How many Sixth Forms should I go for?

I only applied to two schools, simply because I am London-based pupil who only was interested in one local school but had the semi-satisfying backup of my current school. It all depends on situation.

Judging by the fact that you're an international student, I'm guessing that your 'backups', if it weren't for the large amounts of UK school applications, would not be in the UK so don't worry about others and do what you think is right. Also, what you're doing (applying to a ton of schools) really isn't that uncommon.

But like you said, more exams = more fees + stress. I'm guessing that your top choice is Westminster, so you should think about how you'll manage the amount of energy you put into each test and interview prior to it. Have a plan of which schools you're prioritising, and write them in order (although they may change as you take the exams/do interviews later). Good luck and let me know how it goes

P.S. I regret not applying to more schools, even though I wouldn't go to them, simply for the experience of interviews and exams. Remember that such opportunity won't come back!

Hey hey, I'm planning to apply to 6 schools: Westminster School, Brighton College, Sevenoaks, and probably Wellington, Oundle, or D'Overbroeck's, though I don't know the latter two as well. Seeing other applicants on tsr, I've mostly seen people who have applied to or are applying to 4 or fewer schools, so maybe I'm overdoing it?

Considering that I am an international applicant who
a) will have a more difficult time getting into my desired schools since there are fewer international places and therefore more vigorous competition, and more importantly,
b) have to arrange invigilation for entrance exam tests at my local British Council at a fee for each school

For each of the aforementioned schools apart from Wellington, I am required to sit 4 separate papers for each of my A Level subjects or the equivalent for Sevenoaks, the IB school. That's 20 papers altogether. Given that I am doing my GCSEs, I'll most definitely still have a lot of homework simultaneously, and my extracurricular activities as well. Not sure if I'm able to juggle that.

Since I am an international applicant with no classmates who are also going through this process to compare and assess, I'm not sure where I stand. I don't want to apply to all 6 schools, getting into them and wasting the time and energy spent researching and contacting all of them, the fees and procedures involved and also affecting my school life/academics. Yet, I'm also afraid of being too confident by only applying to my top picks, which are all pretty prestigious, and not getting into any and them.

Here are some of my achievements/stats in the past year:

Finals in Cambridge international young debaters' competition
Yale MUN 'Best Delegate' in one of the committees in Janurary
Other 'best delegates' in lesser-known local MUN conferences this October and April
A Chair/organizer in a local school MUN conference in February, and will be in another one soon
BPO Silver
BMO Bronze
Student Council Secretary
Volleyball team but it's the least competitive sport in my school and I'm not that good
ABRSM Classical Guitar Grade 5
An internal poetry competition prize at my school
English Ambassador in Year 9 (a school thing)
Oratory speech competition this March, no prize
Group Discussion competition in Year 9, same as above

I like to write prose and poetry, but I don't have any finished or fantastic pieces (master procrastinator) I also like to play chess but mainly with friends or on chess.com, I haven't entered any competitions or anything like that.

I'm pretty passionate about global affairs, politics, and literature that has societal commentary but my IGCSEs are science-heavy. I guess I'm alright at the sciences as well, and I don't mind doing it for A Levels as a supplementary subject to my main ones. Because of my indecisiveness, I am pretty keen on applying to Sevenoaks and Wellington, which both offer an IB curriculum.

I've sidetracked a little haha but my main question is still about the number of Sixth forms I should apply to because the deadlines are soon. Though if you have had a similar experience and have any advice to give about A Level subject choices/combos, IB vs A Level, applying as an international applicant, or just Sixth Form, in general, please lmk!