<p>winchester, your viewpoint is refreshing. I agree with bclintonk, the reach/match/safety framework is still very useful, especially for narrowing down where to apply. However, once the results are in, there is no law saying you must attend the most selective school that admits you.</p>
<p>OP said: "My daughter organized her list of potential schools into “I would love to go here,” “I maybe want to go here,” and “I’d go here if I didn’t get into any of the others.”</p>
<p>DS and I had admissions reaches, admission fits and admissions safety schools in the “I would really like to go here” category. A couple were HYPed schools (e.g., Brown, that turns down 3/4 of the valedictorians that apply) and 3 of them were schools that he “loved.”</p>
<p>We also added financial aid safety schools, and DS applied to 8. He would would have been happy going to any one of those schools.</p>
<p>It’s great to fall in love with a couple of schools. But there are over 1800 non-profit public and private 4 year colleges and universities in this country, and - ideally - OP’s daughter could find 2-3 schools that are fits and safeties that she would really like to attend. </p>
<p>Shennie said: “It seems to me that students who carefully choose the schools to which they apply, apply to schools where they would be happy to attend, and pay attention to the application process usually end up with a positive outcome.”</p>
<p>YES!!! The median # of school applications nationally is 4, and 80% of students get into their 1st or 2nd choice.</p>
<p>Love Thy Safeties!!!</p>
<p>And Good Luck :-)</p>
<p>Since this post is two years old I’d like to hear how it came out for the OP’s daughter.</p>