Edge Tip:
How competitive for college admissions will you be in the future? This is based on several factors. Some factors are more measurable in the college applications process than others. The easily measured factors include:
- Your GPA
- Your tests scores on ACT, AP, SAT or Subject tests
Less measurable, but equally important in your college application process are:
- How hard you challenged yourself in your course schedule
- Activities you were involved in during high school
- Contributions you made to your community
- Your love of learning
- Your life’s experiences
Using Measurable Factors
Use the measurable factors to start creating your college list. You need colleges in the red, yellow and green zone of My Chances in your GuidedPath account. Your ACT or SAT scores generate your My Chances zones. Use PSAT or PLAN scores as an SAT or ACT score to get My Chances zones.
What puts a school in your RED zone?
- test scores are lower than the average scores at the college
- the college has a low acceptance rate (typically under 20%)
What puts a school in your YELLOW zone?
- test scores are in the mid 50% range, along with most other students
- the college has an acceptance rate of 20-60%
What puts a school in your GREEN zone?
- test scores are in the top 25% of students
- the college has acceptance rates of 60-100%
What do each of the zones mean?
- RED zone. These are DREAM or REACH colleges. This is where immeasurable factors can be very influential.
- YELLOW zone. These are EXPECTED or TARGET colleges. A majority of your future college list should be in this zone. It is your sweet spot for college admissions.
- 1-4 in the GREEN zone. This is your FOR SURE or SAFETY colleges. These are very important especially for financial aid or merit scholarship potential.
Your Edge:
Follow these steps to check your zones:
- Enter test scores from tests.
- Explore college profiles, using GuidedSearch.
- Click on My Chances in each college profile.