~Selecting a Range~

While it's not unusual for students to talk of their "first choice" college, it's a rare individual for whom it can be said that there exists but a single, best college. Even if, as a result of the homework you do, you arrive at a point where you accord enough preference to one college to consider it your first choice, your final list should include a number of colleges, anyone of which you' d be happy to attend if admitted.

"How many colleges should I apply to?"

We normally suggest that students apply to between 6-8 colleges. If you apply to fewer than that you may not have a good range of schools (see next section). If you apply to more than that, you may spend a lot of unnecessary time filling out applications. Nobody really needs more than 7-8 choices!!

Selecting A Range

To make certain you will be admitted to at least one, you'll have to apply to a range of colleges. What this means is that you should apply to some colleges that may be long shots for you to get into (referred as 'reaches'), others that are in the mid-range of competitiveness (called 'targets'), and others that you are very likely to get into (called 'safeties'). You can determine what are 'reaches', 'targets', or 'safeties' for you by comparing your GPA and SAT scores with what the college normally accepts (this information is usually available in most college guidebooks). You should apply to:

• one or two selective schools that you might consider long shots ( i.e. "reaches")
• 3-4 colleges in the mid-range of competitiveness in which you have a realistic chance of acceptance (i.e. targets),
• one or two that you feel confident will accept you (i.e. safeties).

Also be certain that your safety school is a school you wouldn't mind attending if you had to. Stranger things have happened. It's important to remember that what may be a safety school for you might be a reach school for one of your friends. This categorization varies for each person. There are no guarantees in the admission game.  

Compare GPA and SAT scores

To determine what are reaches, targets, or safeties for you, you should check on what scores and GPAs a person usually needs to get admitted. This information is available on a host of websites and many college handbooks. You may be tempted to automatically eliminate schools if you do not have scores that place you in that middle fifty percent band. That is a mistake. Don't do it. One of the problems with SAT averages is that colleges use their own techniques for determining average scores. In other words, they manipulate the numbers in a way that makes them look better than they perhaps are. All colleges want to look selective and improve their U.S. News & World Report rating. Sometimes they do that by eliminating the scores of minorities or athletes, who as a group do worse on admissions tests than others do. It may be either easier or harder to get into a school than the scores suggest, depending upon whether and how the school has manipulated the scores. They don't lie, but they really stretch things sometimes. Perhaps the best bet is to check out the TCCi Family Connection on our Guidance website! Here you can check out the GPAs and SAT scores of students who have been successful in applying to specific universities.  

Be Realistic!!

You need to realize that only the most exceptional students are accepted at Harvard, Stanford, and the other big name Ivy League colleges. Harvard, for example, only accepts about 8% of all students how apply...and 90% of those that apply are at the top or close to the top of their high school graduating class!  These kinds of schools could (and often do) fill their entire freshman classes with students who earn nearly all A's and SAT's of 1,500+. Be realistic about your grades, SAT scores, and the rest of your application.