Building A College List

MVHS Counseling Department

So you’ve researched colleges and thought about what traits matter to you. Now it is time to refine that list and consider the academics to determine your chances of acceptance.

Determining Your Chances of Acceptance

Based on Three Factors:

​

1. The GPA of Previously accepted students
1. Report Middle 50%

​

​

• The test scores of previously accepted students
• Report Middle 50%

**Remember, many schools are now test-optional so test scores may not be required**

​

​

​

Example:

University of Colorado - Boulder

Fall 2021

​

Average GPA 3.79 (weighted)

*Average SAT 1430

*Average ACT 28

* Not required for admission, but considered if submitted

Determining Your Chances of Acceptance

3) The acceptance rates of colleges

​

• The lower a college’s acceptance rate the more difficult it is for you to be admitted.

• 3700 schools have acceptance rates of 35% or higher

​

• Can be found online on: Naviance under College Search, U.S. News & World Report, U.S. Department of Education’s College Navigator Website
• Look up “ABC University Common Data Set” to find First-Time, First-Year Admission data information

Three Categories

1. Safety
2. Target
3. Reach

SAFETY

SAFETY/PRETTY SURE: College at which you have a 75% or better chance of being admitted into because your GPA & test scores meet or exceed applicants

• Test scores are near or in the top 25% of accepted students
• The acceptance rate is above the 50th percentile
• GPA is near or in the top 25% of accepted students

* It’s important that you are more than willing to attend any safety school if for some reason you should not be accepted to your Target and Reach schools.

TARGET

TARGET/GOOD CHANCE: Colleges that you have a 50% or better chance of being admitted because your GPA & Test scores are in the middle 50% of the range

• Test Scores fall in the average range
• The acceptance rate is over 35% and usually closer to 50%
• GPA falls in the average range

REACH

REACH: Colleges that you have a 25% less chance of being admitted because your GPA and test scores are less than applicants who have been admitted

• Your test scores are near or are in the bottom 25% of accepted students
• The acceptance rate is 35% or less
• Your GPA is near or in the bottom 25% of accepted students

​

​

Additional Information:

Holistic Process: Colleges are looking at everything.

• They use the three factors of for your college list as a baseline (weeding out of candidates applications)

​

• Then dive deeper from there: reviewing academic rigor (which classes have you chosen compared to your classmates), letters of recommendation, personal essay, and leadership activities

Some Schools Have a More Direct Process

If you have a certain GPA and/or Test Score and have a high school diploma you will be accepted.

• Will not need to do an admission essay
• Will not need to obtain letters of recommendation

Example Metro State University: Guaranteed Admission Requirements for students who have a cumulative, unweighted high school GPA of 2.0 or higher.

​

Task #1: What Is Each College's Test Scores & Acceptance Rates?

Step 1: Create a document with the following columns: College, Average Test Scores, Average GPA, % of Acceptance

Step 2: Take your College List and list each college under the College Column

Step 3: Research - use Naviance, College’s Admission Pages, or the websites on slide 4 to find the average test scores, gpa, and % of acceptance. Write the information into each column next to the college

Task #2: Categorizing My College List

Step 1: Take the document with your research of colleges on it

Step 2: Compare your data to a college’s admissions data and determine if a school is a safety, target, or reach

Step 3: Once completed, review your categories. Do you have at least 2 colleges in pretty sure things? If not, time to do more research

Step 4: When you think your list is ready, log into Naviance and upload your schools into “Colleges I am Thinking About”.

Check out this example

Example College Spreadsheet