Aiming high: social and academic correlates of applying to and attending ‘reach’ universities

Less privileged students disproportionately aim low with their university applications and often fail to apply to the institutions that match their academic qualifications. Little attention, however, has been directed toward the converse phenomenon, that of aiming high. These kinds of applications are commonly called ‘reaches,’ meaning an applicant’s credentials fall slightly below the institution’s range for the average first-year student....