I’m a high school junior and am looking for safety schools to apply to. I’ve visited a fair number of colleges and my favorites are Vanderbilt and Dartmouth, but they are both definite reach schools for me.
For Vanderbilt, what appeals to me is the absolutely beautiful campus, atmosphere (I loved the Southern feel), academic opportunities, and the fact that although it’s located in downtown Nashville, the campus itself felt very enclosed and almost park-like; it was easy to forget you were in the middle of such a vibrant city. Another thing that stuck with me was in regards to the size, my tour guide said that while walking around campus, you see a lot of people you know and a lot of people you don’t know. At Dartmouth, my favorite thing was the overwhelming sense of community; everyone there was friendly and seemed to love Dartmouth more than anything. I also liked the size, the academics, and the gorgeous campus. Honestly, what I loved most about both schools was “the vibe” – it’s hard to explain why but I felt really at home at both of them. Some other schools I visited and loved were Brown, Lehigh, and Colorado College, and I’m also interested in Northwestern, Cornell, Notre Dame, and Wake Forest.
However, I’m now searching for safety schools similar to the ones I’ve listed, where I have a very good chance of getting in. My stats are: 34 ACT, 3.8ish GPA, good ECs I guess (band, choir, and theatre for four years, I’m currently the secretary of band and will hopefully have a leadership position in all three next year; NHS, limited involvement in student council), pretty rigorous classes (I’ll graduate with 7 APs) but among my peers my grades aren’t the best – nothing on my transcript below a B but definitely not all A+s, either.
Thanks!
Bucknell while not a classic safety is a shoe-in for you. Bucknell is very much like Dartmouth, lovely campus and play hard, study hard vibe like Dartmouth. Others similar to Dartmouth are Colby and Colgate which are more selective than Bucknell but probables for you.
Lehigh should not be an issue for you.
Ask your parents precisely how much they intend to contribute to your college. A safety is a safety if you can afford to pay without Parent Plus loans.
URichmond, maybe low match, maybe safety.
Denison U
a safety school is three things,
one that you will almost assuredly get into - even better, automatically
one that you/your family can afford
one that you would be happy attending
Consider University of Denver and University of Vermont. Both would be solid safeties for you and both have early Action so you will have safe schools in hand before the holidays 
Rhodes College, in Memphis. Beautiful architectural campus, vibrant music scene. Also, Trinity College in Hartford, another gothic college in a city. Haven’t visited either, but hear are fairly middle-of-the road (by LAC standards) students bodies, with work hard play hard mentality. Bucknell, Lehigh and Lafayette all worth a look. University of Richmond perhaps?
None of these are absolute shoe-ins, but with real, demonstrated interest, and good essays, they are solid matches, and some would definitely involve merit money (Rhodes for sure).
William & Mary
University of Vermont is a great idea. Its a good safety and one you could consider regardless. Few college towns compare to Burlington.
I agree with swapmdraggin’s criteria at #5 (except that I would omit the last “that you would be happy attending” – perhaps a school “that you could tolerate attending” would be appropriate.)
None of the schools that you have listed are “safety” schools as the term is commonly used on College Confidential; look for a public flagship university in your home state, preferably where you would get money or a tuition reduction. THAT is your safety school.
I doubt that there are “safeties” like Vanderbilt and Dartmouth. At best truly similar universities would be reaches for most everyone. Start with your instate public university, perhaps the flagship. Then look for true matches.
If you liked Vanderbilt, and you value a strong sense of community, you might consider Sewanee.
Interesting idea at post #10 gandafl78
If you could only tolerate that college as a safety then why go? 4 years and money for a tolerable experience is setting the bar too low.
I wonder how many students actually end up attending their “safety” school. I am willing to be it is probably between 50 to 75 percent
Depending if diversity is an item of priority for you, but Bucknell is quite homogeneous. About 85 Caucasian, and over 40% from prep/private schools. If you want uber NE blue blood with few people of color, it might be a possible fit.
Actually Bucknell Class of 2018 is 37% from private / prep schools (but, yes, still a high percentage)
The OP did not ask about financial safeties, so why others interject on that point is a mystery. The poster asked a simple question.
As for what a safety is, it is totally relative. A 34 on the ACT is the 99th percentile. Sometime a lower grade safety backfires because the school knows a student like this will never attend.
I bet the acceptance rate of 34 ACT students is near 100% at Bucknell.
Just one caution about Bucknell - you apply to a specific major and the acceptance rates by school (i.e. management, engineering, arts+sciences) vary quite a bit. So Bucknell may not be as much of a safety (even for a 34 ACT) for management or engineering as for arts & sciences. But overall a 32 ACT is at the 75% for Bucknell.
A safety has three qualities - you can be assured of admission, you would be happy to attend, and your family can afford it. If your family can’t afford the school gaining entrance means nothing. It’s not a safety. It’s a waste of application $.
Tulane?