When putting together your list of colleges and universities to apply to, it's helpful to divide the schools into three sections: safety, target, and reach schools.
Safety schools are those that you will almost certainly get accepted at. A target school is one in which your profile is competitive with that of admitted students, and a reach school is a stretch — your grades, test scores, and overall profile are lower than what the school lists as its student profile.
You can check your test scores, grade point average (GPA), and extracurricular activities against a school's most recent accepted class profile. You can usually find this by searching the school's website for its "freshman class profile" or Common Data Set. It's important that most of the schools you apply to are safety and target schools. You may also want to apply to some reach schools, but understand these can be extremely competitive.
Help Building Your College List
In addition to looking at each school's profile, look at the College Board's Big Future page, which asks questions about the type of school you're looking for and gives you information to help build your list. Remember, when choosing a college, there's more to it than how your profile compares to the school's numbers — the school also has to be a place you'd happily attend, considering courses available, size and location, and other lifestyle factors.
SpanOne college counselors work with students to develop a "best fit" college list matched to a student's needs and interests. For more information, please contact us for a free consultation.