<p>I only visited two schools (my dream school and a safety of sorts), but applied to six. I was accepted to all of them, but my financial aid award for my dream school was not sent to me until mid-April, leaving me very little time to explore other options since I had put all of my eggs in one basket. I had finally decided on paying the higher tuition to attend the private school that I loved, until I received a letter in the mail saying that there had been a “computer glitch” (their words, not mine) that caused me to be awarded $5000 too much per year in need-based aid. Needless to say, I couldn’t bring myself to accept that I’d be graduating with upwards of 100k in debt, so I chose the large state school where I was given full tuition. Looking back, I wish I could have done so many things differently, because once “dream school” seemed out of the picture I really was only familiar with one other school that I had applied to and had very few options. The moral of the story: you can never do too much research or have too many options, because stupid things like “computer glitches” or even a surprise rejection can ruin your plans very quickly. Best of luck in your college search.</p>