Match vs Reach

[Anonymous]

Do these definitions still make sense (from mycollegeoptions.org)?

Should we use the stats from DS' specific school instead? How do we handicap for DS' ethnicity (Asian)? We get the caveats - ECs, etc.


Match Schools: A match school is one in which your transcript mirrors that of the average freshman. Therefore, your GPA, SAT/ACT scores and coursework (college prep, honors, etc.) are all on par with those undergrads typically admitted. While this will not guarantee an acceptance (especially considering that extracurricular activities, essays, etc. will come into play), you can apply with confidence and the understanding that you have a great shot.

Reach Schools: Unlike a match, reach schools are colleges where your academic qualifications are below the average accepted student. When considering a reach school, it’s still important to be realistic. It’s quite unlikely you would gain entry to an Ivy League university with a 1.5 GPA. However, even if your SATs might be 100 points lower than average or you have a 3.4 GPA instead of a 3.8, if you really like the school, throw your hat into the ring. You never know what will happen. It could be a long shot but an admissions officer might just see your potential.

[Anonymous]

Use your HS Naviance data. Anything else is a poor substitute.

[Anonymous]

Asian only works against you at the most elite schools.

Don't put a lot of weight on that.

For small liberal arts colleges, in rural areas, it is a plus.

So don't fall for the hype!

--Mom of an Asian child

[Anonymous]

I prefer to combine gpa/scores with acceptance rate. Anything that fails to include acceptance rate in the analysis will lead to erroneous determinations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Use your HS Naviance data. Anything else is a poor substitute.

In my opinion, the ample size is too small for most top 50 universities. Our state flagship, on the other hand, has a reliable scattergram with tons of data, except that it doesn't indicate those who were offered a major that wasn't their first choice (lots of pre-engineering)

[Anonymous]

*sample

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Use your HS Naviance data. Anything else is a poor substitute.

In my opinion, the ample size is too small for most top 50 universities. Our state flagship, on the other hand, has a reliable scattergram with tons of data, except that it doesn't indicate those who were offered a major that wasn't their first choice (lots of pre-engineering)

Sample size on Naviance obviously depends on the size of the HS. In addition to not reflecting major or undergraduate college, Naviance will not reflect URM, athlete, or legacy status, and may not reflect ED or gender -depending on your school.

[Anonymous]

We have found CollegeVine's admissions calculator to be a good supplement to Naviance when it comes to classifying colleges as matches, reaches, and likelies. CollegeVine tends to be more realistic than Naviance in our experience. This based on what happened to our sons' older friends who have been through the college admissions process.

As for an Asian penalty, CollegeVine certainly embodies one for some highly selective schools but not for others. Checking Asian will lower odds at some schools, in some cases by non-trivial amounts, but not at others.

[Anonymous]

I don’t think this is realistic for a student with high grades and scores. Many schools will look like matches but are actually reaches. We were told to consider anything with under a 15% acceptance rate (I think) a reach.

[Anonymous]

I read somewhere, maybe here, that Boston College rejected 2/3 valedictorians that applied. All elite schools are reaches unless you have hook. Doesn’t mean your kid will not get in and should definitely apply. But these schools have 10 kids with perfect stats to choose for that one spot. It’s hard.

[Anonymous]

Reach = school where anyone applying has a less than 5% chance of acceptance, even if they are a 4.0/1600/All-State QB etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reach = school where anyone applying has a less than 5% chance of acceptance, even if they are a 4.0/1600/All-State QB etc.

Nah. A read is student dependent. For almost anyone, MIT is a reach, but for some, JMU is a reach (Unhooked, 3.0 wgpa). My DD, a strong but not elite student,thought she applied to a reach ED. Looking at Naviance it was more of a match. It is also the right school for her personality. So, there was no reason to apply to a reach.

(she applied to 4 matches and 5 safeties); Matches were. W& M , VT, UIUC and Purdue. Safeties were Miami of Ohio, UDEL, Iowa State, Indiana, and Mich State.

She got good merit at most of the safeties and none of the matches.

In the end, the safeties all has costs similar to VT in state. But, she chose W & M.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reach = school where anyone applying has a less than 5% chance of acceptance, even if they are a 4.0/1600/All-State QB etc.

True, unless the all-State QB is being recruited by the ivy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have found CollegeVine's admissions calculator to be a good supplement to Naviance when it comes to classifying colleges as matches, reaches, and likelies. CollegeVine tends to be more realistic than Naviance in our experience. This based on what happened to our sons' older friends who have been through the college admissions process.

As for an Asian penalty, CollegeVine certainly embodies one for some highly selective schools but not for others. Checking Asian will lower odds at some schools, in some cases by non-trivial amounts, but not at others.

I don't know, we started using the CollegVine admissions calculator and it has both W&M and Lafayette College as safeties for our Asian daughter from NoVA (4.43/34 ACT) and we know that's not the case.

I found CollegeVine to be a bit optimistic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reach = school where anyone applying has a less than 5% chance of acceptance, even if they are a 4.0/1600/All-State QB etc.

Nah. A read is student dependent. For almost anyone, MIT is a reach, but for some, JMU is a reach (Unhooked, 3.0 wgpa). My DD, a strong but not elite student,thought she applied to a reach ED. Looking at Naviance it was more of a match. It is also the right school for her personality. So, there was no reason to apply to a reach.

(she applied to 4 matches and 5 safeties); Matches were. W& M , VT, UIUC and Purdue. Safeties were Miami of Ohio, UDEL, Iowa State, Indiana, and Mich State.

She got good merit at most of the safeties and none of the matches.

In the end, the safeties all has costs similar to VT in state. But, she chose W & M.

So what was the ED school she applied to? If you thought it was actually a match based on Naviance, what do you think caused her to not get admitted?