<p>In general, how do I know when I'm "matched" at a school? And how far above a school's averages do my stats need to be for it to be considered a "safety"?</p>
<p>Specifically: I'm ranked 1/341, have a 4.0 GPA (we don't weight ever), SAT 2280 with 800 subjects in Literature and US history and 740s in bio-E and math II, 5 AP's all with 5s. Part-time job, state-ranked debater, no sports because medically not allowed to. 1500 hours of volunteering for a 501(c)3 nonprofit i founded myself--we've raised more than $400,000. Writing my essays on a solo trip to Spain I paid for myself, the 501(c)3 I founded, and my own severe illness freshman year (3 separate essay topics for various prompts). Thoughts?</p>
<p>I would think that someone ranked 1st in his/her class, 2280 SAT and 4.0 GPA would have the brains to figure that out…aprarently not. Talk to your college counselor about your match/safety schools. You can also look at 50th percentile stats and compare your stats to see how you match up.</p>
<p>It’s actually a more interesting question than you might think Howdou</p>
<p>There is no consensus on CC as to the meaning of the word ‘match’.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Some people think a ‘match’ is a school where your statistics are equivalent to the statistics of the entering class. (This is more or less what you suggest).</p></li>
<li><p>Others think that a ‘match’ is a school where your chance of admission is at least X%, but not as Great as Y% (which would make it a safety school). People don’t even agree on what “X” is. Some think it can be as low as 30%, some 50%, some even higher.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Under the first definition, almost no one would be a ‘match’ for schools like HYSPM. In fact many posters do take this view. Under the second definition, someone like OP would be considered a ‘match’ at … probably all … of these schools.</p>
<p>Getting back to OP – given the semantic ambiguity of the term, what question are you asking?</p>
<p>Safety is also somewhat complicated. With some schools, you would be a statistical certainty to get in. Other schools are perversely unpredictible. And some schools have a reputation for not wanting to be a safety school, and will decline students if they feel that they are ‘just a safety school’.</p>
<p>(Check out the thread for Wash U, for example, you will conclude it’s not a safety school for anyone).</p>
<p>In general, I would say that a safety is a school where you have a 90+% chance of getting in. Schools that offer significant merit scholarships will generally work for someone with your numbers. Also, schools that recruit YOU (i.e., all that nice mail you’ve been getting from schools you’ve never heard of) are also a good bet.</p>
<p>I guess what I’m asking is how do I tell how likely I am to get in somewhere? This kind of goes with the second definition. If, say, a school has an admit rate of 12%, how can I tell what my own personal chance would be? And would all schools with the same admit rate necessarily have the same chances for a particular student?</p>
<p>Also, especially with my extracurriculars being what they are I hear all the time how I shouldn’t bother applying to safeties since I’ll “get in anywhere” (I’m not taking this advice, don’t worry). What I’m looking for is some more objective input.</p>
<p>Out of reach: no chance of admission. Don’t apply. (Not likely to apply to you in most cases other than a few specialty schools.)
Reach: small chance of admission. (The usual thought is that most highly selective schools are “reach for everyone”; your academic stats merely put you in the running, but the chances are still low.)
Match: large, but not certain, chance of admission.
Safety: certain admission. Note: any early action or rolling admissions acceptance becomes an admissions safety once you know that you are accepted.</p>
<p>Cost:</p>
<p>Out of reach: affordable under no circumstances. Don’t apply.
Reach: small chance of being affordable (e.g. difficult to get merit scholarship).
Match: large, but not certain, chance of being affordable.
Safety: certainly affordable (either you can afford list price, or stated policy on need or merit aid gives enough to make it affordable).</p>
<p>For cost, look at the “net price calculator” or “financial aid estimator” on each school’s web site for an estimate.</p>
<p>Admissions can be more of a guessing game. Some moderately or less selective state universities admit by numbers and are rather transparent about their criteria and thresholds, so it should be easy to tell how likely admission is. And open admission community colleges are automatically safeties if you sign up early enough (to avoid finding every class full with a huge waiting list). However, at the upper reaches of academic stats, schools are more likely to use opaque holistic methods which can make it difficult to determine how likely you are to be admitted.</p>
<p>You should have a safety that you will be admitted to, which you will be able to afford, and which will be suitable for you and your academic interests. (Some people use community college as the safety, but if you do that, it is best to plan for that possibility rather than disappointingly backing into it after being “shut out” in April.)</p>
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<p>Blizzard of mail from various schools does not necessarily mean a high chance of admission at all of these schools, especially highly selective schools.</p>
<p>I should have clarified. Receiving mail does not make a school a safety school. However, if you receive mail from a school where (based on PSAT) you are clearly well above average, there is a good chance that this school will not reject you because they don’t want to be a safety school.</p>
<p>As to OP – Unless a school published data (and some do, I think), there is no way for us to say that someone with your stats has a 25%, 50% etc. chance of getting in to any particular school I think that the best you can do is recognize that you will have to apply to several top schools, and with your stats, you are likely to get into more than one. Include both the REALLY IMPOSSIBLE ones (i.e., admissions % less than 10%) and a few of the REALLY HARD Ones.</p>
<p>Highly selective schools like Harvard and Yale send a lot of marketing mail (to tens of thousands of students at least), but they are considered reach for everyone.</p>