How many schools should I apply to, and how do I decide who doesn’t make the cut?
I’m mainly applying to private LACs, as their cultures and academics are a great fit for me. I recently went to Portland to look at some schools - I LOVED Reed and will apply ED, but other strong options include Lewis and Clark, University of Puget Sound, and Willamette.
I‘ve seen some discourse on this sub that students need to stop overapplying to schools so acceptances go up, but it seems like a catch 22 - if colleges are accepting less students because students are applying to a high amount of schools? do other students overapplying make it riskier for me to only apply to eight schools?
speaking of over applying, is it a waste of time for me to apply to extremely reachy schools like Williams? I am unlikely to get in (7% acceptance rate), and also unlikely to go. Is it not a good idea to have reach schools as some backups for my ED? On a similar note, is it not worth it to apply to schools lower on my list like UP?