Did your children get admitted to colleges that you thought matched their stats?

[Anonymous]

And if so, where did you get that information on matches and reaches and safeties?

[Anonymous]

You need to determine reaches, matches, and safeties on your own.

For grades, you can try to do some comparison by looking at your high school's Naviance scattergrams for particular colleges. Look at both weighted and unweighted GPAs. (Score info from these scattergrams is less useful now that most colleges are test optional, because you cannot tell whether the score for a particular data point was submitted or not.)

For scores, I would use the last year before test-optional policies became widespread. That would be college class of 2024, for which admission data is included in Common Data Set 2020-2021. You can usually find Common Data Sets for each year posted on the college's website, though not all colleges post their CDS.

Determining reaches, matches, and safeties is about more than matching the student's stats to the school; you also must consider acceptance rate. Find the most recent acceptance rate somewhere on the college's admission website, for college class of 2026, or see if it's listed here: https://www.collegekickstart.com/blog/item/class-of-2026-admission-results.

There is some disagreement on how to use acceptance rates for determining reaches, matches, and safeties. For a high-stats student: schools with acceptance rates <30% = reach, 30%-60% = match/target, >60% = safety. If the student does not have high stats (e.g. scores over the school's 75th percentile), then you need to adjust accordingly.

Honestly, under test optional policies, the uncertainty is simply greater than it was under the old test-required scenario, and this makes categorizing reaches, matches, and safeties that much more difficult. There is wisdom in a more conservative approach: have more targets and safeties than would have seemed necessary in the past.

[Anonymous]

Nope. But he was a high stats kid, so it wasn't a shocker. I thought he EC profile was pretty good, but the super-highly selective schools didn't seem to agree (with the exception of Northeastern)!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You need to determine reaches, matches, and safeties on your own.

For grades, you can try to do some comparison by looking at your high school's Naviance scattergrams for particular colleges. Look at both weighted and unweighted GPAs. (Score info from these scattergrams is less useful now that most colleges are test optional, because you cannot tell whether the score for a particular data point was submitted or not.)

For scores, I would use the last year before test-optional policies became widespread. That would be college class of 2024, for which admission data is included in Common Data Set 2020-2021. You can usually find Common Data Sets for each year posted on the college's website, though not all colleges post their CDS.

Determining reaches, matches, and safeties is about more than matching the student's stats to the school; you also must consider acceptance rate. Find the most recent acceptance rate somewhere on the college's admission website, for college class of 2026, or see if it's listed here: https://www.collegekickstart.com/blog/item/class-of-2026-admission-results.

There is some disagreement on how to use acceptance rates for determining reaches, matches, and safeties. For a high-stats student: schools with acceptance rates <30% = reach, 30%-60% = match/target, >60% = safety. If the student does not have high stats (e.g. scores over the school's 75th percentile), then you need to adjust accordingly.

Honestly, under test optional policies, the uncertainty is simply greater than it was under the old test-required scenario, and this makes categorizing reaches, matches, and safeties that much more difficult. There is wisdom in a more conservative approach: have more targets and safeties than would have seemed necessary in the past.

Which is hard for some, if neither has gone to college for example.

We made the decision to define Safety/Target as a college with:
1. overall acceptance of >45%
2. Collegevine showing >65%
3. SAT in the top 25%
4. Above typical/average GPA
=> Got into all of those

Our Hard Target was a mixed bag, and ended up 50/50:
1. overall acceptance of >20%
2. Collegevine showing >50%
3. SAT in the top 25% or 50% (not below)
4. At or above typical/average GPA

Reaches - mostly denied, but got into 2
1. overall acceptance of <20%
2. Collegevine showing <40%
3. SAT in the 50% (not below)
4. At typical/average GPA

[Anonymous]

PP again, there is so much else going into the admission decision, those were just the hard numbers of some things. We pulled 3. &4. also, from the common data set of each college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to determine reaches, matches, and safeties on your own.

For grades, you can try to do some comparison by looking at your high school's Naviance scattergrams for particular colleges. Look at both weighted and unweighted GPAs. (Score info from these scattergrams is less useful now that most colleges are test optional, because you cannot tell whether the score for a particular data point was submitted or not.)

For scores, I would use the last year before test-optional policies became widespread. That would be college class of 2024, for which admission data is included in Common Data Set 2020-2021. You can usually find Common Data Sets for each year posted on the college's website, though not all colleges post their CDS.

Determining reaches, matches, and safeties is about more than matching the student's stats to the school; you also must consider acceptance rate. Find the most recent acceptance rate somewhere on the college's admission website, for college class of 2026, or see if it's listed here: https://www.collegekickstart.com/blog/item/class-of-2026-admission-results.

There is some disagreement on how to use acceptance rates for determining reaches, matches, and safeties. For a high-stats student: schools with acceptance rates <30% = reach, 30%-60% = match/target, >60% = safety. If the student does not have high stats (e.g. scores over the school's 75th percentile), then you need to adjust accordingly.

Honestly, under test optional policies, the uncertainty is simply greater than it was under the old test-required scenario, and this makes categorizing reaches, matches, and safeties that much more difficult. There is wisdom in a more conservative approach: have more targets and safeties than would have seemed necessary in the past.

Which is hard for some, if neither has gone to college for example.

We made the decision to define Safety/Target as a college with:
1. overall acceptance of >45%
2. Collegevine showing >65%
3. SAT in the top 25%
4. Above typical/average GPA
=> Got into all of those

Our Hard Target was a mixed bag, and ended up 50/50:
1. overall acceptance of >20%
2. Collegevine showing >50%
3. SAT in the top 25% or 50% (not below)
4. At or above typical/average GPA

Reaches - mostly denied, but got into 2
1. overall acceptance of <20%
2. Collegevine showing <40%
3. SAT in the 50% (not below)
4. At typical/average GPA

Different poster here. Looking at this data, I would define that as getting into schools that matched stats.

[Anonymous]

My kid was rejected at some schools that CollegeVine said were safeties, waitlisted at a super reach, and admitted to targets. Online calculators that give reach, match, and safety categories are not to be trusted for that purpose. In particular, CollegeVine was not using a true definition of safety.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid was rejected at some schools that CollegeVine said were safeties, waitlisted at a super reach, and admitted to targets. Online calculators that give reach, match, and safety categories are not to be trusted for that purpose. In particular, CollegeVine was not using a true definition of safety.

Which is why we used it as just one factor amongst others. Had to start somewhere and for us it was not too way off.

Our Hard Target 50/50 was between admitted & waitlist, no rejection. Rejections were only amongst the reaches as expected.

[Anonymous]

What I thought was interesting is that CDS shows how many kids submitted test scores. It’s a much smaller number than you would think at non-top schools. This drives the average score way up because so few kids are submitting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid was rejected at some schools that CollegeVine said were safeties, waitlisted at a super reach, and admitted to targets. Online calculators that give reach, match, and safety categories are not to be trusted for that purpose. In particular, CollegeVine was not using a true definition of safety.

Why, do you think? Was he/she a super high stays kid and the safeties were still pretty competitive? Did your teen not do the supplements for the safeties and they were yield protecting?

[Anonymous]

Nope. His stats and awards were better than most people admitted to ivy league schools, but no hooks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to determine reaches, matches, and safeties on your own.

For grades, you can try to do some comparison by looking at your high school's Naviance scattergrams for particular colleges. Look at both weighted and unweighted GPAs. (Score info from these scattergrams is less useful now that most colleges are test optional, because you cannot tell whether the score for a particular data point was submitted or not.)

For scores, I would use the last year before test-optional policies became widespread. That would be college class of 2024, for which admission data is included in Common Data Set 2020-2021. You can usually find Common Data Sets for each year posted on the college's website, though not all colleges post their CDS.

Determining reaches, matches, and safeties is about more than matching the student's stats to the school; you also must consider acceptance rate. Find the most recent acceptance rate somewhere on the college's admission website, for college class of 2026, or see if it's listed here: https://www.collegekickstart.com/blog/item/class-of-2026-admission-results.

There is some disagreement on how to use acceptance rates for determining reaches, matches, and safeties. For a high-stats student: schools with acceptance rates <30% = reach, 30%-60% = match/target, >60% = safety. If the student does not have high stats (e.g. scores over the school's 75th percentile), then you need to adjust accordingly.

Honestly, under test optional policies, the uncertainty is simply greater than it was under the old test-required scenario, and this makes categorizing reaches, matches, and safeties that much more difficult. There is wisdom in a more conservative approach: have more targets and safeties than would have seemed necessary in the past.

Which is hard for some, if neither has gone to college for example.

We made the decision to define Safety/Target as a college with:
1. overall acceptance of >45%
2. Collegevine showing >65%
3. SAT in the top 25%
4. Above typical/average GPA
=> Got into all of those

Our Hard Target was a mixed bag, and ended up 50/50:
1. overall acceptance of >20%
2. Collegevine showing >50%
3. SAT in the top 25% or 50% (not below)
4. At or above typical/average GPA

Reaches - mostly denied, but got into 2
1. overall acceptance of <20%
2. Collegevine showing <40%
3. SAT in the 50% (not below)
4. At typical/average GPA

Where do you find 50 percentile SAT number? I only see 25th and 75th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nope. But he was a high stats kid, so it wasn't a shocker. I thought he EC profile was pretty good, but the super-highly selective schools didn't seem to agree (with the exception of Northeastern)!

Did your DC go with NU? Are they happy?

[Anonymous]

DS is a rising senior in FCPS. 1520 SAT, 4.5 has about a dozen schools in T125 he has identified. Unfortunately he wants to study CS. Not sure ANY CS programs in T125 could be considered safeties.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to determine reaches, matches, and safeties on your own.

For grades, you can try to do some comparison by looking at your high school's Naviance scattergrams for particular colleges. Look at both weighted and unweighted GPAs. (Score info from these scattergrams is less useful now that most colleges are test optional, because you cannot tell whether the score for a particular data point was submitted or not.)

For scores, I would use the last year before test-optional policies became widespread. That would be college class of 2024, for which admission data is included in Common Data Set 2020-2021. You can usually find Common Data Sets for each year posted on the college's website, though not all colleges post their CDS.

Determining reaches, matches, and safeties is about more than matching the student's stats to the school; you also must consider acceptance rate. Find the most recent acceptance rate somewhere on the college's admission website, for college class of 2026, or see if it's listed here: https://www.collegekickstart.com/blog/item/class-of-2026-admission-results.

There is some disagreement on how to use acceptance rates for determining reaches, matches, and safeties. For a high-stats student: schools with acceptance rates <30% = reach, 30%-60% = match/target, >60% = safety. If the student does not have high stats (e.g. scores over the school's 75th percentile), then you need to adjust accordingly.

Honestly, under test optional policies, the uncertainty is simply greater than it was under the old test-required scenario, and this makes categorizing reaches, matches, and safeties that much more difficult. There is wisdom in a more conservative approach: have more targets and safeties than would have seemed necessary in the past.

Which is hard for some, if neither has gone to college for example.

We made the decision to define Safety/Target as a college with:
1. overall acceptance of >45%
2. Collegevine showing >65%
3. SAT in the top 25%
4. Above typical/average GPA
=> Got into all of those

Our Hard Target was a mixed bag, and ended up 50/50:
1. overall acceptance of >20%
2. Collegevine showing >50%
3. SAT in the top 25% or 50% (not below)
4. At or above typical/average GPA

Reaches - mostly denied, but got into 2
1. overall acceptance of <20%
2. Collegevine showing <40%
3. SAT in the 50% (not below)
4. At typical/average GPA

Where do you find 50 percentile SAT number? I only see 25th and 75th.

😳