What is a reasonable size list?

jshain
Sun, 02 Jan 2011 01:24:29 +0000

It is okay to have a really long list of schools at this stage of your “journey”, but keep in mind the following:

Can my parents afford for us to go visit the schools on my list that are far away?

Does my family and I have the time to go visit the schools on my list and/or attend college fairs in my local area?

Can my parents afford to pay the application fees for all the schools on my list?

Can my parents afford to pay for this school should I not receive any scholarship money or financial aid? Don’t forget to include travel expenses to come home during holidays/breaks.

Do I have Reach, Match, and Safety schools included- based on my stats/resume?

How many of the schools on my list have their own application and don’t use the Common App.?

Will I be able to complete all the supplemental essays that are needed to apply to all the schools on my list? (Remember, even though many schools use the Common Application, there are supplemental essays that may or may not be used over again, depending on the school.)

The longer your list the more responsibility you will have for effectively MANAGING your schools. For example, there will be different deadlines, including different deadlines to the same school for scholarship consideration, some will be early action or early decision (which is binding), some will recommend interviews, some will require different test scores, different # of recommendations, etc., etc. You will need to have a STRATEGY laid out. I would suggest putting all your schools on a SPREADSHEET with a TIMELINE of the deadlines and other important bits of information that I just described.

My son just submitted his last application. He applied to 17 schools which included 5 UC’s (CA schools) that use the exact same application. It was a TON of time and money to visit many of these schools, pay application fees, send test scores multiple times, etc. Sit down with your parents and discuss a BUDGET, including all of the “hidden” costs. This may help you answer your question as to how many schools you shoud realistically be looking at.

Good luck!