Target Colleges

Students usually finalize their college list at the start of their senior year. The list should not be too long or too short. In today's competitive climate, and the ease by which you can apply through the Common and UC Application, students are applying on average to 12-15 colleges. If you have fewer schools, you are not giving yourself enough options.

Target Colleges are those with overall acceptance rates of 25 to 50 percent. This means your GPA, standardized test scores and class rank fall within the average range for a particular college. You have 25 to 50% chance of admission to a target school.

Grades and scores are a huge part of college admissions. Make sure as well as keeping good grades, you also pick courses that are challenging and rigorous, such as AP classes. So if you have a choice between Honors or Advance English and AP English, you should take the latter and of course do good in that class.