<p>In your experience, how useful has Princeton Review's counselor-o-matic been? Are the schools they put up as reaches/matches/safeties really well categorized? Some people suggested it to me, but I don't know, it seems kind of weird. Some of my "matches" seem overly optimistic.</p>
<p>It's changed at least once. When I first did it, maybe a year ago, I got what I think were realistic predictions (I preferred and got into the one it listed at my #1 match). When I tried it again a few months ago, it gave me overly pessimistic predictions. They may have changed it again since then...</p>
<p>In any case, don't trust the website to tell you where you will or won't get in, and don't let it pick what schools are the best fits for you. It's a good place to get a rough idea where you might want to go, but after that, you're on your own.</p>
<p>I completely agree with chalk. I put in my stuff last year sometime, even lower stats than I have now, and I got results that were somewhat realistic...Now, whatever I do, Emory is a reach no matter what (it was a match for me last year) and my match schools have avg 3.5 GPAs while mine is easily a 3.8 and my test scores are much higher. I don't understand it.</p>
<p>Princeton Review has just re-done its whole website, so any kinks in Counselor-O'Matic may be worked out.</p>
<p>If I were you, I'd check the school websites and see how you compare to their other applicants.</p>
<p>It is probably a good indicator to a point. Obviously it doesn't say if a school is a borderline reach/match. For instance if I say I don't play a varsity sport with everything else being the same, the schools with 98 selectivity become reaches.</p>
<p>I just tested it out...mmm, I have a 4.0 and a 1600, I'm extracurricularly involved, and I live in California...and it told me that UC Davis was a reach. So, uh, I think it's probably just a little screwed up....</p>
<p>Yes, I did that a few weeks ago just to see what I'd get...my "matches" were actually safeties, my safeties were more competitive than my matches, and no reach schools even came up. It seems like a random generator, lol.</p>
<p>stupid piece of <strong><em>. i lost confidence because of that piece of *</em></strong>. piece of ***.</p>
<p>One value it might have is if it introduces you to a school you never heard of before....Then you can go and research it. Any survey, list or recommendation has a limit. I have found the best use of these types of programs or lists is to glean information about the school to help in creating your own list. It is also interesting to change a single entry and see the effects.</p>
<p>Entropicgirl! I agree. UC-San Diego was one of my reaches ... I got into Stanford EA.</p>
<p>I think C-O-M is highly innacurate, Auriferous. If you're searching, I say make a list of your values. Urban? Suburban? Conservative? Commune? Good gender ratio? All males and me? Oh, sorry, sidetracked there. But seriously, go through FISKE guide. (Although note it's highly favorable portrayal of Duke, as well as the fact that the author is standing in front of the Duke admissions office on the back cover, always found that funny...)</p>
<p>I don't like COM...
It says that the University of Rochester is a Weak Reach for me....</p>
<p>Guess where I am going next year....
University of Rochester</p>
<p>Hmn. It seems everyone else is getting an opposite effect. :P It's giving me schools like Bowdoin as a match, even though I set it to crappy ECs and am using 10th grade test scores. Mostly I've been looking at it's fit and match ratings when looking up all of the spamtastic colleges that have been invading my online and RL inbox.</p>
<p>Anyway, I'll go ahead and look at the Fiske guide. I've got plenty of time anyway, seeing as I'm just a curious sophomore.</p>
<p>Nope, I'm getting the same thing as you. It's giving me schools like U of Washington in STL as a match as well as the military academies as matches. The reaches are hardly reaches and I doubt I'd make it into half of my safety schools.</p>
<p>It also doesn't seme to take in-state status into account. A 21 ACT puts me automatically accepted at KU, and I told it I had a 27. It listed KU as a match.</p>
<p>Great tool but known to be somewhat optimistic. For instance, your stats could make you look like a shoe in at a top school, but once the EDS, alumni, URM, states taht are underepresented, and other groups are factored in, plus the fact that there may be 10 kids with your high stats for every spot, then you really want to always tkeep this advice in mind..., especially now a days, to find a sAfety you'd be OK with.</p>