No Safeties....are we ok or not?

Applying to College
1

My S and D (high school juniors) are finalizing their lists in advance of a summer full of college tours. They do not have any true safeties. Are their lists too risky? What really constitutes a safety for a high stats kid? How many matches/likely equal a safety? They will both ED somewhere and have an ED2 option as well. I would love to identify schools with EA notification in December. Nothing is more safe than a school you are accepted to already! We just haven’t found any they are actually interested in attending. (No need to suggest UC schools. We’ve looked. Not interested.)

S23
ACT: 34 (2 more sittings scheduled, hoping for a 35)
4.0 UW/4.5+W
will have 12 APs including senior year, not the easy ones either
2 Varsity sports, NHS, running for leadership roles senior yr., some other minor ECs and service, PT job
essays and LOR will be very good
will not apply for FA
CA resident
proposed major: Economics
Preferences: rigorous academics but not cutthroat, happy friendly students, not rural, not a pervasive heavy drinking scene but good school spirit/community. Likes the preppy vibe and a beautiful campus with nice architecture.

Dartmouth (legacy), Vanderbilt, WUSTL, Emory, maybe Notre Dame, maybe GATech, Boston College, Wake Forest, Holy Cross, Trinity College

D23
ACT: 34 (2 more sittings scheduled, hoping for a 35)
4.0 UW/4.6+W
IB Diploma Candidate
1 JV and 1 Varsity sport, 2 unique ECs with leadership and demonstrated interest in target major, NHS, PT job
essays and LOR will be amazing
will not apply for FA
CA resident
proposed majors: film/TV/screenwriting, quantitative sociology/QMSS/or similar
Preferences: very specific majors/interests have driven the list, the more urban the better, smart creative students, she can handle a huge school

Brown, Northwestern, Emory, Univ. Michigan, Wesleyan, Boston Univ., U. Wisconsin, U Washington

1 Like
2

I do agree their lists are a little top-heavy. especially her’s. I mean she will likely get into Wisconsin but I can’t call it a true safety. U Washington is hard to say because you have to get into your major, so again I would not call it a safety. For. kid who likes urban I might add University of Minnesota. Also I think FSU might be good in her interest areas, but not a safety for OOS anymore. Ohio State has a nice urban campus and should be decent in her areas. Macalaster is a smaller LAC with an urban setting. Univ of Vermont might be a fitting safety too.
For him, beautiful campus, preppy, not too rural, maybe Villanova? it’s not really a safety, though. Also Richmond. But Univ of Delaware might be true safety that fits.

6 Likes
3

Congratulations – both your S and D are excellent students with much to offer to any college.

That said, they both should find safety schools that they would be happy to attend. I always encourage students to have a safety/match schools with EA or rolling admission – having one or two acceptances in place by December will take a lot of stress off the process.

My S’s excellent guidance counselor always said that “in the end you want your kid to have choices” and (while they could get into any/all of their colleges) their current lists do not guarantee this will happen.

16 Likes
4

I think your kids stand excellent chances of getting into a school on their lists, but I also think every student should have a few schools where it is very likely to get in — bonus points if they are very affordable, too.

I know my own kid has grown to love schools that accepted her early. She has received scholarships and admission to honors colleges and special programs while waiting to hear from other schools that are possible, but not likely admits for anyone.

As she has visited the schools that already accepted her, her vision of what she wants has evolved. She’s like your child who wants to be among friendly students and not a cut-throat atmosphere and she’s finding her “people” in unexpected places. The schools she has grown more fond of are not necessarily the highest ranked overall, but she sees opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities with less competition while still getting rigorous academics in honors courses and other programs designed for high-achieving students.

She is close to deciding without even waiting for decisions from the less likely to admit schools on her list. And the school now at the top of her list started at the bottom — sort of a “back up” add.

Students change so much that last year of high school. I always think it best to cover a range in school choices: bigger/smaller, public/private, different kinds of campuses and likelihood of admission, etc. It’s a fun adventure to consider all the possibilities. More fun than saying goodbye at the end, to me.

Good luck with the process!

20 Likes
5

we had the same experience with our oldest D. She was accepted EA to Lewis & Clark with a large merit offer. She definitely loved feeling the love and it help soften the first round of rejections. She was one rejection short of attending L&C.

3 Likes
6

If a student does not have a safety, then their “safety” becomes either taking a gap year or attending community college. Given the excellent stats for both of your children you should be able to come up with a better safety.

I am wondering about McGill. Admissions is very stats driven, and both of your children have very strong stats. It is also a very strong university in a very attractive and interesting city.

Do you have any financial constraints at all? Are you fine being full pay with two students at once at any university on either list?

13 Likes
7

Personally I would lose sleep over these list.

For your Econ student, she’d be an auto admit to IU Kelley which has a strong business Econ major.

For your film child, take a look at DePaul in Chicago. Would be a safety and has a strong program.

18 Likes
8

For your daughter, I would suggest taking a look at Fordham’s Film and Television major. I think they have a track that focuses on screenwriting, but I’m not sure at which campus. Lincoln Center is smack dab in the middle of Manhattan, and Rose Hill, which has a more traditional college campus feel, is further out in the Bronx. Fordham has EA, and very generous merit scholarships. I would consider it a safety for your daughter, but also an excellent option given her preferences. She would have great network there in the city, I would think, and countless opportunities for internships.

8 Likes
9

My kids with similar stats applied mostly to safeties for merit, but got rejected at some reaches (Tulane, notre dame, JHU) 3 season varsity captains, Irish dancers, pt jobs starting freshman year. They did have a B freshman year, 9 AP’s. Everyone should apply to safeties and matches that they would be happy to attend (mine ended up at UDel honors and Clemson honors with merit).

8 Likes
10

no financial constraints. There are schools not worth paying $80k for though, even if we can afford it.

2 Likes
11

IUB is actually a safety my film kid is considering (The Media School.) Looks like a lovely campus she just isn’t sure about Indiana and Indianans in general.

2 Likes
12

We have looked at McGill. It is an interesting option but I don’t understand admissions or how to navigate it. Is it a safety?

Our GCs are useless for anything outside CA.

1 Like
13

The real safety is knowing your children have great stats and you can pay full COA.

I would do ED somewhere for each one along with early FAFSA/CSS.

There are plenty of schools that take kids on a rolling basis. Your lists are a bit top heavy but I would not be too concerned with those stats, finances and choice of majors.

3 Likes
14

We’ve looked at Fordham. Not sure she can deal with the Catholic rules and such but we will reconsider. EA with merit would be nice!

1 Like
15

Then IU would be a good safety for both of them ; )

What are they concerned about in terms of Indianans?

1 Like
16

overly conservative (by their standards).

2 Likes
17

The admissions landscape has changed considerably in just the last 2 years. What might have been considered likelies for high stat kids are now either low reaches, or the colleges are managing yield tightly resulting in a lot of deferrals (if EA) or waitlist (if RD). This makes selecting good safeties even more important. What constitutes a safety? A college:

  1. where your stats are well above the published 75th percentile mark
  2. that you’d be happy to attend if all else fails (in other words, offers the major and the type of college environment you desire)
  3. is affordable

Zero. There are way too many high stat kids and colleges are looking at a lot more than stats. Matches/likelies are not the same as safeties. You can apply to 10 of these and possibly get deferred or rejected from all 10. That’s unfortunately the reality for many top applicants these days.

24 Likes
18

McGill is almost entirely stats based so could likely be considered a quasi-safety for High-stats kids.

1 Like
19

Check out the University of Arizona. Beautiful campus in a great city. Huge school spirit. Honors College makes a big place feel small. Excellent resources and connections. Great merit $ for OOS kids.

8 Likes
20

My kid has similar stats 3.9/4.7; highest rigor possible; 1570 one sitting; varsity athlete etc. My kid also had a similar list. Deferred from Brown, deferred from CWRU, admitted to state flagship and waiting on a number of reaches. There could be more acceptance coming, and rejections, and waitlists, who really knows. There could be a shutout. Not a comfortable place to be. Learn from us and add some safeties.

37 Likes