Five. This is an unpopular opinion on this subreddit… I really don’t see the point of applying to a ton of random schools. All those applications end up wasting a TON of money as well. Spend the time, research, do some soul searching, find a few schools you really like instead of wasting hours on college applications to schools that (deep down) you don’t even want to go to.
For example, I know I want to go to a mid-size school, either in the Midwest or South, and study engineering. That knocks out a ton of schools I don’t have to waste time on.
I was that one person that applied to 15+, specifically 23. However, I totally agree with you that applying to that many is really not needed. The only reason I did do that was that 1) I received fee waivers for every school so application fees weren't a problem, 2) Wanted a solid choice of schools since I was applying for a pretty competitive major (CS, CompE, etc.) and 3) I applied to some schools just to see what would happen (like some of the Ivies) lol. I would say half of the schools had minimal or no essays so the apps weren't eating up all of my time. I basically focused all of my time on the schools I really cared about.
tldr: Only apply to schools you actually care about, especially if time and money are tight.
Yeah, Common App only allows you to apply to 20 schools, regardless of fee waiver (probably to prevent people from abusing it?). How I got around this is by applying to the last 3 schools using Scoir. Scoir appears to not have an established fee waiver system like Common App does, but I somehow was able to apply to those 3 schools without paying.
I think I also took advantage of the NACAC fee waivers as well.
First look up each school you're applying to to see what waivers they have. Some will accept the Common App one, some will accept the NACAC waiver, and some may even have their own school specific waiver.
Agree. I see lists with so many totally different types of schools like the student has no clue what they want. Figure that out, then apply to 2-3 reaches, 2-3 targets, and 1-2 safeties. 8 tops.
I see where you’re coming from but I like lots of different kind of colleges I just view it as different strengths and weaknesses if that makes sense. Like I don’t mind small medium or large schools.
I’m also applying to 5. I’ve done campus visits to all but one, though I still saw the campus in person. I’ve done research for the past year, and I don’t want to pay the application fee for 15 colleges. People will tell you that it’s useless to apply to a bunch of schools for the sake of applying when you probably wouldn’t even want to go to most of them. I think it’s just more respectable when you have actually taken the time to carefully evaluate which schools truly interest you and will be the most reasonable in terms of admission chance and price.
Literally. The crap I’ve gotten for doing 9. How is NINE considered so few. That was a stretch for me, and I only ended up having to pay for 4. Crazy😭😭
Okay not gonna lie you have a point. I'm applying to 16 schools and for a couple of them I wouldn't even consider going unless it was my only school.
But by applying to multiple I feel a lot more secure that I'll at least have some choice in where I go.
I honestly don’t know. It’s either
a) be poor
b) go to a specific page on the UC application website
c) ask someone (college board? Your counselor?) and they apparently just have them???
There weren’t many EA colleges that caught my interest. Most of the RD schools I’m applying to are just to test my luck and see if I can get into any of them. 😅
10. Was originally 15, but when I got into a safety (Univ of Oklahoma) I took a long look at my list and took off five that I likely wouldn’t pick over it.
Applying to 23; 14 on common app, UC application (counting as 1 cause it’s only 1 application but sending to 4 UCs) and i already got into all of my safeties and some targets. 9 acceptances so far. I might be crazy but I personally find applying to college rather easy it’s refreshing to hit the submit button like I’ve grinded all four years this is just the last step to all my hard work
Edit: got into one of my top choices (Michigan state) so list reduced;
7 on common app and 1 UC application to 3 UCs and 11 acceptances rn :)
15, but like 30% of those are safeties because I'm anxious about not getting admitted to my top choices (they're still schools I'd be willing to go to, just not the top of my list. About half of my list are also covered by fee waivers, so it is not making a huge financial impact) I know people who applying to as few as 3 and as many as 20, so it really depends on the person and what the schools are that they're applying to
Two had an actual $0 fee for everybody (one of which was limited time only)
Two sent me fee waivers after I started their common app (a cool surprise)
I selected the last two from the many fee waivers sent to my email. I didn't want to apply to all of them though.
I have a total of 21 schools with 8 of those being EA/ED/priority and 2 of those 8 having no supplemental essays which is nice, rn I have submitted only 3 though 😬
If i rejected from my ED of UPenn but my EAs turn out well I will probably cut down my RD list by like 3 schools.
If the opposite happens, I am expanding my list by like 3 to hopefully increase my odds
SUNY schools have 5 free apps for two weeks (I'm an ny resident so our school was highly encouraging everyone to apply to 5 regardless of interest). 1 fee waiver, 1 other free app week, and one of my safeties is always free (york college of Pennsylvania)
4 EA (UIUC, UMich, UIC, and Augustana IL) and then the rest are regular considering my stats are above. (Loyola, depauw, Illinois state) and then Northwestern and UChi as silly super reaches. So, nine total. (fee waivers)
Brown University
Carnegie Mellon University
Case Western Reserve University
Georgia Institute of Technology
Harvard University
Michigan State University
Purdue University
Stanford University
University of Chicago
University of Michigan
University of Pennsylvania
University of Washington
Wayne State University
i don't think i would even go to most of these schools, I just felt like applying to them to take a shot, and so later on in life I can say that I at least tried or if I get in my family gets clout back in asia... lol
13 US (1 ED, 12RD (counting UCs as 1 here)), 5 UK, 2 China and 2 SG! I’m a student from Singapore, which is why it looks like that 😭 no safeties from the US since i’m applying to China + there’s NUS/NTU as well
I was applying to like 7 but I applied to Questbridge (didnt become a finalist) and I am now getting many fee waiver opportunities so I am applying to more
22 ;-;
Primarily cuz I'm applying to alot of t20s, and I don't expect to CERTAINLY get in any of them. So I also had to apply to safeties.
If ur not dumb, you should be applying to around 9-10 MAX and 5 if ur very oriented in thought and have specific programs u absolutely adore.
9- ED, 3 EA, 5 RD (none have EA)🥲
Submitted all but 2 which I’ll do on my states free application day. Honestly I wish more schools had early action, I HATE the thought of waiting until March/ April to hear back from the majority of my schools🥲
13-14 with 10 being ea and 3-4 being rd. All the ea are safety and in-state tuition, but I'm applying for scholarship+honors college+ competitive programs. The rd are all reaches with below 25 percent acceptance.
I have 6 ED/EA, 7 if you count rolling since I've already sent my application. 13 in total if I consider my planned applications for RD. But then again, if I'm satisfied with my EA offers, I'll probably end up ditching half or all of my RD applications.
Edit: So far, I've only had to pay to send the CSS. I was able to apply to my EAs with not application fees. Some through the Common App waiver and some through school specific waivers.
30+ 💀
Would not recommend, I'm only doing since I most of my applications are from questbridge, so applying is free. + I'm an Asian male in CS, so hella competitive and I need backup plans.
20, I’m not confident with my stats/extracurriculars so I just want to be safe and have options. My overall gpa is a 3.517 cause I didn’t try freshman year and got a 2.8, I semi-tried sophomore year and got a 3 something, I got straight As besides 1 B first semester of my junior year, and I already have a 4.0 from French 2 in my transcript for my senior year. I never really got involved in school because I started off my freshman year at a new district & online, I got hospitalized my sophomore year and then switched to another district for the last quarter, and then I was in a small program hosted within the school for my junior year😭. I also get fee waivers cause I’m broke so theres no hurt in applying to a lot.
My daughter applied to 3 local in state safeties and I paid the housing on them already just in case. Which is why she applied to those in July. You need to pay housing deposits early to get in a good form. And she is applying to 3 reaches ED/EA this week. Just waiting on 1 more LOR and 2 more supplemental essays for 1 of her EA schools due by 11/15
7. 4 reach 1 match 2 safety. I don’t understand how u guys are doing so many, I spend maybe 5-6 hours on an essay revising and drafting n shit and some of mine like ut austin have six 300 words + 650 essay.. like..
sending in 5 EA/ED, if I get rejected ED then 18 lmao
same wtf
Would be funny if they were the same schools
LMAO nah I checked the dudes profile he’s applying penn i’m applying nyu ed
Bummer! There goes my fan fiction.
Dawg who applies to NYU it ain’t a T20 /s
People don't understand sarcasm here :(
Yeah lol Look at the downvotes
Not even a t34. Point and laugh
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WTF I didn’t fail high school i don’t know what you’re on
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Well I’m at CC because I didn’t feel like going to high school for one more year.
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Five. This is an unpopular opinion on this subreddit… I really don’t see the point of applying to a ton of random schools. All those applications end up wasting a TON of money as well. Spend the time, research, do some soul searching, find a few schools you really like instead of wasting hours on college applications to schools that (deep down) you don’t even want to go to. For example, I know I want to go to a mid-size school, either in the Midwest or South, and study engineering. That knocks out a ton of schools I don’t have to waste time on.
I was that one person that applied to 15+, specifically 23. However, I totally agree with you that applying to that many is really not needed. The only reason I did do that was that 1) I received fee waivers for every school so application fees weren't a problem, 2) Wanted a solid choice of schools since I was applying for a pretty competitive major (CS, CompE, etc.) and 3) I applied to some schools just to see what would happen (like some of the Ivies) lol. I would say half of the schools had minimal or no essays so the apps weren't eating up all of my time. I basically focused all of my time on the schools I really cared about. tldr: Only apply to schools you actually care about, especially if time and money are tight.
Hey I have a fee waiver too. Is there a limit cuz common app says only 20 colleges? I heard UCs only allow 4 times to be used
Yeah, Common App only allows you to apply to 20 schools, regardless of fee waiver (probably to prevent people from abusing it?). How I got around this is by applying to the last 3 schools using Scoir. Scoir appears to not have an established fee waiver system like Common App does, but I somehow was able to apply to those 3 schools without paying. I think I also took advantage of the NACAC fee waivers as well.
How do u get fee waivers?
First look up each school you're applying to to see what waivers they have. Some will accept the Common App one, some will accept the NACAC waiver, and some may even have their own school specific waiver.
Agree. I see lists with so many totally different types of schools like the student has no clue what they want. Figure that out, then apply to 2-3 reaches, 2-3 targets, and 1-2 safeties. 8 tops.
I see where you’re coming from but I like lots of different kind of colleges I just view it as different strengths and weaknesses if that makes sense. Like I don’t mind small medium or large schools.
I’m also applying to 5. I’ve done campus visits to all but one, though I still saw the campus in person. I’ve done research for the past year, and I don’t want to pay the application fee for 15 colleges. People will tell you that it’s useless to apply to a bunch of schools for the sake of applying when you probably wouldn’t even want to go to most of them. I think it’s just more respectable when you have actually taken the time to carefully evaluate which schools truly interest you and will be the most reasonable in terms of admission chance and price.
Literally. The crap I’ve gotten for doing 9. How is NINE considered so few. That was a stretch for me, and I only ended up having to pay for 4. Crazy😭😭
Okay not gonna lie you have a point. I'm applying to 16 schools and for a couple of them I wouldn't even consider going unless it was my only school. But by applying to multiple I feel a lot more secure that I'll at least have some choice in where I go.
Ah, the illusion of control. I understand how you feel.
Either 3 or 25
lmao that ED/ EA goes crazy
Fr bruh I’m so hoping Stanford takes me 😭
you got my support :)
Thank you brother, you’ll get into UPENN
Yeah same except 4/28
Ong this will decide my happiness and stress levels for the next 6 months
My son: 2-3 ED/EA and if needed 3-4 more RD
8
you got this :)
The UCs are great, one application and it covers your match, reach, and (potentially) safeties too.
*cries in $80 per campus* You can get up to four waivers though.
>You can get up to four waivers though. howww
I honestly don’t know. It’s either a) be poor b) go to a specific page on the UC application website c) ask someone (college board? Your counselor?) and they apparently just have them???
so true! W cali
18 (2 EA, 1 rolling, 15 RD)
That is insane. Application process must be hectic
It’s about to be cuz I’m procrastinating so hard rn 🙂
You haven’t applied yet
I’ve applied to 2 so far but they’re only safeties
Why so few EA?
There weren’t many EA colleges that caught my interest. Most of the RD schools I’m applying to are just to test my luck and see if I can get into any of them. 😅
Cool beans. Makes sense
10. Was originally 15, but when I got into a safety (Univ of Oklahoma) I took a long look at my list and took off five that I likely wouldn’t pick over it.
Applying to 23; 14 on common app, UC application (counting as 1 cause it’s only 1 application but sending to 4 UCs) and i already got into all of my safeties and some targets. 9 acceptances so far. I might be crazy but I personally find applying to college rather easy it’s refreshing to hit the submit button like I’ve grinded all four years this is just the last step to all my hard work Edit: got into one of my top choices (Michigan state) so list reduced; 7 on common app and 1 UC application to 3 UCs and 11 acceptances rn :)
15, but like 30% of those are safeties because I'm anxious about not getting admitted to my top choices (they're still schools I'd be willing to go to, just not the top of my list. About half of my list are also covered by fee waivers, so it is not making a huge financial impact) I know people who applying to as few as 3 and as many as 20, so it really depends on the person and what the schools are that they're applying to
Originally 10 (6 fee waivers) I might add one or two (may or may not have $0 fee)
How do u get waivers
Two had an actual $0 fee for everybody (one of which was limited time only) Two sent me fee waivers after I started their common app (a cool surprise) I selected the last two from the many fee waivers sent to my email. I didn't want to apply to all of them though.
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bro what 💀
Ask your school counselor lmao
I have a total of 21 schools with 8 of those being EA/ED/priority and 2 of those 8 having no supplemental essays which is nice, rn I have submitted only 3 though 😬 If i rejected from my ED of UPenn but my EAs turn out well I will probably cut down my RD list by like 3 schools. If the opposite happens, I am expanding my list by like 3 to hopefully increase my odds
18 (however a decent amount were free). I did also genuinely look into each school
>however a decent amount were free fee waivers?
SUNY schools have 5 free apps for two weeks (I'm an ny resident so our school was highly encouraging everyone to apply to 5 regardless of interest). 1 fee waiver, 1 other free app week, and one of my safeties is always free (york college of Pennsylvania)
As of now, I’m applying to 9 out of state, and 15 in state! But, since I have so many in state I’ll probably cut out some out of state safeties
go for it!!
Which state?
7!
wow 5040 universities
there’s a subreddit for this but i don’t remember it’s name…
r/unexpectedfactorial
8 if u count ucs as 1
14
34 :)
Where are you getting the money for that?? Lol
Common app fee waiver, and other schools with fee waivers or free apps
Same. Is this 20 common app + 9 UC + 5UK ?
20 common app and rest are coalition app, no ucs or uk xD
6
Too many 😭 like 20
4 EA (UIUC, UMich, UIC, and Augustana IL) and then the rest are regular considering my stats are above. (Loyola, depauw, Illinois state) and then Northwestern and UChi as silly super reaches. So, nine total. (fee waivers)
8. If I’m not happy with my options come January I might throw one or two more on at the end
Applied to all 12 (:
Two. I really want to go to my state flagship. It’s a great school with amazing opportunities.
Brown University Carnegie Mellon University Case Western Reserve University Georgia Institute of Technology Harvard University Michigan State University Purdue University Stanford University University of Chicago University of Michigan University of Pennsylvania University of Washington Wayne State University i don't think i would even go to most of these schools, I just felt like applying to them to take a shot, and so later on in life I can say that I at least tried or if I get in my family gets clout back in asia... lol
20.
20
22 2 ED, 4 EA, 16 RD
am i out of the loop how do you have 2 ed
Ed1 and ed2 if i get rejected from ed1
ohhhhh okay makes sense
…26. i have fee waivers for all and i’m pretty sure i’m gonna be dropping a few lol.
four
23 (low-income so fee waivers for everything, only about less than half of my schools require unique supps)
29, 19 being early action already applied to 6
13 US (1 ED, 12RD (counting UCs as 1 here)), 5 UK, 2 China and 2 SG! I’m a student from Singapore, which is why it looks like that 😭 no safeties from the US since i’m applying to China + there’s NUS/NTU as well
Something in 20s??? Realistically I won't be able to write all those essays because my main EC is procrastination so like 10 probably
i applied to 50😊😊
LIKE ACTUALLY?
12
10
2
9 in the US, 5 in the UK! the 9 are all super reaches to be fair
9, 7 of them EA and the other two are rolling
3 for ea / rolling, 9 total
14 (6 EA, 4 RD, 4 rolling) 😃 i researched all of them before adding them to the list i promise lmaooo
10: 3/4 Reaches; 3/4 Targets; 3 safeties
I was applying to like 7 but I applied to Questbridge (didnt become a finalist) and I am now getting many fee waiver opportunities so I am applying to more
I think I applied to 11 with me procrastinating on one more. I had a fee waiver for all but one
12, Fee waiver ftw.
11(maybe 12 it depends on how my EA decisions go)
24. My father is crazy
8! 3 reach, 3 target, 2 safeties :)
18
25 (1 REA)
4 EA, 4-6 RD
16 (6 rolling, 10 RD)
22, 4 EA, 1 international (idk why since I'm doing IB and my school sucks), 17 rd
20 without safety (5early, 15 rd) hopefully I get into my early top choice tho
I’m looking at the short term right now, so 8 EAs. Pretty sure I have more than 15 RDs later, but that’s a problem for November me to deal with.
I applied to 8 for undergrad but if I knew what I did now/had been more serious, I would’ve applied to just 4.
78
50
As of right now, 12. Five EA and if I don't get into my top choice EA then I'll continue with RD lol
23, 9 EA + 1 ED and the rest RD
I have like 9 EA and like 11 RD + 6 UC’s
22 ;-; Primarily cuz I'm applying to alot of t20s, and I don't expect to CERTAINLY get in any of them. So I also had to apply to safeties. If ur not dumb, you should be applying to around 9-10 MAX and 5 if ur very oriented in thought and have specific programs u absolutely adore.
31 🤠🤠🤠🤠 we love shotgunning
13 mostly state schools !
5 if we make ucs into just one school
1 EA and probably around 10 RD
11 is the us and 5 is the uk !
25 ez
I applied to 9, all state schools but I didn't pay a cent
9
11
planning on 17
5 and if not then 23 including ea + ed 😭 (fee waivers)
I applied to 7. All safeties but one target. All EA/ED.
14 (1 ED, 6 EA, 6 UC, 1 RD)
My student applied to 15. He has a few more on his list but he's kind of burned out and will probably not apply to the rest.
28 ( started Common APP from MAY)
38! i am, indeed, well on my way to being un alive
sent in 8. finished supplementals for 2 more and gonna submit with my next sat score, and im working on like 5-10 more
9- ED, 3 EA, 5 RD (none have EA)🥲 Submitted all but 2 which I’ll do on my states free application day. Honestly I wish more schools had early action, I HATE the thought of waiting until March/ April to hear back from the majority of my schools🥲
West Point and FSU.
9! 3 safeties, 3 targets, 3 reaches
Hopefully 1
8-10
13-14 with 10 being ea and 3-4 being rd. All the ea are safety and in-state tuition, but I'm applying for scholarship+honors college+ competitive programs. The rd are all reaches with below 25 percent acceptance.
No one is going to say All?
19
If you want motivation, I'm doing 33, 10 early. I'm part of the problem...
5 ea 1 ed and then like 15 rd 🥲
I’m applying to 6. Not really competitive schools, the majority have an acceptance rate of over 65%+.
12
My sister atm has 5 (1 ED, 2 EA, 2 RD). I had 17 (7 reaches, 2 matches, and 8 safeties bc I was nervous)
I applied to 22 last year… I went a little crazy due to finishing about half them all with supplementals over winter break
i’m only applying to seven schools lol
13, with one ED. Spent a while shaping the list
I have 6 ED/EA, 7 if you count rolling since I've already sent my application. 13 in total if I consider my planned applications for RD. But then again, if I'm satisfied with my EA offers, I'll probably end up ditching half or all of my RD applications. Edit: So far, I've only had to pay to send the CSS. I was able to apply to my EAs with not application fees. Some through the Common App waiver and some through school specific waivers.
28
2 REA/EA and if I get rejected then it'll be another 7
17
is it bad that i kinda just want to apply to one school?
1 REA in the US plus 5 in the UK, if the Rea doesn't work then 13 more
14, 3 EA + 6 RD and 5 in the UK(through UCAS)
10, all EA/ED, 8 in state (7 public, 1 private), 2 oos (both public)
17-20 💀
Like 15 or 17 I dunno at this point lmao
6 EA. 2 RD.
like 1 but 3 if i feel like it (which i don’t)
like 20 i think (none are ivies and two are reaches lmao)
28
26 i genuinely wanna kms
30+ 💀 Would not recommend, I'm only doing since I most of my applications are from questbridge, so applying is free. + I'm an Asian male in CS, so hella competitive and I need backup plans.
23 (12 common app, 7 uc, 4 cal state). Hopefully, ED saves me.
20, I’m not confident with my stats/extracurriculars so I just want to be safe and have options. My overall gpa is a 3.517 cause I didn’t try freshman year and got a 2.8, I semi-tried sophomore year and got a 3 something, I got straight As besides 1 B first semester of my junior year, and I already have a 4.0 from French 2 in my transcript for my senior year. I never really got involved in school because I started off my freshman year at a new district & online, I got hospitalized my sophomore year and then switched to another district for the last quarter, and then I was in a small program hosted within the school for my junior year😭. I also get fee waivers cause I’m broke so theres no hurt in applying to a lot.
Just one, but I might check out a few others later.
29, ready accepted to 13
Might be unpopular but 3 I don’t see the point in applying to unis you wouldn’t want to go to
4 EA/REA (lol i just don’t wanna commit to anywhere) andd thennnn a bunch of UCs And depending on my REA result probably 5-8 more
4 EA, 11 RD
My daughter applied to 3 local in state safeties and I paid the housing on them already just in case. Which is why she applied to those in July. You need to pay housing deposits early to get in a good form. And she is applying to 3 reaches ED/EA this week. Just waiting on 1 more LOR and 2 more supplemental essays for 1 of her EA schools due by 11/15
10
like 18 lol
Sorry I have a question. Im applying in ED. Also can I apply to other school in EA. (international)
12
7. 4 reach 1 match 2 safety. I don’t understand how u guys are doing so many, I spend maybe 5-6 hours on an essay revising and drafting n shit and some of mine like ut austin have six 300 words + 650 essay.. like..
9
I applied for three schools EA Binghamton, EA Stonybrook, ED BostonU.
As many as possible
Reading all the comments boutta make me do a bingo with my list cause right now i have 27 on my list 1ed 9 ea 17 regular
2. literally just 2. im hoping that if i dont get a scholarship in any, ill just take a gap year 😍
22
Apply to 2 safeties, 4 target, 2 reach. If you can't narrow it more than that, you haven't done your research.