Should I Apply To So Many Schools?

College Search & Lists
1

Schools I am planning to apply to: Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, UPenn, MIT, Caltech, Duke, UChicago, Stanford, Michigan State, UC Berkeley

Race: Asian
Gender: Male

gpa: UW: 3.99, W: 4.6
Act: 36
SAT: 1570
Class rank: Top 5%

Total APs taken: AP Psychology(5), AP CSP(5), APUSH(5), AP Calc BC(5), AP CSA(5), AP Gov(5), AP Macro(5), AP Micro(5), AP Physics Mechanics(5), AP Physics E&M(5), AP Chem(5), AP Statistic(5), AP English 11(5) + senior year APs

Major Awards:
Qualified for nationals in economics challenge
Banking and Finance national winner in Business Professionals of America
National AP Scholar
USAMO Qualifier (Top 200 in Nation for math)
USAPHO Qualifier

ECs:
Chess Club(Played for 10 years with numerous awards), President
Taught chess to underprivileged kids for 2 years
Volunteered at summer chess camps
Math club, Secretary
Math tutor
Economics Club, President
Wrote an economics research paper with a professor at Ross School of Business
Financial Literacy and Investment Club, Secretary
Public Speaking Club, Vice President
Business Professionals of America, Competition Committee
Key Club, Treasurer
Tennis for 4 years

More than good rec letters overall

2

IMO you have way too many reach schools. I would have your list be 20% reach, 60% match, and 20% safeties.

Would you be perfectly happy to attend MSU? You have great stats but you could very easily but shut out at all of the other schools on your list.

3

Assuming that you have the time and money to complete the applications, and assuming that you are able to fine-tune your supplemental application essays so that each one seems to have some degree of specificity aimed at the particular school in question, then your list by no means contains “too many” schools.

Strictly speaking, I would even disagree with the above poster’s claim that your list has “far too many reach schools.” The problem is not so much that is has far too many reach schools as that it has far too few (i.e., one and only one) match and safety schools.

Moreover, since you don’t state what your interests are and what your intended major is, it’s hard for CCers to give you pertinent advice about how you might want to expand and/or revise your list. As it stands, it looks like you’ve decided to apply to the current USNews top 10 plus UCB and one “safety.” That’s not a really useful or practical way to go about constructing list.

4

Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, UPenn, MIT, Caltech, Duke, UChicago, Stanford, Michigan State, UC Berkeley…

These schools have their similarities AND are also very different from one another. Will you be happy to attend any one of them? Important to know since, even with your stats, there’s a fair chance you’ll only get into 0, 1, or 2 of them? I agree with the other respondents that you you consider rethinking your list. There are a lot of applicants out there with great numbers and you need to be the one that fits a spot a school is looking to fill.

Per @MrSamford2014 - iCC respondents could offer more focused recommendations if you provide a little more info on what you are looking for in a school.

5

Would you like to major in economics, business or something else?

6

I am wondering what you want in a university. I am concerned that you have a lot of big name schools, but I am not sure that I see the common strength of all of them. Perhaps I am missing something.

What is your home state? Did you decide not to apply to Michigan, or did you just not mention is above?

7

^I have to agree with the above. Sure, go ahead and apply to as many schools as you think you can give thoughtful responses to, including essays. But, you are dead in the water, if you stop at the first ten universities listed in the USNews rankings. Those schools reject 95% of their applicants and it isn’t because their applicant pools are shallow; people all over the globe are applying for the same reasons you are: because they are the only ten universities they know anything about.

You have to get off the beaten path. Ask yourself what schools offer similar advantages to your dream schools, but, may for various reasons, be known to a tighter circle of applicants. You don’t mention academic interests. Do they have to be pursued at a research university? Many academic subjects, including math and science, can be studied at liberal arts colleges (LACs) which, on the whole, have had an incredible impact on American industry, finance, politics and culture. On average, they are twice as easy to get into as some of the universities on your list.

Secondly, your dream schools all seem to be need-based in terms of financial aid. If you are middle-class, you have to factor in the possibility that you may not be able to afford any, but the most generous of them. Take a look at colleges that offer merit aid. They’re offering it for a reason: They want students of your caliber. Show them some love and they may return it.

Hope this helps.

8

Yeah, I’m planning to apply to a few match and safety schools such as Michigan and Indiana. I’m also planning to do math, physics, or computer science in college.

9

Is money no object?
Is mich your home state?

10

If you are in search of a tippy top school which is less of a lottery, then it’s worth considering Oxbridge for math & CS. Your chances there would be far greater than at comparable US schools, I’d estimate >50% assuming you did OK in the interview.

11

CS is the most competitive major about anywhere. Applying for math will be easier.
What’s your parents’ budget?
I wouldn’t apply to UCB from OOS. Wait till grad school. (look at the thread ’ I want to transfer from Berkeley to Duke’ for one example).
Are you instate for Michigan?
Are you fine with it and MSU?
Your list is very unbalanced. You should find two safeties and three more matches (you only have one).
Consider anything with sub 25% acceptance (regardless of stats) a reach and anything with sub 30-35% if for CS.