What is a reasonable size list?

tk21769
Sun, 02 Jan 2011 08:59:35 +0000

Some kids will apply to a dozen or more schools that just look like a slice out of the US News N-through-M ranked schools. I suppose this can work, if you are careful to center the range around your stats and you don’t care too much about “fit”. The more ambitious you are and the more selective you make that center point, the more schools you’ll need in order to assure you have a few good, affordable choices by April. If you aim too high or ignore costs, you can get shut out of a big pile of schools.

My youngest applied to 6. 3 reaches, 2 matches, 1 safety. All 6 were similar schools that more or less satisfied a few clear criteria. He was happy with the outcome.