<p>On a total of 14, how many reaches, targets, and safeties should one apply to? </p>
<p>No specific number needed, except for safeties.</p>
<p>If you have a 100% sure thing safety (for both admissions and affordability), then you only need one.</p>
<p>If you do not have a 100% sure thing safety, but have some which are 90+% likely but not assured, you probably want three or so of them to minimize the chance of a shutout.</p>
<p>If you are willing to attend the default safety of starting at an open admission community college, you may be more willing to have a riskier application list.</p>
<p>Be sure that you actually LIKE your safety school(s).</p>
<p>For the rest of the schools, you need not bother applying to any which you would not choose over your safety school(s).</p>
<p>Thanks for the swift reply. Can a few 50-60% colleges be considered safe, regardless of my stats? </p>
<p>Also provided my schools Naviance shows that the college accepts majority if not all applicants from our school.</p>
<p>50%-60% chance of admission for you is nowhere close to “safety”.</p>
<p>What does Naviance say about the college’s acceptance of applicants in your stat range? However, be careful if the college has different selectivity levels by major or division – a Naviance plot full of acceptances to the less popular major or division may be misleading if you apply to a more popular and more selective major or division.</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus I meant, if a college has never rejected the 20-30 applicants who’ve applied in the past 6 years? Or within the stat range of my SAT score and GPA applicants have all been accepted? But yes I understand what you’re getting at. </p>
<p>Only the applicants in your stat range matter when it comes to Naviance plots. Also, be wary of older years, when the school may have been significantly less selective, as well as the caution of schools where selectivity varies by major or division.</p>
<p>There’s no prescribed ratio of safeties, targets, and reaches. Choose enough safeties that you feel assured you will be accepted into at least one, including financial consideration. Pick a few reach schools, but make sure not to fall into the trap of liking the selective school just because of their reputation. I used to be enamored with Columbia (an Ivy League school in New York, what could be better?) but after a campus tour I realized I would be miserable if I went there due to their rigid and extensive core curriculum. Of all the categories, you should have the most matches as these are the schools you are most likely going to get into/attend. Its important that you like all of these schools more than your safeties, otherwise there is no point in applying.</p>
<p>@brennz misunderstands the nature of safeties: a safety is a school where you assuredly will be admitted. If there’s a need for more than one safety it is that sometimes schools lose apps or they’re left incomplete. A safety is a place where you will be admitted, enjoy it, find your major, and are able to afford it.</p>
<p>@jkeil11 Not sure if you’ve heard of Tuft’s Syndrome - its a practice some schools use to protect their yields. Basically, superior students who haven’t demonstrated sufficient interest are wait-listed or rejected in favor of weaker students who have. </p>
<p>Unless you can foresee the future, there is no such thing as an “assured admittance” even at a school that you are overqualified for.</p>
<p>Obviously don’t go crazy on safeties (2-3 maximum), but its not preposterous to have more than one.</p>
<p>have heard of it. in fact, D was a victim of it twice. well aware of the need to show interest, but that’s all part of knowing you can get in because you’ve done what you need to do to get into a particular school. we’ll just have to disagree about whether I need to be able to see the future to tell whether a school is a safety for student.</p>
<p>At many public universities, admission is in fact assured if you have the right stats. These make good safeties.</p>