<p>We used petersons.com, princetonreview.com and collegedata.com to figure out the likelihood of acceptance at the schools my daughters were interested in applying to. As it turns out for one of my twins, her "reach" schools are so far not as appealing as the "safties" We have time for that to change but so far she would be happiest w/ her safety schools.</p>
<p>I'll post in this thread again as the school year begins to remind parents to remind their children to include a "safety" (drop-dead sure bet for admission) college on their application list. It would be cool this year if NO College Confidential parent experiences what has happened to some parents each year: Junior ending up with no offers of admission in April. Make sure to apply to a safety college early, and then enjoy the process of choosing "match" and "reach" colleges to apply to.</p>
<p>Good reminder - I'll add this: make sure that at least one admission safety is also a financial safety -- a college that you are sure you will be able to afford -- generally either an in-state public or a college with guaranteed merit aid based on the students stats (such as one promising specific scholarships to all National Merit semifinalists).</p>