Setting goal to 1200 to give myself some wiggle room?

Eating below your BMR is a bad idea.
I also don't see the point in setting a goal at all if you're already anticipating going over and needing "wiggle room."
Why not just put it at an appropriate amount based on your TDEE and eat at or under your goal?

No, I don't think setting your calorie goal for less than you would need lying around in a coma is going to work for an active college student. Calculate your TDEE, then subtract 15-20% in order to get your daily calorie goal.

Tons of helpful information can be found here:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

This x1,000! You are not eating enough if you are logging accurately & only taking in 1,200cal (or even at your BMR).

Invest in a food scale and weigh your food. You won't need wiggle room for anything. That margin of error will be significantly reduced. And I agree that you shouldn't set it lower than your BMR.

agreed. You are not far from your goal and without weighing it would be difficult to get there while eyeballing stuff.

I'll be honest and say I get it! I got used to doing it this way through Weight Watchers. I'm not sure if this works the same way now but when I was a member back in 2010, this is basically how they set it up. The daily points goal they gave you was a bit low but then you got weekly "flex" points to use for splurges, and like MFP, you could earn extra points through exercise. It helped me to stay on track most of the time knowing I could have one or two splurges during the week and not worry about it affecting my progress.

In fact, last July I decided to set my daily calorie goal to my weight goal BMR which is only about 50 calories below my current BMR. And when I exercise, I eat back earned calories. That still gives me enough of a deficit so that I can lose fairly consistently at a rate of about 1 pound per month which includes skipped days for not logging vacations or going over on a night out with friends/Hubby.

I will caution though, I agree that 1200 might be a bit too low - maybe 1300 as it's not too far under your BMR. Or calculate your BMR at goal weight. Do not try to come in under that goal and try to log as consistently and accurately as you can. And if you exercise, eat back at least half of the earned calories. You don't want your actual intake to be too low or it can be harmful to your health and weight loss progress.

Good luck!

Honestly, I have done that in the past and if it works for you then go for it, and if it doesn't, don't! It can help if you don't have the money to invest in a food scale or the time to weight out every single thing (or the patience!!!!). I always measure my food, which I know is not the most accurate, and set my daily limits slightly lower than my needs so I can have that wiggle room.
I also think it helps me become a good judge depending on if I lose or gain, because even if I started off using a scale I could never sustain it. It's more trial-and-error, but it works for me.

Got mine at goodwill :-)

My toddler "shares" several bites of anything I eat... He's my built-in wiggle room. LOL

You're not supposed to go under your BMR, ever. Bad, bad, bad idea. Find your TDEE, and eat 10-20% fewer calories than that.

I would love to know what I need to be at but I haven't the slightest clue what NMR and TDEE are...I know MFP set my reccoemnded caloric intake at around 3300 and I know that is inane...