Anonymous wrote:Yes, MIT is a reach for everyone.

My super high stats kid thought their super high stats (like perfect SAT score and almost a 5.0 weighted) would help them get into MIT, CMU, GATech etc.. Nope.

Yeah, they should be able to do the math. If the acceptance rate is single digits, that means everyone has a 95% chance of being rejected, and most of those rejected were "qualified". So it's a lottery/matter of luck in reality.

Anonymous wrote:Rising sophomore DD came home at the end of last year and told me her school's counselors consider a school a safety, target, or reach based on the student's individual chances of getting in (mostly GPA and SAT/ACT-based). E.g., a target is where you have between a 25-75 chance of getting in. I've never heard anyone phrase it this, and it feels off to me, because, for example, MIT is a reach for everyone no matter how high their scores, yes? I feel like it it'll give her and her classmates a too-optimistic view of where they might be admitted?

Reach: less than 20% acceptance rate, there are levels of reach as well, because 5% is different than 19% and if your kid has 1580/4.0UW/10+ APs at a 15-19% place, they are more likely than someone with a 1480/3.75UW/6 AP.

Target: acceptance rates between 20-50% and your kid is at/above 50% for stats. I like to include at least one target where your kid is at/above 75-80% for stats.

Safety: Acceptance rates of 50%+, your kid is at/above 75-80%, basically your kid will get in if they show interest.

And yes, MIT is reach for everyone unless your parents are famous and you have the stats to get in.

Anonymous wrote:I read the following criteria and it seems to fit where my kids school counselor sorted the schools they are interested in:

High reach: all of the T30

Reach: <10% admit rate and stats (grades, sat/act) above median range

Target: 10%-40%admit rate and stats above median range

Likely: over 40% admit rate and stats above median

Even within a school, all students don’t have the same chance for any given college. You should assess your own profile and your own chance, i.e., the conditional probability. Only using the across-board, unconditional probabilities is simply stupid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, MIT is a reach for everyone.

My super high stats kid thought their super high stats (like perfect SAT score and almost a 5.0 weighted) would help them get into MIT, CMU, GATech etc.. Nope.

Not really. If you won IMO gold, MIT is actually a target (not safety).

Yep. My kid was a 1600 SAT (one seating), maxed out GPA, valedictorian, private school in Texas. White, no hook, wealthy background, speaks 3 languages fluently. Was denied admission straight up to 5 of the 7 top 25 schools he applied to. 1 waitlist that never materialized.
So no, there are no targets in the Top25. He is going to the UK.

UK?

Don't knock it. One of the smartest kids in my law school class went to UK.

Anonymous wrote:I read the following criteria and it seems to fit where my kids school counselor sorted the schools they are interested in:

High reach: all of the T30

Reach: <10% admit rate and stats (grades, sat/act) above median range

Target: 10%-40%admit rate and stats above median range

Likely: over 40% admit rate and stats above median

We really need to use the word "unlikely" for the top schools. The odds are against you no matter how great your application is. Calling it a "high reach" is misleading.

I read the following criteria and it seems to fit where my kids school counselor sorted the schools they are interested in:

High reach: all of the T30

Reach: <10% admit rate and stats (grades, sat/act) above median range

Target: 10%-40%admit rate and stats above median range

Likely: over 40% admit rate and stats above median

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’re working with a college counseling service that doesn’t even list T25 schools among reaches. No matter what stats you have, they consider your chances of being admitted so low that they’re not going to recommend applying. They don’t discourage you from doing so; they just aren’t going to suggest those specific schools to anyone.

Safeties are schools where your stats are better than at least 75% of admitted students. Targets are schools where your stats are better than at least 50% of admitted students. Everything else is considered a reach.

100%

+1 I saw 3.7-3.8 UW, TO students say Emory was a target.... Emory?! I think deep down they know they're bullshitting themselves, but delusion keeps their confidence.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. I would agree that individual stats are an important consideration, but disagree that acceptance rate should not also be considered.

Schools with acceptance rates under 20% or so are reaches for all applicants. That means a good chunk of the top 50 are reaches for all applicants. There is too much uncertainty.

You cannot look at general acceptance rate. Have to look at the acceptance rate for your specific school.
If the acceptance rate for your specific school is 30%, it's a target regardless what the general acceptance rate it. The general acceptance rate could be as low as 10%, no matter, still a target.

This!

+2 We are relying on SCOIR scattergrams from my DC’s private school to categorize the schools on his list.