<p>musicamusica said–
My D got into both her reaches, </p>
<p>musica, what is the sense of ‘reach’ that you are meaning here? </p>
<p>I understood ‘reach’ to be a school where the applicant’s numbers are less than the low end of the numbers of the last incoming class. So if ACT range is 28-32, and an applicant has a 26 act, that would be what I call a ‘reach’. My d has a musical talent as well as academic interest (vs merely going for music ), so this question comes up for us. </p>
<p>Other posters have spoken of a sort of a ‘selectivity reach’, where an applicant’s numbers are within the profile of the last class, but that there simply is too much demand for the number of seats at the school. I can see how this selectivity reach can possibly not indicate the difficulty of the college, but simply reflect the <em>desirability</em> of the college. Desirablity in a college, even though a college is supposed to be an academic institution may not be due to academically desirable.</p>
<p>Other reasons for a college’s desirability:</p>
<p>*surroundings</p>
<p>—middle of the city that doesn’t sleep, NYC </p>
<p>—beautiful campus</p>
<p>*old and traditional </p>
<p>*PRESTIGE / NAME RECOGNITION</p>
<p>*sports mecca (Duke, IU, NU … )</p>