How Many Colleges Should Students Apply to? 

As high school students navigate the college application process, a common question that pops up for most families is whether there is a correct number of colleges that their student should be applying to? Is there such a thing as too many or too few? 

 

Students should ideally aim to apply to around 8 to 10 colleges. If they wish, they could push to 12 colleges. You will definitely hear about students that apply to more, and to as many as 20 colleges. This applies particularly to  students who are aiming for more selective colleges as there are no guarantees for even so-called perfect students to get into these institutions. Students use a common practice to determine what colleges to apply to: grouping schools into safety, target, and dream schools. What do they mean in this day and age?

 

Dream Schools

Dream schools are generally colleges that students are very keen on applying to but where the student’s GPA and test scores are lower than the average accepted students. Today, the most selective colleges (with acceptance rates below 15-20%) are dream schools for everyone - even for students with perfect GPAs and test scores as many of those schools reject more students with near perfect scores than they accept. Regardless, every student who wants to should apply to one or two of these schools as you never know without trying. It is possible that a school in that particular year is looking for a student with a certain profile that you may fit. Students that are well within the ballpark in terms of GPA and test scores should apply to several of these colleges as it has become far more unpredictable where the student might be accepted. This is unfortunate, as it is this unpredictability that has forced many students to apply to more schools in recent years.

 

Target schools

Target schools are colleges where a student's application falls within the average range of most accepted students in the prior years. There is a reasonable probability that a student will get into these institutions, making it their target school, but there is no guarantee of admission. Remember that for the highest performing students, the most selective schools (where acceptance rates are below 20%) are still not considered target schools. For all other schools, students should check each school’s average GPA and standardized test scores to make sure that their scores fall comfortably within the average range. Also note that there is a difference between being in the average range of all accepted students into that college, and being in the average range of all accepted students into that college from your high school. The competitiveness of a high school ranges significantly from school to school, city to city and state to state, so it is best to find data that applies specifically to the high school that you are applying from (or your town/city if very few or no students apply from your school). Many high schools use Naviance, a software that plots the GPA and test scores of students who applied to colleges from that high school in prior years, with data showing who gets in and who does not. Students can use this software to figure out whether they are in the ballpark vs. being an outlier. In schools that do not use this software, school counselors should be able to provide this information - ask.

 

Safety schools

In this day and age, many high school counselors will tell students that there is no such thing as safety schools anymore. Instead, these are schools where the majority of admitted students have GPAs and test scores that are below what the applicant has. Hence, there is a very high probability that the students will be admitted, although again, there is no guarantee. There is the possibility that a college does not expect that an applicant will accept their offer since their scores are significantly above their typical range and reject the student as a result. 

 

Ultimately, students should only apply to those schools that they would actually attend if it was the only school that they are admitted to. There is no point in spending the time and energy to apply to a school that they never intend on attending. This will make sure that the college list does not expand beyond an unreasonable size, but it does require that families research schools well and determine whether a school would be a good fit for the student.

 

Download our guide: Finding You College Questionnaire to help you get started on putting a college list together.

 

Also download the Versed Comprehensive Guide: The College Application Process to guide you through this important process and not miss anything.

 

Every student and every family is unique. If you think you can use personalized guidance on helping your student through the college admission process, book a call with us to find out how Versed Advisors can help you. 

 

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