I think there are a few other reasons for students sending out more applications. 1. I think some are expanding their list outside of historical geographic norms for political reasons. 2. Some are expanding their list because finding a financial match has moved up over social fit or academic match. With a shrinking applicant pool, casting a wider net can find more bargains in the college marketplace. Especially for high achieving students. 3. The Common App has 335 colleges on it that require no application fee and no essay making it super easy to add colleges to your list with no extra effort or cost.