Safeties, Reaches and Matches

Last Updated on July 13, 2021 by Jill Schwitzgebel

So, now you and your child have spent some time online searching for different colleges in a variety of ways, and they have some ideas about what schools they would like to go see, and have even visited a few.   There is that one school however, that they just LOVE, but where both their GPA and test scores put them just below the averages the college lists.  Or maybe their test score looks good, but their GPA appears to be really lacking, or vice versa. Congratulations!  You have found the “Reach” school!

The Safety, the Reach, and the Matches

The Reach

Just as the name implies, the Reach school is that school that your child loves, but that is just not a sure acceptance packet in the mail in the spring.  I would not advocate ONLY applying to Reach schools, but there is nothing wrong with your child having one on the list and it is good to have something to aspire to.  If your wallet can afford the applications fees, and your child does not mind doing the added application work, there is no reason not to have multiple schools in this category.

Incidentally, Ivy league schools all fall into this Reach category, even if your student has the GPA and test scores that fit with their accepted averages.  Even kids with perfect SAT scores may be rejected.  These schools are often referred to as “lottery schools” – having a high enough test score and GPA  just earns the student the ticket that lets them play this lottery.  But, competition is fierce and some kids with the same stats will get in, while others will not.

The Match

But, the category you really want to focus on is the Match.  You want to have probably a minimum of two to three schools in this category.  This is the category where your student’s scores and GPA appear to align on average with what has previously been accepted at the school.  But you never know if the year your child is applying maybe the applicant pool will be exceptionally strong and your student COULD get passed over. The odds are definitely in your child’s favor that they’ll get in – but you just wouldn’t think of this school as a DEFINITE acceptance.  That’s a Match school!

The Safety

The Safety can actually be the trickiest.  This is the school where your child’s scores and GPA put them at the 75th percentile or above and absent any red flags, there is no reason your child would not get accepted there.  Incidentally, a Safety school can be a great source of scholarships, since your child is in the top 25th percentile of applicants. Here is the tricky part – the Safety is not a real Safety school if your child will not be happy there or if your child somehow perceives that school as settling for going somewhere they do not really like.  In my family’s experience, finding the Safety has been the most difficult.

                                     See also:  A Word About Scholarships

Financial Safety

Something that can easily be overlooked is that a Safety has to be a financial Safety as well.  If your child were to get in nowhere else (which is unlikely because they will also have applied to Matches!), that leaves them with the Safety school.  OR, if they get accepted to their Matches and even their Reach, what happens if the costs at those schools are too high because maybe you did not get the financial aid you had hoped for? Or what if there were some other unforeseen financial circumstances?  The Safety is the one you need to be able to pay for somehow.  It could be that the sticker price is affordable or it could be that your child will definitely receive a scholarship, making it affordable.

Safety schools are often a good source of scholarship funding.   Kid #2 is at his Safety school and they made it worth it for him to attend.  They worked hard to get him interested and as he said, “It’s really nice to be wanted.”  He got rejected by one Reach school, got waitlisted at a different Reach school, and also got in to four other Match schools.  We were disappointed by the funding given by those Match schools, but were prepared to (somehow) pay for him.

As his high school senior year progressed though, he decided that he did not want to graduate from college with any student loans to pay and he knew he was happy with his Safety.  Once on campus, he had some terrific research opportunities that changed the path he was originally thinking he wanted to take.  He has held leadership positions he may not have held elsewhere.  And along the way, he also made terrific friends.  In the end, it is hard for any of us to imagine him attending anywhere else.  His “Safety” school was actually the perfect choice.

                                See also: How Many Schools Should I Apply To?