<p>My friend’s D had a similar story - she had OK SAT’s - mid 1200’s for CR/M. Took challenging courses in HS (honors, AP). I am not sure of GPA/Rank, but she was accepted with scholarship to Cornell, waitlisted or rejected at the other schools she applied to - Villanova, SUNY Geneseo, Syracuse and accepted to SUNY/Buffalo. So her absolute reach school was the one she was accepted at and one that made the most sense financially. Go figure…</p>