Hello everyone!
I am a high school senior who is in the middle of applying to colleges. During this process, I am hearing a lot about having some safety schools as well. Can someone explain how to tell if it is a safety? Do you need to have a GPA higher than a certain percentage of applicants? Do you just look for schools with higher acceptance rates? Should your test scores be a certain number of points about the average?
Please also explain reach schools. Is it just a reach if you are not within their 25-75 percentiles?
Safety school:
- Affordable- Little to no financial aid is needed to attend
- High acceptance rate and your stats are above the 75th percentile
- A school where you are willing to go no matter what
One possible definition:
Safety: what Gumbymom said above.
Match: 1) your stats fall into the middle 50%-- that is, you resemble a typical student statistically, AND
2) the school admits at least 25% of applicants
Reach: 1) either you are in the bottom 25% of applicants statistically-- and lack any other powerful “hook” (like being a recruited athlete or having a parent who went there),
OR
2) you are a typical applicant in the middle 50% or even the top 25% statistically, but the school admits under 25% of applicants so admission is not a sure thing for almost anyone.