How does one go about finding target schools?Answered
Hello! I hear a lot about wanting to have reach, target, and safety schools, but I’m unsure what qualifies a school as ‘target’ in the first place, and even less sure about how to find ones. I have a 5.0 GPA, 1550 SAT, AP and honors classes, original political science research with a mentor, and a varsity sport. I also have plenty of extracurriculars, most importantly Mock Trial, Environmental Club (co-running the school’s recycling program), flute (I’m my school band’s principal, and was accepted to the regional All-State band) and tenor sax.
I have the reach schools (Cornell and Harvard) and the safety schools (Siena and Clarkson) covered, but I’ve had quite a bit of trouble finding target schools. I want to find someplace with a good polisci/prelaw program as well as a decent music program, and have a reasonably small budget. How does one go about finding target schools, when most of the schools one hears about are either incredibly prestigious/selective, or local and mediocre?
Was just wondering if anyone has strategies to share or specific schools to recommend.
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Hi! I would suggest looking for schools where their average accepted GPA for your state (some schools differ between in-state and out-of-state) and if your GPA is pretty much aligned with that, I would consider it a target school! you can also go to the school search area on this website and put target schools as a filter. You can do the same on College Board. Or, you could ask your high school counselor, or if your school has a specific college counselor!
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