<p>In my experience searching for schools, there seem to be no true matches for me, just reaches and safeties. There seems to be a jump from schools where my admission is all but guaranteed to crap shoots. Knowing that I am in a place with many equally or more qualified students, I wanted to get other opinions on this observation.</p>
<p>I’m really interested in what you all think. I am struggling because all of my potential schools are looking like reaches on some level; I’m more competitive at some than others.</p>
<p>I feel as though I’m in the same boat as you, to be honest. I feel as though there is a gap in the echelons between the “reaches” for me (NU, WUSTL, JHU) and the schools that are essentially a lock (UW-M, UM-TC). The only school that really looks like a match is UM-Ann Arbor and even that is a bit of a reach out of state. It seems strange that there is such a gap but I think that has to do with the fact that the highest qualified applicants apply to ALL the reaches in order to ensure their acceptance at one of them. I believe this, in turn, lowers the acceptance rate at these schools because they really only have a certain amount of spaces no matter how many people apply.</p>
<p>“In my experience searching for schools, there seem to be no true matches for me, just reaches and safeties. There seems to be a jump from schools where my admission is all but guaranteed to crap shoots.”</p>
<p>You’ve got it about right.</p>
<p>JMoney:</p>
<p>I highly doubt U of M, OOS, is a match for you but NU/ WUSTL/ JHU are reaches. Michigan is in the same tier as those schools for out-of-state. If you need to see last year’s decision thread to verify this, have at it</p>
<p>“There seems to be a jump from schools where my admission is all but guaranteed to crap shoots.”</p>
<p>Two possibilities spring to mind:</p>
<p>1) You are an absolutely stellar applicant, and truly can get in anywhere other than HYPSM without too much trouble. In which case, if money is no object, just make your list and stop fretting.</p>
<p>and </p>
<p>2) You simply have not taken much time to look at all of the potentially “matchy” institutions out there. Run a couple of the search engines again for institutions that offer your major, then take a long hard look at the places you haven’t considered at all before. Your “match” could be in a part of the country you have been ignoring.</p>
<p>liv4physicz:
I may be selling myself a little short in calling those 3 reaches, and I’m aware UofM is absurd for OOS as well. But the OP has it all right when students have the typical statistics (3.8+ GPA, 2000+ SAT) everything either seems like a lock or a reach</p>
<p>Are there matches for highly competitive applicants?
“There seems to be a jump from schools where my admission is all but guaranteed to crap shoots.”</p>
<p>I was in the same situation. (I had very high numbers.)
I had 1 safety (State U) and 15+ reach schools on my list. I thought I had no match schools.</p>
<p>I agree with you, djz750, and have been saying what you are saying for years. With great numbers and ECs, a young person is academically qualified (or overqualified!) for every school in the country. However, because of the number of applicants at the very top schools, those schools are reaches for everyone.</p>
<p>Have a true safety or two (one you can be happy at, you can get in at and you can afford) and it matters not how the rest are labeled. Apply where you want to go and where you can afford, and forget about the labels. Mix it up by applying where you can get merit aid options based on your stats.</p>
<p>UoM accepts students from our high school with GPA 3.8uw and 2055 SAT 1. Only rejected one with 4.0 uw GPA, probably lacks course rigor.</p>
<p>Yeah, I had the same problem when I was looking at schools. I applied to 3 I was sure I would get into and 7 reaches. But with the 3 I was sure I could get into, I made sure that they had a good reputation for what I wanted to go into and that they had good honors programs/colleges. I haven’t had the experience of being part of an honors college or program, but I think they can make a safety feel at least a bit more like a match, since you’ll be with kids with higher test scores and GPAs, plus some of them have special classes, seminars, research projects, study rooms, etc. geared towards the honors students. But based on some kids from my school’s results, UoM could be more of a match.</p>
<p>Any other thoughts or strategies?</p>
<p>Look at the admit rates. HYPS are sub 10%, that’s a reach for anyone. USC, Northwestern and BC are “nearby” statistically but have 20 - 30% admit rates, to my mind those are matches. Establish your own criteria for admit rates as well as academic stats and you should soon have 3 buckets to work with.</p>
<p>no matches? no schools where your stats place you in the middle 50% of applicants? no colleges where folks with your profile tend to get accepted at a 40%-60% rate? no colleges where your guidance counselors can show you that kids in your school with your profile have been accepted at a 40-60% rate?</p>
<p>my point is that taking a less anecdotal and more systematic approach may help you.</p>
<p>ignore the names of the schools and use the many search tools out there to obtain preliminary lists of schools where youtr stats indicate that you are smack in the middle.</p>
<p>I do need to have a very long talk with my guidance counselor… The schools I’ve found where i am right in the middle or even on the upper end still don’t give me chances that good of admittance.</p>