Barrons page 83
Some students apply for admission only to their first-choice school, while others apply to several schools. Which plan do you agree with, and why? Be sure to include details and examples to support your opinion.
I am of the opinion that is better to apply to several schools instead of only to your first-choice school. I think that this plan gives you more options to be accepted in one university, help you improve your applications and open you other opportunities that you could not have considered.
I think that applying to just one school is very risky. Probably, you first-choice school is one of the best of the country so it receives a lot of applications each year and the selection process is extremely competitive. Therefore, you have to consider that the odds of not being accepted are high. If this is the case, you will have to wait until the next year to go to the university. I think that taking this risk is unnecessary and you avoid it by simply applying to more than one school.
Secondly, doing all the paper work for different universities lets you improve your applications. As different universities ask you to write about different aspects of your personality, interests, goals, etc. you learn more about yourself. As a result, you can improve all your applications, especially the one for your first-choice school, and your chances to be admitted increase.
Finally, doing the application process for other schools than your first-option school lets you know other universities. Sometimes, when you finish high school, you just consider one university. This might be the one where your parents or brother go, and the one which your favorite professor recommended you. However, there could be other good universities with different academic curricula and some of these other schools could even fit to your goals and interest better. Exploring and applying to other schools, give you the opportunity to learn