<p>Admissions correctly claim that if you are good enough to be admitted, you will be capable of handling the work expected of you. However, if you choose to attend a reach college you should expect to graduate in the bottom half of your class or worse. Your gpa will not give you entre into the elite graduate or professional schools. And your class standing will not get you an interview slot for the most sought after entry level jobs. Your standing will not make it easy for you to get personal mentoring by a favorite professor because their limited time is reserved for their star students. Same goes for undergraduate research positions, internships, accelerated academic programs, etc. And if you are a student striving to enroll in a reach college, it is most likely that you have been an overachiever in high school making it even more difficult to overachieve in college.</p>
<p>Now I realize there are exceptions to the gloomy scenario I just described. But that is what they are, the exceptions. Attend a match college and you may find yourself in the enviable position of being a star student. </p>
<p>Our son is a perfect example. He could have probably attended the likes of Penn, Cornell or JHU where he would have been a very average student. Instead he chose to attend Rensselaer where he has a 3.75 gpa after 4 semesters which places him in the top 10% of his class. And he can participate in an accelerated program which will allow him to get both a BS and MS degree in 9 semesters. I believe he will be in a far better position come graduation time than if he had chosen to attend a reach college.</p>