<p>If your gpa is below the 25th percentile but act is above the 75th percentile, is it a reach or is it a match? I just really don't know</p>
<p>It isn’t just based on your test scores or GPA; it’s also based on the admit % of the school.</p>
<p>Nobody is a match at any of the most selective schools: Ivies, Stanford, Chicago, Caltech, MIT, Duke, Northwestern, etc.</p>
<p>Here is how I define the ranges of probability that a student will be admitted to a specific school:</p>
<p>High reach: 0-5%
Reach: 5-15%
Low reach: 15-25%</p>
<p>High match: 25-40%
Match: 40-60%
Low match: 60-99.9…%</p>
<p>Safety: 100%</p>
<p>still a reach. Below 25th percentile means something, regardless of the rest of your app.</p>
<p>My kids use three categories - Reach, Target and Likely. </p>
<p>Reach = schools that accept less than 25%, even if your grades/test scores are qualified - or a school for which your grades/test scores are below their 25th percentile score (even if they accept higher percentage of applicants)</p>
<p>Target == schools that accept 25-35% of their applicants AND you are qualified (grades/test scores are above the 50th percentile)</p>
<p>Likely - schools that accept greater than 35% of their students AND your grades/test scores are above the schools’ 75th percentile marks</p>