@momartist14, no real definition, as there are so many factors in the mix in competitive holistic admissions…, but I think of it as, a school that might not be a rock-solid safety, but In that grey area between a safety and match. Schools in this zone would be more attractive to my D than safeties in which most student’s GPAs and scores are significantly below my D’s.
A low-match might be a school where my D’s stats may be at the high end of the mid-fifty percentile and where the admission rate is somewhat selective but not extremely so (maybe around 40-50 percent) and where I feel fairly confident that my D has other qualities the school may be wanting.
I think it’s a sweet spot to find one or two schools like that which your child would be happy to attend (as well as a true safety school or two). To me, a low-match school with attributes my D would like means she would likely be accepted, yet still have a good number of solid academic peers around her. This is more difficult to find when looking at small LACS (each with its own vibe). In a larger university, through sheer numbers, there will always be a number of strong students in the mix.