To narrow down your college list, ask yourself this one simple question

As regular readers of this blog may know, I occasionally browse College Confidential to see what sorts of issues college applicants and their parents are grappling with. A few days ago, I was glancing through a what-are-some-realistic-schools-for-me? thread started by an excellent student seeking academically strong realistic and safety schools. One poster suggested a well-regarded but not obscenely competitive East Coast university that seemed to be a clear match for the student, and that he would likely be accepted to without too much difficulty.   The students response was something to the effect of, But its not on the Common App, so why should I waste my time?   My immediate thought when I read that was, If you cant be bothered to apply to a school because its not on the Common App, then you shouldnt be applying there at all.   Its possible that the student was so convinced he/she was a shoo-in for very top schools that it seemed unnecessary to spend the time filling out an extra app. That is, of course, more than a little risky given how thoroughly unpredictable admissions can be. Unfortunately, and for a variety of reasons, many students dont fully understand the odds at top schools until the rejections start coming in. But its always a shame when students who would likely be admitted to outstanding schools just below the Ivy/Stanford/Duke/Chicago level of selectivity end up at their absolute backup school because they couldnt be bothered to research places like, say, Lehigh or Emory.   But back to my original point.   As Ive written about before, most colleges have a perverse incentive (in the form of USNWR rankings, among other things) to keep their applicant pools as artificially high as possible. Accepting the Common App is one easy way to do that after all, if applicants can apply with the mere click of a mouse, whos to say they shouldnt?   As a result, the onus to decide whether a long-shot application to a particular school is really a good idea gets shifted more towards the applicants. (I know that Harvard has like a 5% acceptance rate, but really, its like a lottery, so I might as  well just thrown in an application  just to see what happens. Its easy enough) But after reading that exchange on CC, it occurred to me that one way applicants can wrest back some control over the process and prevent themselves from getting seduced into submitting applications to schools that probably arent a good fit anyway, is to ask themselves one big question: if this school didnt accept the Common App, would I still apply?   Basically, the amount of work youre willing to do to apply to a school is a direct indicator of how willing you are to attend. Admissions officers also pay attention to your level of demonstrated interest, which includes the Why this college essay? If youve clearly done your research and can discuss specific aspects of a school that make it a good match for you, your application is much more likely to get a favorable reception.   And it should go without saying, although I feel obligated to reiterate it here, that you should only apply to schools that you would genuinely consider attending. Otherwise, youre wasting everyones time and energy, and probably your parents money. If youre only applying to a school youre not really interested in because you can do so easily, I have some advice for you: cross it off your list. That includes safety schools, by the way: ideally, you should have one,  maybe two, schools that are good fits academically, socially, and financially; that you would be happy to attend; and that you can easily gain acceptance to.   Schools need to protect their yield rates, so given the choice between academically/extra-curricularly equivalent applicants, theyre going to say yes to the one whos more obviously enthusiastic about attending (aka, Tufts syndrome, whereby schools wait-list top applicants who are clearly using their university as a backup).   If, on the other hand, you cant be bothered to type your name and various other personal info into a separate website, and maybe write an additional 250-500 words for a school that would be an excellent fit for you, thats a pretty good indicator that you havent seriously considered what youre looking for (or that you have seriously unrealistic expectations about how easily youll be able to waltz into a school with 20% acceptance rate). So take your time, do your research, and yes, be willing to spend a few extra hours if doing so will help you get where you want to go. You dont want to give yourself too many options just for the sake of having options, but at the other extreme, you never know where you will or wont get in, and having  good options is something you dont want to cheat yourself out of.