I’ve recently gone through my college list with CollegeData’s college chances calculator. Does anyone know how reliable the results are? If they are reliable, how many (reach/maybe/good bet) schools should I apply to? What is considered a target school by this standard? Any insight would be greatly appreciated:)
Most of these college chance calculator’s will only base chances on your stats: GPA/Test scores. No calculator can take into account the subjective areas of the application: Essays/EC’s, special circumstances etc… The same can be said for the chancing thread here on College Confidential. I would use the results as guidelines to help form your college list. If you have Naviance at your HS, it is a much better indicator.
Thanks for your advice! How does one use Naviance as an indicator?
Naviance will give you an idea of where you fellow HS students have been accepted and their GPA/test scores that got them in.
Sorry, I’m unable to find that feature. Do you happen to remember which button to click on?
Your HS needs to participate in the program, so you need to check with your HS guidance counselor.
I am wondering that too. It seems everyone here suggests Naviance - but my school doesn’t participate in that.
I have my schools saved in CollegeData, Niche, and Parchment and the chances seem to differ drastically. However the order of selectivity of the schools remain consistent in each. It is pretty easy to spot my safeties and High or Out of Reach schools - because they are at the top and bottom of the list when I sort by chances. But the ones in the middle I have no idea.
For Example - Emory University for my stats:
College Data - 50%
Niche - 18%
Parchment - 43%
I feel like maybe 25% the right number just by reading about the school and admissions…but I really have no idea.