<p>“Safety” is a moving and subjective target. The statistics are slippery, but the emotional definition is to me
- A college the thought of attending doesn’t give the student – or the parents – hives.
- A college application that will allow you to sleep between December and March. </p>
<p>After that, the definition blurs. Every year lesser known colleges with good academics become better known and therefore less safe. At some point, when the demographics turn, the acceptance rates will also turn, but for the next couple of years expect vigorous competition.</p>
<p>If you need financial aid, especially merit aid, add the dimension of financial safeties. These may or may not be the same as admissions safeties. You need two lists that hopefully intersect.</p>
<p>Your State University is an obvious choice, but not so if your child doesn’t want to attend a large university or if you have the bad luck to live in a state with a lousy university (see definition 1). Same goes for rolling admissions; whether it qualifies depends on the individual case.</p>
<p>There are enough schools that offer EA admissions that your son/daughter should be able to find one that appeals. The caveat here is that in some cases an EA application prevents an ED application. Check the rules. If your financial situation allows your child to apply ED, you may move your chances up a notch. Conversely an ED rejection or waitlist may motivate you to recalibrate.</p>
<p>I would say the single most important point to embrace and accept is that you and your offspring should spend a heckuva lot more time in researching and visiting prospective safeties than selectives. Super selectives, whether they are reaches or high matches, are easy to love. Assume you will love them and concentrate on getting to know schools that you aren’t familiar with.</p>
<p>We learned that visiting really, really helps. Meeting the kids, talking to admissions officers – many of whom are recent alums – walking around campus, seeing the dorms, ideally talking to a professor or interest – plants the seed that, hey, this college is full of smart, energetic people. It’s a safety because “xxx” fill in the blanks: location, gender imbalance, size, religious affiliation. You may never love it, but a personal relationship can lead to strong like.
You only need one safety. After that apply at will. Don’t worry about hairline differentials between reachy matches and matchy reaches. You only need one, but it needs to one that the whole family is signed up for.</p>
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Yes, this is fairly common, but I wouldn’t recommend it as a deliberate strategy as the emotional impact of an “unplanned” gap year can be devastating.</p>
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I’m not so good at statistics, but I don’t think that applying to more increases your chances when the individual admit rates are in the low teens or below.</p>