<p>Can anybody suggest a safety school for a kid with the following attributes:</p>
<ul>
<li>a 3.2 (W) GPA from a very rigorous urban public HS</li>
<li>750/720/760 SAT I's, 750 (world history) and 710 (Spanish) SAT II's</li>
<li>undecided between international relations/foreign languages and music (theory/comp, piano) as academic focus; would like a place where double major or self-constructed major is possible--for this reason, recently leaning away from large U's toward LAC's with more flexible curriculum.</li>
<li>lives in Boston, would prefer to stick to NE/eastern NY (NYC, Hudson Valley), though would consider going as far as western NY/PA/MD/DC for the right fit</li>
<li>more comfortable with a crunchy/artsy kind of social atmosphere as opposed to Greek/preppy</li>
</ul>
<p>Here's his current list of schools, in rough descending order of reachiness:</p>
<p>Brandeis
NYU
Bard
Skidmore
Sarah Lawrence
Wheaton (MA)
Hampshire
Bennington
Boston U.
Clark
UMass</p>
<p>Brandeis is his dream school--he fell in love on his visit, and it's very strong in his areas of interest--but may be a bit of a long shot for him at this point, as is NYU. Further down the list I think there's a decent range of reaches, reach/matches and matches, but only one true safety (UMass) and one borderline safety (Clark). So we're looking for at least one more safety to add to the list. Any suggestions would be most gratefully appreciated.</p>
<p>definitely look at the University Of Vermont, honestly I don’t think somebody with a 3.2 weighted GPA has a shot at many of the top schools in New England so UVM might actually be within his range instead of being a safety school…</p>
<p>Where is his financial safety? He needs to take a long hard look at his home-state public universities and/or community colleges and identify one that he can pay for without any financial aid other than federally determined financial aid, and that also offers the academic programs he’s interested in.</p>
<p>my major problem is the 3.2 weighted GPA, that is not going to get the OP into NYU, Brandeis, Bard, Skidmore, Wheaton, and BU if not more schools</p>
<p>His scores are so high for those schools you never know. Especially at the schools that really want more men. Being full pay would also be a huge boost at these schools this year.</p>
<p>true but that GPA may be a B/B- unweighted and that statement that schools would want more men, full tuition would only be true if the OP were in the B/B+ range, test scores can only go so far to save somebody.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the responses! A few thoughts:</p>
<p>1) UMass is our financial and academic safety. No question he’ll get in, and no question we can make it work financially. We’re just looking for an extra option or two to make sure he has some choices. UConn and UVM have both been on our radar, and judging by the Naviance scattergrams I’m looking at, they would both qualify as safeties, though UConn might be near the safety/match borderline.</p>
<p>2) About the 3.2 GPA–I think his school’s (justified) reputation for difficulty gives their students a bit of a bump in this regard. At least I can tell you, based on those same scattergrams, that S’s stats would have been a match for Wheaton, BU and Hampshire this year, and a borderline match/reach for Bard and Skidmore. Brandeis is a definite reach, although one student this year with slightly worse stats than S. got waitlisted there. </p>
<p>3) His UW average is 3.0, I believe–there’s not much difference between the two, because he hasn’t taken any APs yet, just some honors courses. He’s taking 3 APs next year, and I think this will help on the GPA front, because 2 of the 3 are in subjects (modern European history and music theory) where he has a lot of strength and enthusiasm. </p>
<p>4) Unfortunately, we’re not going to get any help on the full-tuition front. On the contrary, we will have substantial need. OTOH, if there’s such a thing as a zip-code bump, we might get a small one–I don’t think there are a lot of kids going from our neighborhood to New England LAC’s.</p>
<p>nightchef, does this person go to Boston Latin? if the scatterplots show that these schools are appropriate, then ignore everything that I said and go along with it :)</p>
<p>Personally I think that UVM is the best public state university in New England.</p>
<p>Brandeis might be a reach but i think he wil have a solid shot. He has VERY good sat I and sat II’s. Other schools you might want to consider is Tufts and BC.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, because of need, I’d have to say that he might get into a BU, but getting the money probably won’t happen. So in finalizing this list you really need to factor in that at need aware schools that are clear that their money goes to top candidates, if he gains admission there is a good chance it will be without adequate money. While I really think full pay kids who have his stats will end up at schools on your list next year, I don’t think it’s true of kids with significant need. I would add some more of your state schools given this.</p>
<p>This is one of the biggest mistakes I see in college list creation. Sad but true is that safety at non 100% meet need schools has got to be determined by the liklihood of getting aid first. This pretty much takes OOS publics off the table. It also will be an issue at almost all the privates on your list. And I don’t think there is a zip code advantage, you’re from MA and all of these schools have plenty of MA students.</p>
<p>pierre0913, got it in one–he’s a Boston Latin student. (I’m still figuring out how specific it’s appropriate to be about stuff like that around here.)</p>
<p>superstar12, Tufts would be a great fit in many respects, but is probably not so much a reach as just plain out of reach at this point (the scattergrams show very little difference in selectivity, for BLS students, between Tufts and Harvard). BC would be only a mild reach, but our feeling has been that BU might be a better fit academically if we’re going the “big urban university” route.</p>
<p>IBclass06, thanks for reminding me about Marlboro. For some reason that one tends to fall off our radar. I get the feeling it might be a little <em>too</em> small and unconventional for S, but if we’re visiting Bennington anyway we might as well at least stop in and take a look around. </p>
<p>I’ve tried to interest S in Goucher, but he hasn’t bitten yet. I think he may have issues with the distance, particularly since he has zero experience of Baltimore–which is too bad, because I get the feeling it might be an excellent fit for him.</p>
<p>Susquehanna is one that we hadn’t considered at all. A little out of the sweet spot geographically, but worth checking out. A quick look makes it seem a bit like a small-town cousin of Clark. </p>
<p>hmom5–you said, “So in finalizing this list you really need to factor in that at need aware schools that are clear that their money goes to top candidates, if he gains admission there is a good chance it will be without adequate money. I would add some more of your state schools given this.”</p>
<p>I’m not sure I understand the logic of that last part. Is there a reason to reach further down the food chain than UMass within the state’s public system? Given a choice between UMass and, say, Salem State, there’s no question which of the two he’s attending, and there’s no question he’d get into both…so why apply to both?</p>
<p>Sorry, I don’t know anything about the MA state schools, if that’s the best and he’s in, there would be no reason.</p>
<p>So your question than becomes what are other financial safeties for your DS? Depending on what you can afford, perhaps some other, less expensive state schools. The SUNY system and CSU system have some schools that come in at about $25K for OOS students. Is that doable? Also wondering if there are any schools that meet need that may work given the boost from his high school.</p>
<p>I’d post on the parent’s board for more thoughts.</p>
<p>We are seeing some strange stats this year. For example a computer science applicant got into RPI (with big FA package) Smith (no FA$$) and Umass. But did not make the cut for Umass commonwealth college (the honors program.) Wow!</p>
<p>UMass has lots of artsy folks, but the jocks are hard to avoid. And the drinking situation is still a problem. Its worth checking out.</p>
<p>have you thought about Vassar? With more females than males at the school, he might have a chance. I have a few friends who go there and really like it.</p>
<p>Well a few of the schools on the list there (Sarah Lawrence, Bennington, Bard, Hampshire) don’t put much weight in test scores (where he obviously does very well), but at the same time they’re big on fit and personality, and male students so that’s a plus. I can say with a decent amount of confidence that Bennington should be a lock, as long as his essays are in order (Anecdotally, I got in as a male, 2.8 uw HS GPA, 3.6 college GPA [1 semester] no structured ECs, no test scores but killer essays. And as a transfer they gave me decent aid, not as much as I wanted but I’ll manage. Being transfer does change things a bit, but with only one semester that HS record was pretty important) </p>
<p>I third Goucher though. Other than the geographic problems it seems like a great fit. And geographically the school isn’t actually IN Baltimore, so you get the big-city culture without the stigma and problems that come with living in Baltimore. (But you do get the apparently terrible traffic). I was going to apply but I was a class short of their bizarre to-qualify-as-transfer credit number.</p>