<p>I'm sure this is not a new idea, but boy does it feel nice when a school expresses interest in your kid. My kid wants to go to a small school with a more personal approach. Sometimes that is hard to assess, but he is certainly more attracted to the 2 schools who have taken the time to meet with him, email him, call him. All other things being equal (like $$$) even if he gets into a "better" (ranked) school my guess is he'll go to one of these 2. </p>
<p>We also have a friend who was a very high achieving kid in high school. He ended up at a school that he was "over qualified" for and he loves it. When I asked him why he went there he said, "Because they really wanted me."</p>
<p>I don't know if this is related (maybe not) but...</p>
<p>Sometimes even a great school and a reach has a good admissions department and administration, so that they handle calls from kids and the personal angle well. My son applied to an ivy and the school he is going to, both reaches for him. The ivy was pretty bad in answering his questions and the questions were not stupid ones. This other school was just great. I don't think this made a difference in our choice since my son was rejected from the ivy but I always appreciated (and still do) how thoughtfully this school answered everyone's questions and how they dealt with my son even when he was just a candidate.</p>