Safety v Match v Reach

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>What makes a college a safety, match, or reach?</p>

<p>If everything else is very good (3.87 UW - no ranking & no weighting, most vigourous classes, very good essays & recommendations), are the following schools safeties, matches, or reaches? (The schools are not HYPS.)</p>

<p>The ranges are the middle 50% of students (as per the College Board).
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+School No........Verbal Range........Math Range...+
+1........................below................bit below...+
+2........................below..................middle.....+
+3........................below................upper end..+
+4......................bit below.............upper end...+
+5......................bit below................above.....+
+6.....................lower end................above.....+
+7.....................lower end..............upper end..+
+8....................mid-to-lower...........upper end..+
+9........................middle.................above......+
+10......................middle................upper end...+
+11...................upper end................above......+
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

2

<p>uh...... huh??? lol</p>

3

<p>I may have made this a bit more complicated than it is.</p>

<p>For example, if my SAT scores are 550 m & 450 v and college A has a verbal range of 450-550 and a math range of 450-550, will college A be considered a safety, match, or reach? (similar to school #7 above)</p>

<p>I hope this helps.</p>

4

<p>I can't really comment on the graph thing - it seems logical, but my mind isn't exactly working in that direction right now.
Okay, if any of the higher-end schools are in the top 20 (USNews), then being in the middle of their applicant pool as far as SATs go does not make them a match.
I don't know how competitive your top five schools are, but if they are, prepare to call all five of them reaches due to your math score.</p>

5

<p>School 1 - 4 are all top 20 US News colleges. Schools 5-8 are between 20-40. 9-10 are between 40-75.</p>

<p>I'm assuming that 1-4 are all reaches. 1-2 would be high reaches; 3-4 would be normal reaches. Is that correct?</p>

6

<p>If you're white or Asian, your scores are o the low end or below the 50% on anything and you have nothing extraordinary (no hook), chances at a top 40 schools are low, top 20 nearly impossible.</p>

<p>Remember at top schools, 60% of the slots are taken by hooked candidates. Unhooked candidates bring the stats up.</p>