Applying to College: Why You Should Apply to More than One Collegehere
How many colleges should you apply to? You’ve done the whole college search routine: you’ve requested free college info, narrowed down your options, made the campus visit, and know that you need to start applying to colleges.
There are plenty of options to consider and while you may think you have found the perfect college and you just can’t (or won’t) picture yourself anywhere else, there are a few very good reasons why you should apply to more than one college!
Acceptance
Yes, My College Guide knows how bad you want in to that college. Your SAT scores and your GPA fall within the required college admission guidelines, you have leadership roles and even community service behind you – but sometimes, sometimes, you won’t make it in due to some part of your application not meeting requirements or that your test scores don’t match, or that the admissions officer is simply having a bad day — whatever secret reason why you won’t get in to your first choice college. You need to have a back-up plan — which is why it is so important to make the college campus visit to a few colleges and universities.
Indecision
What if you made the college campus visit and you can’t decide between a few colleges? Shelling out the college application fee multiples could really be worth it in this case: you can base your college enrollment on what college lets you in. Also – it won’t hurt to find out what college will not only let you in but cover more of your college tuition!
Financial Aid
Applying to more than one college can help you figure out how much you really want to pay! After you receive your college acceptance from more than just one college (inexpensive college or not), you will find out how much of your tuition is covered by financial aid. Some schools have better financial aid than others so if you apply to more than one college, you will easily see what school expects you to pay more out of your own pocket, and who will let you in for less!
Competing Colleges
Okay, so this sort of ties into financial aid but competing colleges (think peer colleges or Ivy League like Cornell University and Stanford University) could give you a financial aid break (or maybe at least match your parent(s) contributions) if they know that you are accepted at a competitor’s school. So, students who are accepted at competing colleges can leverage that selective admission status to gain more financial help to attend the college they really want to attend. Just make sure that if you are dreaming “Ivy League”¯ that you apply to more than your dream school.
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