY back), when I was advised to consider Pomona for college – by an uncle who was a college professor – I decided that since I already had 6 colleges on my list and an excellent almost automatic admit at UCBerkeley, I came up with a good reason not to apply. The application fee was a shocking $20!!! That would be $165 today. I didn’t wan to burden my parents, so I didn’t apply!
@blossom Only applying to schools with a 10% admission rate is a mistake by itself. It does not matter if you apply to more than 5 schools or not. As long as there are a few match schools and at least one safety, the list is fine regardless of the number of reach schools.