What are reach, match, and safety schools?

BigFuture has developed a system to help you rank schools and weigh your options, based on your SAT scores or GPA. On BigFuture, if your SAT Score (or GPA, which we convert to an SAT Score) falls within the 25–75 percentiles for that specific school, we consider it a match. This range marks the middle 50% of admitted students. If your score is under the 25th percentile, we consider it a reach. If it’s above the 75th percentile, we consider it a safety. We’ll help you find reach, match, and safety colleges so you can build a balanced college list.