High school seniors often debate on how many college applications to send. Applying to too few colleges may be risky in terms of being accepted, while applying to too many may cause undo stress. Having a guideline to follow can help narrow the choices while also including a spectrum of choices.
The Dream School
All students have imagined themselves attending a certain college. Some daydream of studying in the Quad Libraries at Harvard, training at the Air Force Academy, or creating a first screenplay at the University of Southern California. Others may think about attending their parents' alma mater, playing on the football field of Notre Dame, or traveling to the big city to attend college.
A dream school is a college that a student ultimately would like to attend. These schools may sometimes be referred to as a "reach school," which means the school may be moderately difficult to obtain admission considering each student's ability.
Students should not be discouraged to apply to their dream school. The worst that can happen is that the college does not accept the student; however, the best that can happen is that admission is offered.
The Safety School
Safety schools are colleges that the student will receive admission to without any forethought. Most community colleges will accept students who have a high school diploma, so these schools are great options for the safety school option. State universities can also be a great safety school option. For example, Minnesota state colleges will accept students who graduate in the top half of their class of obtain a 21 or higher on their ACT.
Safety schools are a wonderful option in that they provide students with a sense of comfort. Once a student is admitted to a college, the pressure to gain acceptance ceases. Students breathe a sigh of relief to have at least one school that they know they attend in the fall.
The Three Colleges In-between
The next three colleges that students should apply to are the "in-between" school or schools that are an accurate match. This is based on academic potential, social aspects, and career opportunities. Students need to research colleges that regularly admit students with their similar ACT/SAT score ranges and grade point averages. College internet searches and school programs like Naviance and Career Information Systems have excellent search components to match students with colleges.
Overall, seniors should consider applying to five colleges. The colleges should be a dream school, a safety school, and three schools in-between. Narrowing choices to five will force students to narrow college choices to a manageable number. The five colleges will provide students an opportunity to focus and concentrate to ensure quality applications are submitted.
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