<p>My son applied to four thru UCAS, and to ten schools in the US. The application process is very easy for UK schools (other than Oxbridge) - one low fee (with a few supplementary fees at some universities, such as St. Andrew’s) and the student can apply to up to six places with no additional information or effort.</p>
<p>I think if you are looking for merit aid, it is an advantage to apply to many colleges. The problem with that is that you have to put your best foot forward with each school, and that takes a lot of time and effort. </p>
<p>My son’s public school had no limits, but they did the first five transcripts free, charged $2 for the next two, and $5 for number eight through n. This seemed fair, and was well worth it. For the recommendations, the teachers and GC wrote a letter on school stationary, and other than checking the boxes on the designated forms, they printed several copies of the letter and put it in the stamped envelope you gave them, so it wasn’t really much of a problem to ask them to send it to a number of colleges.</p>