<p>the above universities i have listed as safeties and want to apply to only two or three</p>
<p>i wish to study economics at the undergraduate level....</p>
<p>could someone please hellp me rank these universities in terms of the quality of their undergraduate economics programs?</p>
<p>thanks in advance :)</p>
<p>If you are Canadian, and you are looking for a safety, I would suggest that you eliminate Bowdoin and U of Rochester from consideration as safeties.. McGill, UofT, and Waterloo are perfectly fine educational institutions and are likely to be less expensive for a Canadian. A safety isn't truly a safety if you can get in but you can't pay for it.</p>
<p>Plus, Bowdoin had an 18% acceptance rate last year. Unless you are top 1% of hs class, 1550+ SAT, I wouldn't call it a safety for anyone.</p>
<p>Hahaha, Bowdoin isn't a safety.</p>
<p>bowdoin: maybe not safety, but a low match instead?</p>
<p>finances shouldnt be a problem as rochester and bowdoin are need-blind and should take care of that...........</p>
<p>could i consider rochester a safety? (i have straight As, respectable ec's, 2200 SAT 1 and 800 800 SAT IIs) </p>
<p>could someone please rank those five universities in terms of economics programs? thanks</p>
<p>Bowdoin is an amazing school, anyone would die to go there, great food, life and amazing academics and reputation</p>
<p>i live in rochester..............dont go to u of r....</p>
<p>Bowdoin College Polar Bears isn't a safety, University of Rochester Yellow Jackets isn't a safety either,it would be a stretch to consider the McGill University Redmen a safety</p>
<p>Bowdoin is a safety school??? Hahaha! You are ridiculous, my friend!</p>
<p>^^ Canadian schools are traditionally very numbers-based, so McGill could indeed be considered a safety for a top student--especially if the OP is Canadian.</p>
<p>With the stats the OP cites, assuming a rigorous courseload, top 10% class rank, and all the usual things such as good recs and good essays, U of Rochester would seem like a definite match, and fairly close to safe to me.</p>
<p>BUT...although they do offer some large merit scholarships and admissions are "need blind," Rochester's FA offer to my kid was laughable last year. By far the lowest he received, even with a $10K per year merit award. It was his safety school, and I can only be thankful that it was not his only choice, because paying for it would have been brutal. I would not depend on good FA from them. If you are seriously interested in Rochester and need FA, make sure to interview NOW. Interviewing is important for consideration for their merit awards, and it closes early. I should add that I think that Rochester is one of the most often overlooked schools out there. It's a good place.</p>
<p>Bowdoin certainly would not be a safety, but I think you would have a decent chance of getting in. Much depends on those "respectable" ECs and the other intangibles. (Bowdoin is not a university, BTW. They do not have graduate programs.)</p>
<p>I have no opinion of the relative safety of the Canadian schools, and no knowledge of their econ depts.</p>
<p>i think everyone on here has pretty much said it
haha
bowdoin is not a safety school...and just because you have good greats and good test scores doesn't mean you have a really good chance of getting in.
since they are a test optional school im pretty sure that tests don't carry as much weight.
and just throwing this out there...a quarter of the class did better than a 2200 on the SAT. so even if test did hold a lot of weight...surely not a safety
not even a low reach. i would say its a reach....you have the numbers and such but bowdoin isnt all about numbers</p>
<p>well, what makes a safety a safety? i was using the fact that my sat scores were close/above the 75th percentile to label a school as a safety</p>
<p>the problem im having is finding a safety that gives financial aid to canadians...........cuz usually only the good schools do that.........</p>
<p>anyone suggest any other US safeties, and have any thoughts on the canadian schools listed above compared to US schools?</p>
<p>U of T and McGill are world-class universities. If they were in the US they would be right up there with HYPSM etc. I'm not familiar with Waterloo, so I can't write anything about it.</p>
<p>You really need to know just exactly how much money you will have available for your education before you apply to US universities. "Need-blind" for admissions means that you will get in if you are good enough, it doesn't mean that you will be guaranteed aid. Places that say that they will meet your "full need" will give you the financial aid that they think you need, which may not remotely resemble what you think you need.</p>
<p>For Econ:
Rochester
BOWDOIN
McGill</p>
<p>UT
Waterloo</p>
<p>OP, take a look at St. Lawrence University--a liberal arts college, never mind its name--in Canton, NY. It has a close relationship with Canada, including a major in Canadian studies, and offers some interesting FA opportunities to Canadian citizens.</p>
<p>
[quote]
well, what makes a safety a safety? i was using the fact that my sat scores were close/above the 75th percentile to label a school as a safety
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That definition is what makes a school a decent match to still a reach- which does not necessarily mean it is likely you will be admitted. By your criteria, all the schools I applied to should have been safeties and yet I was rejected by two of them and wait-listed at two of them. Seeing that the 75%ile SAT range for Dartmouth is 1540 still doesn't change the fact that they still reject ~ 70% of people with a 1540 SAT - hardly a safety.</p>
<p>^^ then what makes a safety a safety? :S somewhere you are so above that if you went there, your education would be a mindless bore?</p>
<p>a safety is someplace that you are almost certain you'll be admitted with the numbers you have. there are some colleges and universities in the U.S. that stop looking at numbers at a certain level and focus on other things like interests, shape of the class, personality, extracurricular activities, that are beyond the applicant's control. hence, bowdoin, although you are above their 75% is not a safety because they regularly pass on students with similar credentials. good safety schools are usually large state universities with honors programs. numbers alone are an untrustworthy indication of likelihood of admittance, as gellino's story reveals.</p>
<p>Your flagship state university is likely a safety and many times they have rolling admissions, so you can know by Oct-Nov that you have been accepted. </p>
<p>If you live in PA and you are top 5% of hs class, 1420 SAT, you can assume that Penn State is a safety. If the avg SAT there is 1220, it doesn't mean your education will be a mindless bore. There will still be solid profs and good students around you, just not as consistently strong as if you go to a place with a 1380 avg SAT. </p>
<p>I don't really like the framework so many people like to impose of reach/match/safety. There are differing chances of admittance that work in gradation that are not always linear or discrete. Just know the acceptance rate of the schools you like, the caliber of the applicants and give it your best shot and hope for the best. Just have a contingency plan of where you should definitely get in, which can be aided by applying early in rolling admissions. </p>
<p>I think any private school with avg SAT > 1300 with an acceptance rate of < 40% isn't really a safety school for anyone unless you are a recruited athlete. If you are top 1% of hs class, 1480 SAT, you will very likely be accepted at a place like Bowdoin, Middlebury, Colgate, Colby, Hamiton or Bucknell, but it is not a sure thing and would not make it the least selective school you apply to.</p>