How do you determine a reach/match/safety school?

standrews
Thu, 23 Aug 2007 10:39:20 +0000

I’m of the mind that there are two times when reach/match/safety need to be determined. Initially, this is done as a screening mechanism. Secondly, when determining which school to apply to, a more rigorous approach is needed that includes many factors. For determining which safety schools to apply to always include cost of attendance and financial aid. A safety school should be a safety acceptance wise and financially.

For screening, my rule of thumb for those without a solid hook:

safety = more than 50 points above 75% SAT (CR+M)
match = +/- 50 points of 75% SAT
reach = less than SAT midpoint

For schools with SAT 75th percentile 1550 or above, there is no such thing as a safety.