<p>i actually dont think they’re inflating their numbers that much. Nowadays students are applying to more and more colleges, i know some that applied to like 15+, i applied to 12 myself. Because of the competition and difficulty involved in getting into top schools, students are spreading out their application to hopefully increase their chances, and also applying to more middle tier schools (kinda like USC, Good but not downright amazing) to make sure they get into at least a good college.</p>