<p>Here’s the thing. My kids attended a privat high school on academic scholarships. There was a guidance counselor. She recommended my son with breathtaking stats target a neighbor public U as his “reach”. He is now at Harvard with a ridiculous gpa in a “hard” field. Moral of the story: Never trust the guidance counselor - public, private or non-existant. Do your own legwork. Son told us he was viable at the most selective schools; we would have never envisioned it. This is mostly about the kid. Inititiative, vision, that stuff.</p>