<p>chandelle: You have made some good points on why applying to many colleges may not be effective. </p>
<p>I think the issue here is the law of diminishing returns. As you apply to more colleges, there is a point where the effort of more applications is not equal to increase in chances of admission. This point of inflection is student specific: Students own records, ability to afford the cost and time, the impact on recommendations etc.</p>