Reaches, Targets and Safeties

Juniors, we're now in July. At this point, you should have a good handle on the reach schools you're applying to, the target schools you're applying to, and the safety schools you're applying to. You have your transcript from the end of your junior year. You have your standardized testing. Maybe you’re taking it again, but regardless, you should know the range of schools you're applying to.

I want you to think about this very judiciously. You should apply to fewer reaches, a glut of targets, and a couple of safeties. Applying to tons of reach schools with the attitude, "You know what? I have nothing to lose, everything to gain in throwing 15-20 snowballs on the wall to see what sticks" doesn't work.

Please, be very prudent, sensible, whatever word you want to use, about applying to reach schools. Think about their admissions policies, their admissions rates, the standardized test scores and GPAs they normally accept.

Yes, every now and then something may be in your profile that a reach school might find interesting. But more often than not, you end up on what we call in admissions "the butchering block."

I want you to excel and aspire to be all you can be in life. So again, please be sure to apply to only a few reach schools, a ton of target schools, and a couple of safety schools that you really feel good about. All right?

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