<p>Ok i know a reach is like a school you may not get into and a safety is a school you'll get into for sure.
but what exactly is a match? is it like those schools that send you emails and stuff after your psat ?</p>
<p>a match is somewhere that your stats align with the incoming class</p>
<p>Wouldn’t a match be if your stats are similar to the averages of accepted students?</p>
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Pretty much, assuming it isn’t a very selective school (someone with a 4.0 and 2300 SAT wouldn’t call Harvard or Stanford a “match”).</p>
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<p>No that’s every college, hahah.</p>
<p>so basically, you cant really tell which is your match until you’ve gotten an SAT/ACT score?</p>
<p>Look mainly at the gpa and SAT/ACT range for the schools. Any schools with above 2200 or so average SAT score is a reach for everyone though.</p>
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<p>That’s a PORTION of it, sure.</p>
<p>i hate college emails</p>
<p>^ same here . i got excited when i first started getting them even from some really good schools. but then i read a post today that said their all generic soooo now theyre just annoying.</p>
<p>Yep, sorry to bring the bad news but all letters and emails are going to be generic. You rarely get one that’s unique to you. Most of the ones that you think are you unique aren’t (i.e. a college puts your name in the clouds on their cover - they do that for everyone though).</p>
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<p>Reed’s mail charmed me enough to research more then apply. Now I’m going there next year!</p>
<p>By “unique to you” I meant one that’s personalized and sent to an student specifically (rather than mass-mailed to hundreds of similar potential applicants).</p>
<p>Sorry if you misunderstood, really good to hear that college mail helped someone, though! haha</p>
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<p>Well a college is never gonna do that, obviously 
Why would they send a letter to only one kid?</p>
<p>Because he’s amazing, duh! lol</p>
<p>I dunno, but I’m just trying to keep people from getting their hopes up and thinking “They sent me mail, they must really want me (or I have a great shot at getting in)!”</p>
<p>Colleges that send you mail are not necessarily matches; I would say reaches are <50% acceptance, targets are 50-90% acceptance, safeties are 90-100% acceptance. I would take the SAT averages with a grain of salt. If your SAT is above certain schools’ average, these schools may still weigh the subjective factors much more.</p>