Creating a Balanced College List: Reach, Target, and Safety Defined

Creating a Balanced College List

As discussed in the recent article, Most CEOs Didn't Attend an Ivy League: Debunking Common Myths About College Choice, a quality college application process is driven by strategy and data: not emotion, fact, not fiction.

In a world where influencers, pundits, and publications fight for clicks—often via misleading data—having a balanced list-building strategy to help cancel out the college admissions cacophony ensures that a personalized, data-driven, and appropriate plan is generated and executed.

Balance and Intention

In addition to using quality data, balance and intention are essential components of a strategic college list. While this may seem obvious, year after year, in failing to be strategic, students end up miserable and deflated.

It is critical to understand that a college list that is not balanced and intentional will almost certainly result in adverse outcomes. Inevitably, students who apply to too many reach and unlikely institutions end up disappointed, even crestfallen, and students who don’t apply to good fit institutions risk being unhappy and unfulfilled. #BeStrategic 

Good Fit: Defined

The core component of a data-driven college applications plan is the list of good-fit colleges and universities. But what exactly does “good fit” mean? In many ways, it is entirely subjective. That said, within the subjective messiness, “good fit” comes down to four criteria: academic fit, social fit, emotional fit, and financial fit. In the absence of a “good fit,” students end up unhappy, unfulfilled, and unsuccessful, while parents may end up with so much debt that retirement becomes that thing other people do. Conversely, prioritizing fit results in happy, successful, and fulfilled students whose parents sleep well at night knowing their children are thriving.

#GoodFit = #AcademicFit + #SocialFit + #EmotionalFit + #FinancialFit

Reach, Target, Safety: Defined

Every college list should contain good-fit institutions across three categories—reach, target, and safety.

ONE: Reach.

You have a shot, but statistically, it is not probable. Reach schools include those where:

• Your GPA and/or standardized test scores are in or near the bottom 25% of previously accepted students
• The school has an acceptance rate of 30% or less

TWO: Target.

You have a decent chance of acceptance, but it is not a done deal. Target schools include those where:

• Your standardized test scores and/or GPA are in the middle 50% of previously accepted students
• The school has an acceptance rate of 50% or more

THREE: Safety.

You feel reasonably assured that you will be admitted. Safety schools include those where:

• Your standardized test scores and/or GPA are stronger than 75% of previously accepted students
• The school has an acceptance rate of 70% or more

Final Thought: Check your Mindset.

In creating a balanced college list, be open-minded and resist the temptation to hyper-focus on one school or a single type of school (e.g., only highly selective/rejective). If you have a top choice, great. Just don’t allow that to prevent you from learning about new possibilities and generating a list that reflects your passions, aspirations, and interests. Ultimately, the goal of a balanced college is to create opportunity (i.e., admission to a handful of schools you can choose from). #BeOpenMinded

For more information on what good fit means for YOU, making a balanced college list, and how to minimize the stress of the college application process, please contact me at kathy@fineeducationalsolutions.com. #SayNotoStress