<p>When someone says that an applicant is a match for a college, what does a match mean percentage wise, what does a safe math mean, and what does a safety mean percentage wise?</p>
<p>I would prefer to keep away from percentages. A safety is a college that you would really be surprised to not get accepted. A match is a college where you think your chances are good but you are still worried. A reach is a college that you don't really expect to get into.</p>
<p>The SAT is not the most important factor by a long shot, but it is a good way to judge safety/match/reach. Look at the 50% SAT range for the school. For unhooked applicants, it is a safety if you are above the 75% mark, a match if you are at the 50-60% mark, and a reach if you are at the 25-40% mark. However, this breaks down for the super elite colleges where they have 4/5 outstanding applicants for every slot. The top 12 or 15 colleges are reaches for practically everybody.</p>
<p>i'm mainly worried about UCLA, because their UC gpa cuts my gpa into shreads</p>