<p>I have an issue with telling kids a school is “unreachable.” Whatever happened to telling kids to aim high? And there are “miracles” in college admissions all the time. This website is full of stories of very bright kids who did nothing particularly extraordinary, other than working hard and being involved in relatively standard ECs, who got into “unreachable” schools. I’ve personally known many such kids. There is nothing wrong with dreaming big and aiming high as long as a kid understands that it is a dream and is realistic with other choices.</p>