Diversification is the key: When applying to college, make sure you apply to colleges with differing competition levels

Post By: COYD Staff

Today we are discussing a common mistake many students make when putting together the list of colleges they are applying to. Many students run into 1 of 2 problems: 1) they underestimate their ability to get into a certain school thus end up at a school that is not challenging enough for them. OR 2) They overestimate their ability to get into a certain school, not apply to enough match schools and also end up at a school that is not challenging enough for them.

The key to avoiding this common mistake is building a good list of schools with differing competition levels. Below are numbers based on if a student applies to 8-10 schools:

– 2-3 of the schools should be SAFETY schools. A safety school is a college that you will almost certainly get into because your test scores, class rank, and/or high school grades are well above average when you look at the school’s profile.

– 4 of these schools should be MATCH schools. A match school is a college that you are pretty likely to get into because your test scores, class rank, and/or high school grades fall right into the middle range when you look at the school’s profile.

– 2-3 schools should be REACH schools. A reach school is a college that you have a chance of getting into. The important thing to know about REACH schools is that for the vast majority of applicants, every Top 10 nationally ranked school are REACH schools. As you know, a reach school is aptly named because they are a reach to get into. If you look at the facts, there are only a limited amount of spaces at these reach schools and just judging by objective criteria (class rank, test scores, and high school grades) there is an oversupply of students that meet this objective criteria. Subjective criteria such as their extracurricular activities, letters of recommendation, and essays are taken into consideration and since it’s subjective, there is NO GUARANTEE that even a valedictorian with a perfect SAT score will get into these reach schools.

With that said, it is important that students apply to all three types of schools so that they do not have regrets once spring time next year comes around bearing acceptance or rejection letters.

Below are ways you can accurately choose these 3 types of schools when constructing your college list:

1) Utilize college websites that suggest colleges that match your objective criteria.

There are sites out there that determine your chances of getting into a college by asking for your class rank, scores, and GPA. These sites will help you educate yourself on what schools are a reach, a match or a safety for you. Below are just a few:

CampusCompare.com
Mychances.net

2) For the colleges you are interested in, go to the College Board website and take a look at the stats for each college.

If you go to the College Board website, there is a section called the College QuickFinder. Type in your college of choice. In the At a Glance section, you will find the average GPA and class rank statistics for their 1st year students. Then go to SAT®, AP®, CLEP® tab and you will find the average scores for the middle 50% of the 1st year students.

Remember, these are the middle 50% so if you fall beneath these scores, don’t throw in the towel. You still might have a chance of getting into that college. But just make sure you know that if you don’t fall into that middle 50%, then that college should be in your REACH school category.