<p>I've been looking for colleges for a while... and I'm pretty much coming down to the wire on safeties. I'd just like to know what the best safeties and financial safeties are out there for very intelligent students who want an engaging college experience. Are there any that will give you a similar college feel and academic challenge, but just aren't as competitive? Are there ones that give out a decent amount of merit aid? </p>
<p>I'm applying to Princeton, Brown, Georgetown, Duke, BC, Wesleyan U, and Fordham, if that gives you an idea of the type of colleges I like. (I'm leaning on the Brown/Wesleyan side versus the BC/ Gtown type of college) I applied to Fordham EA as a safety, but I'd still like to find another one. And I live in Upstate NY, so a college in New England or the Mid-Atlantic states is preferable. Duke is the farthest I'm willing to go south, and Chicago would be the farthest I'd go west. </p>
<p>It depends to some extent on what your interests are. If you're interested in a science curriculum, there's Texas/Austin, RPI, Worcester, Rochester, and Georgia Tech. For liberal arts, consider Michigan, Virginia, UNC-Chapel Hill, and Florida. I don't know much about SUNY schools, but I read recently that Binghamton has improved its profile.</p>
<p>you know what a great financial safety: the University Of Pittsburgh, it is one of those schools that students will turn down ivy's for. If you're doing anything related with science or medical fields, the medical school is in the top 15 and is right on campus, psychology, history and other social sciences are also very strong. Every year, many students compete for and even get Rhodes, Goldwater, Marshall, Truman etc... scholarships, you don't see that often from a state school.</p>
<p>apply to a college with a good, selective honors program.</p>
<p>examples are george washington, american, tulane, university of texas plan 2</p>
<p>personally I like American's honors program the best, the average sat for it is 1430, but selection is almost completely numbers-based, so ifyou are the incredible ivy-applicant you say you are with a great gpa and sat, you should have no trouble getting in</p>
<p>U of Rochester, definitely. (And not just for science.) U of Pitt Honors College also. U of Michigan Honors College. Be aware that the schools with rolling admissions become harder admits the longer you wait. For a NY resident, SUNY Binghamton or SUNY Geneseo.</p>
<p>U of Rochester would be a good match. What are you going to major in? If you’re headed towards pre-med, I believe UofR has a fantastic 7 year medical program, although it’s kind of selective. </p>
<p>U of M is a fantastic school. I used to live in A2 and my brother goes there now and he absolutely loves it. I think it fits your choice the most. But I’m not sure if it’s much of a financial safety for out of state students. It’s definitely worth applying too, though.</p>
<p>My D is at an Ivy; she also got in at Georgetown, where with a family income in the low 100s her out-of-pocket cost would have been $14K, and OOS at UVA where it would have been about the same. She got a half scholarship to GW, but the cost there would have still been in the mid-30Ks. Her older sister graduated from the same Ivy; she also applied OOS to UMich and got a $20K / year scholarship, but her cost after the scholarship would have been mid-20Ks. The Ivy gave her more than that based on need.</p>
<p>Your obvious financial safety would be Binghamton, but I assume you’ve already decided not to go that route. As a NY resident, you could do one of the contract colleges at Cornell for mid-30Ks.</p>
<p>Holy Cross-similar to Georgetown but easier to gain admission. Holy Cross has nice campus with great school spirit. HC is also need blind for financial aid(same as Ivies).</p>
<p>My daughter used our state school (UC) system as financial safety but she ended up being awarded more funding from Brown. She applied EA to a great school, so once she was accepted, she need safety after that and could just apply to a few top schools and a few known for generous aid and merit aid. And she was from Calif, so school on the opposite coast was preferable.</p>
<p>Davidson is south of Duke geographically. It is waaaaay south of Duke in feel. I love the school, its students and the pretty campus, but if one wants a Brown-type experience, I doubt that they’ll find it at Davidson.</p>
<p>I’d consider Grinnell an academic and financial safety for Brown. Similar culture, no distribution requirements, merit aid and lower cost of living to start with. Less artsy (because no RISD next door), more understated- fewer preppies. But same intellectual, quirky, independent vibe.</p>