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 tis one in which your profile is competitive with that of admitted students, and a reach school is a stretch for you—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 on the school’s website for “freshman class profile,” or its 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 that these can be extremely competitive to get admitted to.

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 are looking for and then gives you information to help you 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 that you would happily attend. This involves the courses available, the size and location of the school, 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.