A question regarding safeties

Applying to College
1

<p>I honestly have no idea how to judge whether a college is my safety or not. I come from a very underrepresented region (the middle east) so it's a bit easier to get into prestigious universities than most people. However, i'm still a bit unsure as to what qualifies as a safety for me..
According to some data our school gave us, here are the basic stats for some students from my school who are now attending top universities just so you can get an idea of how lenient colleges tend to be for people from my region. Also bear in mind that most students at our school have very mediocre lists of extra curricular activities. </p>

<p>University GPA Rank SAT Score</p>

<p>Princeton 4.28 1 V: 690 M: 740 (old SAT)
(also accepted at
Harvard)</p>

<p>Upenn (wharton) 4.11 3 V: 580 M: 680
(2005)</p>

<p>Upenn (wharton) 4.24 1 V: 640 M: 670 W: 620
(2006) </p>

<p>Upenn (engineering) 4.06 3 V: 580 M: 650 W 620
(2007) </p>

<p>Upenn (engineering) 4.01 4 V: 580 M: 780 W: 660
(2007)</p>

<p>Tufts (2007) 3.74 9 V:580 M: 630 W: 560</p>

<p>University of Virginia 3.88 5 V: 550 M: 580</p>

<p>Georgetown (2002) 4.18 1 V: 550 M: 640</p>

<p>Duke (2000) 4.12 1 V: 580 M: 680</p>

<p>Now comes my question. I was wondering whether Tufts, NYU, and UCLA would qualify as safeties for me. I am ranked somewhere in the top 5 percent and my cumulative gpa is a bit over 4. I took my SATs twice and on the first time i scored: V 690 M 600 W 720 and on the second time i scored: V 650 M 710 W 760. I am aware that colleges take many other factors into consideration, but i would just like to know on a general level whether these colleges could be potential safeties for me. Any input will be highly appreciated. Thank you</p>

2

<p>I would say that NYU is probably a safety and the other two are matches.</p>

3

<p>what other colleges would be considered safeties in my case?</p>

4

<p>Based on your list, I assume that you are interested in large or moderate size universities rather than liberal arts colleges. Using this as a guide, I think that based on your credentials (including your higher SAT scores in math and verbal), George Washington, University of Wisconsin, Tulane, University of Rochester, Lehigh, NYU and Boston University would be safeties, among others. There are a large number of excellent universities in which you would have a good shot, but they are probably not safeties, including Boston College, Vanderbilt, Emory, Georgetown, Tufts, UCLA, University of Virginia and University of Southern California, among others. I hope this is helpful.</p>

5

<p>The UC’s (UCLA, UCB, etc) are VERY difficult for out of state students to get in.</p>

<p>Average 10-11th grade GPA @ UCLA for admitted student is 4.29 (weighted). Average SAT score for admitted student is 2000 (new SAT).</p>

<p>These stats are for ALL students. And since it is much more difficult for out of state students to get into the UC’s, I’d say the averages for out of staters are even higher. I dont think you can count UCLA as a safety.</p>

6

<p>how about university of michigan - ann arbor ??</p>

7

<p>any ideas??</p>