<p>There is no exact definition in terms of numbers. A safety is a school you are absolutely (well you can never really be a 100% certain, but close) going to get into based on acceptance rate, test scores, etc. You need to apply to a couple of these. Then apply to schools you are interested in, given you can afford, etc., without a specific ratio of matches and reaches, but you should try to include a few schools, where possible, with a moderate admission rate, where you would be near 50th percentile of students. Reach is anything below 20%, regardless of scores, IMO. </p>