I have to disagree. Last year, my kid’s college counselor at her school recommended crafting a list of no more than 8 colleges. I was skeptical, but she was spot on. If you do your research well, choose in a realistic, strategic way, and are not just hoping for “lottery” type schools, 8 or 9 is a very reasonable (and manageable) number and you’ll end up with choices. We were chasing merit $ and FA, so that was a factor for us. Applying to schools EA meant she was all done and had her decisions before the holidays.
I also found a ton of really helpful info and tips on the website “BestCollegeFit.com” – the blog is authored by Peter Van Buskirk, who for many years was Dean of Admissions at several fine colleges. Lots of great, sound advice and resources there.