<p>"Make sure the kid does a bangup great job of expressing interest and affection and knowledge about the school and his/her role at the school. Make sure they feel that he/she has tried it on, and it's a fit."</p>
<p>I really think that this is the key with your "match" schools. There are only so many places. I know for a fact that more students accepted at LU than they expected this past cycle. Visit and make sure that it is really a place you want to attend. Then go for it. That applies to many schools.</p>
<p>One comment I got when I wrote to admissions after son had been accepted (and I was amazed in the end it was his first choice), was "we knew he was a Lawrentian." It shut me up.</p>