Only one -- and there was no question of my getting in. I am a minority, and my grades and test scores were top notch

Yes! Good point. I was referring to high school graduates and how many schools they applied to for their undergrad, but I'm sorry, I should have been more clear. And, Dominic, I think you've got a good point. Admissions is incredibly cut-throat these days, at least from my experience. An evident increase in selectivity is particularly apparent in public schools. I know in NY, for example, the SUNY system is turning away thousands or students that, less than a decade ago, would have been accepted without question.

My niece is applying to 10 or more schools so she has choices regarding financial aid.

Very good point Liz! Most students do not think to call and attempt to get admission fees waived (I know I sure didn't). Going to a school you'd like to attend is a very important part of the college experience and an application fee should not stand in the way of that. I personally only applied to two schools, the one I really wanted to attend and a backup.

I applied to 3 schools all of them in Pennsylvania. I agree with an earlier comment that applications fees can really add up which is one of the reasons I didn't apply to more schools.

Yes I actually just submitted an article relating to this... One of the biggest mistakes of college applicants is students who don't investigate ways to cut application costs. If you just ask the admissions counselors to waive the application fees, they almost always will, which saved my family hundreds of dollars.

Yea even though the Common App has made it easy to apply to multiple schools, the cost makes it very prohibitive. At $50 or so a pop many people can't afford to apply to every school they're interested in, which sometimes means missing out on your dream school or having to settle for a safety. Also, admissions are ridiculously competitive nowadays and it's only going to get worse as the teenage population grows.

Harvard University that is.

I only applied to one, Harvard....and I got in

I applied to 3 schools and my fallback had rolling admissions, so I didn't need to apply. I feel it was much easier to get into good schools when I was in HS. I don't think my alma mater would accept me now...