Am I applying to not enough reach schools?

Answered

Yes, this is the year to be brave and take some calculated risks Katie!

What do you have to lose? Just like 10 hours per application. But you might get in somewhere awesome.

Remember the following-

1.) Fewer than 1/2 the applicants are going to be submitting test scores.

2.) Also there are a great numbers of people from the Class of 2024 who are taking a gap year. At top schools like Harvard, Stanford and Yale, it's like 20% of the Freshman admits so this is not good news because there are going to be fewer places. Therefore you have to apply to more reach schools this year to make up for the difficulty factor. So if you thought you should apply to 2 or 3 reaches, I highly suggest 5 or 6 because the stats are going to be abysmal as the school gets harder and harder. I think the real battle is going to be for the 2nd and 3rd tier college who are going to be more lenient and perhaps accept more students since their yields are suffering and they need to make the revenues to stay vibrant and in the game.

3.) CV feels much the same so they are even suggesting that if your SAT is within 60 pts of the 25% percentile score so like 1260 if the range is 1320-1480 you should submit your test scores. Same with ACT,they are saying if your ACT is within 3 pts of the 25 % percentile score like 29 if the school is 32-35, you should submit your ACT score.

I don't know how many applications you can handle but a good mix would be like 5 Reaches, 3 Targets and 2 Safeties. I think too many people load up on Targets and Safeties and because it's comforting to have some Safety options. I think the shape of your school list should like like Funnel pointing down not a Funnel pointing up.

Good Luck with your revised selections.