Reach, Target, and Safety Schools Explained

Three labels that decide how your whole list is built. Here's what each one really means and how to sort any school in about two minutes.

What the three words mean

• Safety — your numbers are clearly above the school's admitted range, and you can afford it. A near-sure yes.
• Target — your numbers sit inside the admitted middle-50%. A real coin-flip-ish shot.
• Reach — your numbers are below the admitted range, or the school is so selective that strong numbers still aren't enough.

How to sort a school in two minutes

Pull up the school's admitted GPA and test-score ranges (every Candor school page has them, straight from the Common Data Set). Then:

• You're above both ranges and the school admits a decent share of applicants → safety.
• You're inside both ranges → target.
• You're below either range → reach.

One catch: any school that admits under roughly 15% of applicants is a reach for almost everyone, even with perfect numbers. There just aren't enough seats. Sort honestly and an Ivy is a reach no matter how good your transcript looks.

How many of each

A workable mix is something like 2-3 reaches, 4-5 targets, 2-3 safeties. The exact count matters less than the shape: most of your list should be targets and safeties, because those are the schools that actually decide where you end up. More on sizing the whole list here.

Let the data sort it for you

Eyeballing ranges is fine, but it's easy to talk yourself into calling a reach a target. Candor sorts every school on your list automatically from your real profile, so the labels are honest instead of hopeful.

More guides

• How admission chances are calculated
• How to build a college list