There’s no perfect formula for how many colleges to apply to, but 10-12 schools is a good goal. Start by making a list of your schools and organizing them by reach, target, or likely admissions statistics. For example, you can order the schools based on their previous year’s average SAT scores, their acceptance rate, or the admissions rate from your high school (if available on Naviance). As you narrow down your school list, you should aim for a balanced selection that includes 3-4 schools in each of the reach, target, and likely categories.