Reach, Match, and Safety Schools: Making Your Application Strategy

So, you're a high school student in Taiwan, and you’re applying to undergraduate university programs in the US. But there are so many schools! How do you strategically choose a good spread of schools, optimize your chances for admission, without applying to every school you hope will take you?

There’s a simple strategy. All you have to do is separate, or categorize your list of schools into three broad categories: 1) Reach Schools, 2) Match Schools, and 3) Safety Schools. When you choose one to three schools in each category, you diversify your risk, and ensure the best chance for admission into a school you will be happy at.

Reach Schools

A reach school for some might be the most prestigious schools – the Ivys. Harvard, Princeton, Yale, etc. Reach schools are called “reach” because you have to stretch high to get them, so what a reach school is for Student A might be different for Student B. If you have a high GPA and an SAT score above 2100, the Ivy League schools might be a reach for you. Someone with an SAT around 1900 might set UC Berkeley as their reach school, and a student with an SAT around 1500 might set University of Alabama as a reach school. Depending on your grades, GPA, TOEFL, and extracurriculars, you should apply to at least one reach school.

Match Schools

Match schools are schools that are well within your reach. If a school lists its average SAT scores as 1900 – 2250, and your SAT score is within that range or better, say 1950 – 2400, then that school is a “match school” for you. It means that the school is a good fit for you, and that your grades and scores “match up” well with the average grades and scores of the school. Usually these are good schools that aren’t quite at the Ivy caliber. Schools like Notre Dame, NYU, George Washington University etc.

Safety Schools

Safety schools are schools which are “safe” for you to apply to – schools which you are almost sure to get into. These are often bigger state schools, schools which have very high incentives for international applicants, or schools where your grades and test scores are at the top of, or higher than the average range. Safety schools can still be incredible schools, and give you an amazing higher education experience. Even though you may call a school a “safety school,” you should not think that it’s a sacrifice to attend one. Often times large state schools and smaller liberal arts colleges have amazing student life, and active student bodies, giving you the opportunity to meet with a relatively high number of new friends and future professional contacts.

Conclusion

Apply to at least one school from each category. One reach, match, and safety school each. If you want to apply to more schools than three, apply to two from each category, or two safety, three match, and one reach. By diversifying your risk over a broader portfolio of schools, you give yourself the highest possible chance at getting into an American undergraduate program.

If you have any questions about structuring your application strategy, or how to choose the best schools for you, if you would like guidance for picking out the right reach, match, and safety schools, then feel free to get in touch with me, David, at transcendadmissions@gmail.com.