Forget the idea of a dream school. Instead, honestly asses your academic profile and work to create a solid college list that includes reach, match, and safety schools that appear affordable (find out the budget and run the net price calculator for each school) and that you would be excited to attend. The people I see who get hurt by the college admission process are the ones who focus on one or two hyper-competitive schools and then don’t get in. IMO one of the most important and under-rated parts of the process is finding those match/safety schools that truly are great fits. Know that there are many wonderful schools out there where a person can have a great 4 year experience and get wherever he/she wants to go in life.