The 1 3 1 List

OR “Match Schools are the best, and don’t forget it”
Conventional advice will tell you to apply to at least 9 schools. You will have a large list of schools to start with, and then narrow it down to 3 Reaches, 3 Matches, and 3 Safeties.
While I think this is not a bad way to do it, I think that there are people who this method just won’t work for.

There are applicants like myself, who were insanely picky and needed to love a school to consider going there. There are students who need a specialized program, and will only have so many options (I worked with a music and business student who needed a school where he could get a quality education in both, which severely limited his options). Then there are the normal applicants who have a long list but have no connection to any particular schools or programs, but they might be stacking the deck a little high and limiting their options unintentionally.
So I’ll break down the method I think is best for creating a list, especially if you’re picky.
First of all, you should, at minimum, have 5 schools. The most common way to do that would be:

• A: Safety School- this is a school you can with the utmost certainty say you can be accepted to and afford. You’re well above the middle 50% of scores and you put effort into the essays and had a good interview. Your classes are on-par with what they expect or exceed their expectations. You’ve toured and expressed interest.

• B: Low Match- This is a school that you’re in range for and at the high end or above the middle 50 percent. You’re very confident that you will be accepted, and can most likely afford it. Its not quite a safety (usually for financial reasons, maybe you need X amount of scholarship money).

• C: True Match- This is a school you’re in range for and while you’re not absolutely confident that you’ll be accepted, you know you will most likely be. You can probably afford the school baring any unexpected circumstances. You’re in the middle 50 percent and sent in good essays, toured, or interviewed.

• D: High Match- On paper you should be fine with this school, and you’re reasonably confident that you’ll be accepted. You will probably be able to afford it. You expressed interest, and while you might be on the low end of the middle 50 percent, or maybe just in a harder demographic, you are  -on paper-  well qualified.

• E: Reach- This is not a high reach. A high reach is a lottery school, and we don’t do that here. This is a school that you are slightly out of range for, but you probably have about a 50/50 chance at acceptance. Also included are any schools with acceptance rates so low that even though you are in range, you can’t confidently call it a match. ALSO any school you would need crazy financial aid miracles to attend is a reach, it doesn’t matter how qualified you are.

While you can increase the amount of schools you’re looking at to whatever number suits your fancy, this formula allows you to maintain a nice balance of where you’re applying.
Too often I see a list that has “3/3/3” where its 1 actual safety (that they hate and claim they would never attend), 2 low matches (that they think are safeties), 3 high matches (which they think are enough matches), and 3 lottery schools (or “high reaches”).

The conventional 3/3/3 plan puts too much emphasis on safeties and high reaches (isn’t the point of a safety that you’re confident you’ll get in, and a reach a school that’s a bit of a stretch, but you have a real chance?) and not enough on matches. You should apply to several match schools because those are where you’ll really have your choices.
Of course, you can apply to more than one reach, if you want to go that route, but remember that application fees add up quickly. You also don’t have to apply to any reach schools (while I only applied to 1 school because I was accepted ED, I had all of my applications filled out before I found out, and I didn’t look at any reaches).
 Personally, of my 7 schools, I had 2 safeties and 5 matches (2 low, 2 true, 1 high).
If a 3/3/3 style is best for you, go for it. But splitting up your match schools into low, true, and high will help you have a better grasp at what you’re really looking at. Don’t do too many high match schools without having a reasonable about of back ups.