<p>Here’s why I think going to a reach can be a good idea. Four years in high school can be both the best and worst of times for more reasons than just academically. Many years ago(probably at least 15) my sister who was in high school at the time came to live with my husband and me after our mother passed.She had battled cancer for many years and we were all prepared for the change. My sister had struggled her entire elementary school career in a top private school. In fact she was on academic probation in first grade! Once she came to live with us her grades were mediocre at best but she had good EC’s, recs, etc. She ended up at Univ of Denver which was a reach for her at the time. Freshman year was a huge struggle but I was given some very valuable advice which still holds true today. All children mature at very different rates. Some are really “late bloomers” and don’t put all the pieces together until early college. By the time she came home at T-giving in Sophmore year she said to me, " I think I’m getting smarter". I’m not sure that she was but finally it all gelled for her and ended up with Honors in her major and went to grad school to study OT. If we had allowed her to transfer in Freshman year, she would have ended up at a third or fourth tier school and miserable. There is a lot to say for sticking it out and being as successful as you can at a reach school.</p>
<p>I think only you can know whether a reach school is right for you or not.</p>
<p>Some students are smarter than their “stats” suggest, I know quite a few friends like these. These are the kids that get mentioned when you ask fellow studnets who the smartest kids in the class are, eventhough they might not necessarily have the highest GPA or SAT scores (ex… these kids are interested in things more intelectually appealing to them than raising their SATs from 1300 to 1400, or 1400 to 1500). It happens. And these kids do fit in schools that are considered “reaches” based on their stats, here’s where teacher recs come in or even classmate recs such as the one Dartmouth includes in its application. Here’s where these kids get the chance to stand out or when they have the opportunity to express their “real” intellectual interests through essays… special kids who take their own way, and considered learning and growing more important than getting awesome grades (3.8 as opposed to 3.6 maybe) or test scores. </p>
<p>At the other end of the latter there are other kids who were able to master standarized test scores through extensive practice and received high scores but might not feel right in a “match” school, because they might consider mostly everyone in the school to be “smarter” -for the lack of a better word-.</p>
<p>Nobody knows how well he/she will do other than the applicant itself and maybe the reach school might be a more interesting environment for certain students to do better. Then again, maybe not…</p>
<p>off subject a bit, but to the OP, you should equalize essay quality in your hypothetical. smarter people write better essays generally.</p>