<p>I just read a thread on people who got rejected from every single school they applied to besides safeties. One person pointed out that too many people these days apply to 1 safety, and a bunch of tough schools, but no matches. </p>
<p>Are match schools purely determined by acceptance rate? Maybe around 30-50%? </p>
<p>Is a school like University of Richmond, with about a 33% rate, considered a match? (Assuming I have a profile that is good enough to have a chance at top 20 schools)</p>
<p>A safety is a place where you are flat-out guaranteed admission because of your stats or some special talent/ability. Usually that information is posted right on the website.</p>
<p>A match is a place that you have reason to believe will admit you because your stats fall well within the range of those students who have been admitted in recent years, and the institution has a reasonably high admission rate. Better yet, you have been informed by the experts at your high school that at least half of the applicants from your own high school in the past few years whose stats/ECs/etc. were like yours are, have been admitted.</p>
<p>If you really truly like the safeties on your list, and would be more than happy to attend one of them if you aren’t accepted at any reaches, it really truly is OK to skip hunting down some matches.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yes. </p>
<p>If your school has Naviance scattergrams, it’s pretty easy to estimate YOUR probability of admissions from the plots. If you do this and round to the nearest 10%, then I would say reaches are 0-30%, matches are 40-90% and safeties are 100%. </p>
<p>What I have found is that people on CC usually underestimate your chances compared to what our school’s Naviance would say. Sometimes, it’s the other way though.</p>
<p>What I’ve seen on our Naviance is data that is not too accurate since it is self reported by the students. Our school does not mandate the students report applications, acceptances and rejections. I wish they did. It would be a benefit for the upcoming classes.</p>
<p>If your school does not mandate Naviance be updated don’t put too much faith in it. Normally only the students accepted to their choice will update it. Not many put in their rejections. If your Naviance data is accurate then you are lucky and it should help you know what your chances are.</p>
<p>From what I have seen a match school is a school where you have roughly between a 40-60% chance of getting into.</p>
<p>Rejections seem to be a point of pride and great humor at our school, LOL. Kids who get in everywhere miss out on all of the fun. </p>
<p>I’ve found Naviance to be pretty accurate. Guidance sends a form to be filled out so that the data is good and so they know where to send the final transcripts.</p>
<p>FWIW, I like a statistical approach. If the school has a >50% acceptance rate and your academic stats are above the 50th%tile then I consider that a safety. Obviously if you’re at or above the 75th%-tile then a school is even ‘safer’. Since there are no guarantees in the college admissions game I suggest applying to 2 safeties.</p>
<p>Match schools are those with acceptance rates of 30-50% where your stats are in the upper half of the averages (for that school). Apply to 4.</p>
<p>Reach schools are those with 20-30% admit rates where you’re in the upper half. Apply to 2.</p>
<p>Lottery schools are those with <20% acceptance rates. When you’re rejecting 4 out of 5 applicants there are just too many variables that can kill an application. Apply to 1.</p>
<p>Some people are more comfortable being aggressive on the number of reach and lottery schools.</p>
<p>A match school is likely or better for admission, and likely or better for affordability (it becomes a safety if it is certain for both admission and affordability).</p>
<p>Admission rates are not necessarily accurate indicators of admission selectivity. According to [Top</a> 100 - Lowest Acceptance Rates | Rankings | US News](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/lowest-acceptance-rate/page+3]Top”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/lowest-acceptance-rate/page+3) , Liberty University accepts a smaller percentage of applicants than Emory University, but a closer look at HS GPA and test scores of incoming frosh indicates something different about the schools’ selectivity.</p>