What Match Scores Measure

Your match score at any given school is a percentile-based estimate of where you fall within that school's admitted class. It is not a probability of admission — no algorithm can predict that with certainty. What it does is compare your numbers to the numbers that schools actually report in their official disclosures.

For law schools, those numbers come from ABA 509 reports. For medical schools, AAMC data. We use the 25th percentile, median, and 75th percentile of admitted students to create a continuous scale from 0 to 100.

The Four Match Categories

Every school-applicant combination falls into one of four categories:

  • Safety (75–100) — Your numbers are at or above the school's 75th percentile. Statistically, you are stronger than at least three-quarters of admitted students. This is where scholarship offers tend to appear.
  • Target (50–74) — You are between the median and 75th percentile. A competitive applicant with a realistic shot. This is the sweet spot for most application lists.
  • Reach (25–49) — You are between the 25th percentile and the median. You are in the game, but you need other parts of your application to carry weight. Softs, work experience, and a strong personal statement matter more here.
  • Far Reach (0–24) — Below the 25th percentile. Not impossible, but honest self-assessment is important. These schools should be a small part of your list, not the foundation of it.

How the Algorithm Weights Components

The weighting varies by program type because admissions committees in different fields place different emphasis on standardized tests:

  • Law: 60% LSAT, 40% GPA — The LSAT dominates law admissions because law schools are ranked partly by their median LSAT. This is not a secret; it is an incentive structure.
  • Medicine: 50% MCAT, 50% GPA — Medical schools evaluate both metrics more evenly, partly because the MCAT tests science knowledge that is directly relevant to the curriculum.

What Match Scores Do Not Capture

Match scores are quantitative. They do not account for:

  • URM (underrepresented minority) status, which can meaningfully shift outcomes at many schools
  • Work experience, publications, or clinical hours
  • Personal statement quality
  • Letters of recommendation
  • Institutional priorities (geographic diversity, feeder school relationships)

We surface URM status and softs tier on your profile so you can mentally adjust your categories. A strong URM applicant in the Reach category often has Target-like outcomes in practice. But we do not bake that into the score because the adjustment varies enormously by school.

Building a Balanced School List

A well-constructed list typically includes:

  • 2–3 Safety schools — where you are likely to be admitted with scholarship money
  • 4–6 Target schools — your most realistic outcomes
  • 2–3 Reach schools — ambitious but not unreasonable
  • 0–1 Far Reach schools — dream schools, if you are at peace with likely rejection

See Your Match Scores

Browse schools and see exactly where you stand at each one.

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Learn More

For technical details about how we calculate scores, visit our Methodology page. For common questions about match categories, check the FAQ.