Almost every high school senior (along with his or her parents) harbors a deep-seated fear of graduating from high school without a college acceptance in hand. Like losing at musical chairs, this scenario leaves the unlucky applicant stranded, with nowhere to go.

If you want to avoid this fate, you can’t just apply to colleges you might get into – or even ones you will probably get into. You also need to apply to one or two that are pretty much a sure thing. These safety schools have admissions criteria that you exceed – your GPA, class rank and standardized test scores should be higher than what you’d need for admission. This is a school that acts like a safety net in case more selective schools don’t admit you. It’s important to remember that people do sometimes end up going to their safety schools, so make sure you have at least one that you’d be comfortable attending. The fact that you can get in is meaningless if you’ll be miserable going there.

Most of the schools on your final college list will probably be target or level schools. These are colleges where you would fit in as an average student. Some admitted students will have higher grades and test scores, while others will have lower. You would have at least a 50-50 chance of being admitted to this kind of school.

A reach school may be your first choice, but it’s a long shot. You should not apply to more than a few of these schools, where your GPA and test scores will be in the bottom one-third of students admitted.

Schools in the Ivy League, as well as other top colleges and universities always need to be considered reach schools, no matter how good your credentials are. The most selective schools reject hundreds of valedictorians and students with perfect SATs every year.

It’s important to remember that numbers only count for so much with college admissions – your GPA and test scores may be perfectly on target, or even on the high side for a certain school, but a poorly written essay, obnoxious interview behavior, or a lack of extracurriculars can still sink your chances of admittance.