<p>What is "normal" for the amount of safeties, targets , and reaches?</p>
<p>Some people do the 3 safeties, 3 matches, 3 reaches. I'm not doing that, I'm doing 2 reaches 3 matches. Now I'm looking for at least 1 safety. Hope that helped but keep in mind different people do different things. I know a kid who only applied to only one school, it was a reach, it was Yale, he got in. Moral of the story, do what you feel is right!</p>
<p>1 safety if it's really a safety, 2~3 matches, lots of reaches. Everyone says to go for more reaches - but then again, that's advice from people who already got in so they don't need to worry about safety/matches</p>
<p>My list was structured around where I could get money. I also only applied to schools where I had no qualms about attending.</p>
<p>I applied to two safeties (UMD, UPitt) where I knew I'd be in the running for full-tuition and full-ride scholarships, three matches (Villanova, USC, Santa Clara) where I could conceivably get decent scholarship money, and one reach (Stanford), where maybe I could have gotten some need-based aid.</p>
<p>I got into all my schools, with merit money at everywhere but Villanova and Stanford (though Stanford did give me a little financial aid). I chose to Maryland because they gave me the best offer.</p>
<p>Making your list is all about finding a list of schools where you know you would feel comfortable about attending. The most important school is the safety. Once you get a safety you really like, you really can structure the rest of your list however you want.</p>