What is Reach?
Reach schools are schools that have a highly selective admission process. Your standardized scores (SAT or ACT), your Grade Point Average (GPA), and how you measure up to your peers in the same grade (class rank) will fall below the averages accepted at these schools. The only way you will be accepted into these schools is if your extras are so spectacular that they overshadow your lower standardized scores, GPA, and ranking. By extras I mean your extensive list of extracurricular activities, your personal essay, and your unique and special circumstances. Your extracurricular activities need to show leadership qualities. Your personal essay need to show a unique and creative spark. Your special circumstances need to show your phoenix-like rise from the ashes of your youth into the soaring bird-of-prey that you are today. Keep in mind that the Ivy Leagues, by Ivy League I mean the original eight northeast colleges that played football together; they are Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, U Penn, and Yale; these will be a reach for anyone, even Valedictorians of very competitive high schools.
What is Match?
Match schools are schools that have just a “selective” admission process. Your SAT or ACT scores, your GPA, and your class rank will fall within the averages accepted at these schools. You have a decent chance of being accepted. What will push you through? Your extracurricular activities, your personal essay, and your individual circumstance will. The same school that might be a Reach for some might be a Match for others. Likewise, the same school that might be a Match for some might be a Reach for others. Every student is unique.
What is Safety?
Safety schools are schools that have an admission process. Generally, your SAT or ACT scores, your GPA, and your class rank will be off the charts compared to the averages accepted at these schools. You are sure to be accepted. Keep in mind, state colleges usually give preferential consideration to in-state applicants. Community colleges generally offer an “open door" admissions policy for anyone who is at least 18 years old. It is safe to assume that all community colleges fall within the Safety School category for anyone who possesses a high school diploma or GED (General Education Diploma).
How To Apply?
Don’t get anxious over the amount of paperwork it takes to apply to nine colleges. With the advent of the online version of The Common Application, https://www.commonapp.org , more than 400 colleges and universities in the United States can be applied to at the same time with only one completed application. These 400 plus colleges and universities include both public and private institutions, but they all evaluate students using a holistic selection process; which includes subjective as well as objective criteria. You will need at least one recommendation form, at least one essay, and some broader campus diversity considerations. In a recent year, over two million applications were submitted via the Common Application Online. You will still have to pay the fee each college or university charges (ranging from free to anywhere up to $90- per application), but the paperwork need only be filled out once. The State University of New York (SUNY) has the SUNY application online, www.suny.edu/student/oas/ 51 out of 64 SUNY campuses accept this application, so you need only fill it out once for all the SUNYs you apply to.
If you adhere to this strategy of 3-3-3, then you can rest assured that you will be accepted to at least three colleges. If the stars are in your favor, you might just get an acceptance letter from all of your Match Schools. Who knows? You might even receive a very large acceptance package from one of your Reach Schools as well. Good luck to all you students.
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