<p>How about Macalester? It is also “brrr…”, but has a nice mix of international students with the US students. And an easier admit than Carleton. More of a match than a safety, but right now she has a lot of “reaches” due to the low admissions rates of most of those schools. Too bad she didn’t like Smith, I was just hearing from a parent at a grad party today how diverse the student body was when they went to accepted student days.</p>
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<p>[Mount</a> Holyoke College Admissions Information - CollegeData College Profile](<a href=“http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg02_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=255]Mount”>Mount Holyoke College Acceptance Rate | CollegeData) indicates that “level of applicant’s interest” is “considered” (and a lot of other subjective factors are “important”), so it would be risky to consider Mount Holyoke a safety for anyone.</p>
<p>What about some mid-tier LAC’s in PA and OH like Lafayette, Gettysburg, Kenyon, Oberlin? Not sure about diversity, but those schools should be safeties with her stats.</p>
<p>My D, whose stats were more in the B range, was also interested in LACs with diverse student bodies. (She also attended a very diverse public HS.) It was very clear after several visits that many small LACs did not meet her diversity requirement, but that women’s colleges were exceptions to that rule, including Bryn Mawr, Smith, Mt. Holyoke, Agnes Scott (Atlanta), Mills (Oakland), and Simmons (a little less so). The latter three would certainly be safeties for your D, but women’s colleges in general are easier admits, especially for students who show a real interest in them.</p>
<p>Haverford, Macalester, Kenyon and Oberlin are not safeties – interest matters and, with small entering class, it is not just about stats but about how your applicant fills a need in that entering class. Unless you go down a “tier” to schools like Earlham in Indiana, Kalamazoo College, maybe Trinity in Hartford, CT – LACs are generally not going to be safeties, and that is a challenge. Someone said Agnes Scott, neat women’s school outside Atlanta, which could be a possible safety.</p>
<p>Dickinson College in central PA could be a safety - less selective than others on the list, and has an global focus, with a larger number of international students than its peer LACs. </p>
<p>I also second the advice to look for schools with EA or rolling admissions. There is no better safety than an acceptance in hand. An early acceptance allows a student to concentrate later applications on reach schools. </p>
<p>This thread has a lot of good information that might be helpful.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/881237-ivy-caliber-safeties-matches-condensed-advice.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/881237-ivy-caliber-safeties-matches-condensed-advice.html</a></p>
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<p>This is a description of an IDEAL safety school. </p>
<p>There is another thread in progress right now where people seem to be seriously considering the idea that if you can’t find a safety you love, you shouldn’t apply to a safety school at all.</p>
<p>In the real world, a lot of applicants do not find safety schools that they would be happy to attend. If they end up at their safety schools, they are disappointed. But they would be a lot more disappointed if they didn’t go to college because their standards for a safety school were too high and therefore they didn’t apply to one.</p>
<p>There are 3000 or so colleges in this country. In that mix, there should be a true safety for every student…affordable, place student likes, and guaranteed acceptance.</p>
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<p>Often, the only way that you can be sure that you will be accepted by a college is to apply to a college where you are much more qualified than most of the students. </p>
<p>Some students do not want to attend a college where they are much more qualified than most of their fellow students. Students like this are unlikely to find a true safety because the same factors that make a college a true safety also make it unattractive to them.</p>
<p>I agree with Marian - if student is determined to attend a small LAC, then only the most highly selective will meet full need. Even at these schools, the school defines full need and might differ from a family’s definition. There are many cases where a compromise must be made in either affordability or likability (guaranteed admission is by definition non-negotiable).</p>
<p>An earlier poster made an important point that some seem to overlook - a higher admission rate does not guarantee a school’s status as safety. Some schools might be less well known but attract applications from highly competitive students - Oberlin for example admits almost 40% but is far from easy admission (70% in top 10% of high school class; 2000/2200 range for 25/75% SAT scores). Also, interest is important for many LAC - an applicant with great objective statistics might be rejected because the adcoms did not feel it was a fit for both sides.</p>
<p>If OP’s D could study up on math and raise that SAT subsection score, she would likely improve her chances at her dream schools.</p>
<p>Think about Oxford College of Emory University, which would absolutely be an admissions safety for her. It’s 2-year LAC, after which students complete their BAs for two years at Emory itself. It’s near Atlanta, so not exactly in the Northeast, but plenty far from California. It’s very ethnically diverse – much more so even than the most diverse of her dream schools. And the LAC/Emory (small, high-quality research university) combination is pretty attractive.</p>
<p>Boston University School of General Studies (or whatever it is called these days) is similar to Oxford at Emory.</p>
<p>Yes but Oxford of Emory gives much better financial aid. It’s also unlike BU’s GS in that it’s a wholly separate campus with its own traditions and teaching methodology. If you’d like more information about Oxford at Emory, feel free to PM me.</p>
<p>I just tossed the BU option out there because the student wants to be in the northeast.</p>
<p>Ok, I’m totally unfamiliar with BU’s CGS except that it’s within BU’s perimeters and does seem to function somewhat like Oxford of Emory</p>
<p>While Mt Holyoke should generally not be considered a safety, a student from CA with her test scores, GPA and a “unique story” is likely to be admitted. Not sure about the diversity of the small liberal arts colleges in Ohio…but…maybe look into a few of them (not quite the Northeast, but some of those schools like Denison, have a similar feel.) Miami of Ohio is not as small as some she has looked at, and it’s public (which makes it a little more diverse) but has the feel of some of the smaller liberal arts schools.</p>
<p>Look at Clark in Worcester. Diversity may be an issue, but has a feel similar to the LAC’s she liked and would be a safety.</p>
<p>Union College in Schenectady NY is also not quite as diverse, but would be a target-safety to someone with her stats from CA.</p>
<p>A sweet/nerdy, intellectually oriented young cousin had a bad experience at Union a couple of years ago. He really disliked it there – way too oriented around alcohol and parties. My kids describe it as the Land of the Alpha Girls. The opposite of diverse, except maybe in shades of blonde hair dye. That’s based on the people they know who went there, other than their cousin, whose dream school would have been Swarthmore. (He wound up transferring to Brandeis and being very happy and engaged there.)</p>
<p>Given that Mt. Holyoke is in the mix–I’d suggest that your D also look at Bryn Mawr. It gets fairly good marks for diversity–6% African American, 6% Hispanic, 12% Asian, and 12% international students. Your D’s scores and her “story” would make her an attractive candidate and in all probability she’d be admitted (nothing is a done deal in admissions).</p>
<p>I think the OP said her D ruled out Bryn Mawr. Most of the LACs mentioned above will not meet the diversity requirement. Oxford at Emory is a good suggestion, but of course is not in the NE. I think for a true safety, there may have to be a compromise. Finding one with the desired location, diversity, and academic achievement of the student body (as opposed to those at the upper end like the OP’s D) would be difficult.</p>
<p>That said, I expect your D will be admitted (with merit money) to Mt. Holyoke. Its academic rigor (collaborative rather than competitive), diversity, and gorgeous New England location make it a great fit for her, which should be evident to the admissions committee. Best of luck!</p>