How Many Colleges Should You Apply to in 2026? The Math Behind a Smart List: Numbers Don’t Lie
Let’s start with a little Algebra 1, a kind of word problem similar to those you might encounter on the SAT or ACT. No, wait — don’t go! You can handle this. I promise. Say your goal at the gym is to do a certain amount of work on the bench press. You lift 135 pounds through a vertical distance of 16 inches (0.406 meters), three sets of 10 reps, 30 reps total. The mathematical “work” in your workout, where Work = Force × Distance, comes out to: 135 lb × 4.448 N/lb × 0.406 m × 30 ≈ 7,300 […]
