<p>I've put a school I like under match, for now, but the more I think about it, the more I think it's a safety. I'd love to move it, to not only fill up safety space, but also make room for one more match. </p>
<p>If all my stats (GPA, SATs, etc) are at or above the 75% point, and the acceptance rate is around 35%, can it be considered a safety?</p>
<p>EDIT: And I am financially safe.</p>
<p>If you apply to 2 safeties, with one having a larger acceptance rate than that, you’d be good. I’d call it more of a low match than a safety (approaching safety).</p>
<p>A safety is a school where the chances of you getting rejected are slim OR a school that you are already admitted to. </p>
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<p>Generally No!</p>
<p>Smaller schools that care about level of interest try to admit students who want to attend there. As a result, they often waitlist superior students who haven’t demonstrated sufficient interest in favor of weaker students who have. These superior students often don’t have the time to devote sufficient energy to their safety. They figure that students that elect to be on a waitlist are serious. </p>
<p>Some people cynically call this Tufts syndrome, where the school is trying to improve in the rankings by protecting their yields as though private schools are required to take highly talented applicants. Tufts may have originated that practice, but many smaller schools use it a lot more than Tufts does. </p>
<p>However, smaller schools often have a real culture of meeting the needs of the folks who really want to go there and doing so requires them to make hard choices. </p>
<p>The way my family approached a safety school was to use early action and rolling admissions schools so that an admission was in the bag before the RD deadlines of other schools. Once admitted, a school becomes a safety. </p>
<p>@guineagirl96 That’s what I was planning!</p>
<p>@ClassicRockerDad I am using the EA and rolling programs for both my safeties, including the one already mentioned. I also really like the school, and I have and will contact the school for many of my questions, as they pop up during me research and admissions. I hope this will demonstrate my interest. </p>
<p>In your opinion, regarding my safety list as a whole, is it fine with a early action at the 35% acceptance rate I already mentioned, and a rolling admissions at a 50+% acceptance rate. Is this sufficient as a safety list? </p>
<p>I am trying to make sure I would be happy going to my safeties, so it’s been rather hard to find acceptable colleges. I had a long list of safeties, but I knew I didn’t really like them, so I cut them out. Now it’s just down to the 50+%, and I would like to move the 35% match down to safety. </p>
<p>By the way, others please jump in with your opinion. I’ll probably go with the general consensus. </p>
<p>I’d say that’s a match school (although one that you are likely to get into). A safety is one that is practically guaranteed acceptance. </p>
<p>For my safety, I am in the 99th percentile (SAT score 400 above the 75th percentile and ACT score 7 above) according to College Prowler. Obviously that is playing it very safe, but you only really need one safety: a school that you are almost definitely going to get into that you would like to go to. I’d say anything in 85th percentile or above would be considered a solid safety.</p>
<p>@brennz For my 50+% safety, I qualify for full tuition scholarships. If I have that as my solid safety, would it be reasonable to add this one as a safety?</p>
<p>you should be fine, especially since you’re usually rolling and EA. If for some reason something happens, you’ll still have time to find a second safety for RD. But if you qualify for full tuition at the other, you really don’t need a second safety. </p>
<p>@brennz you may want to look up tufts syndrome, you have a high possibility to fall victim to that with your current strategy.</p>
<p>@guineagirl96 But I really like my second safety (I had it in match before), so I’ll keep it. Thanks for your responses!</p>
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<p>It should be sufficient, but you will know for sure when you get into one of them. </p>
<p>If disaster strikes and you don’t get in, then you need to quickly find another safety. </p>
<p>@ClassicRockerDad Yes, that’s what’s reassuring me right now. If I don’t get into either of my safeties in the early round, I will immediately find and apply to other solid safeties or rolling admission safeties. </p>
<p>@guineagirl96 I already interviewed (informally) with one of the members of the Board of Admissions and he seemed confident in my application. I don’t think it’s an issue in this situation.</p>
<p>@Woandering Yeah, with that second safety you should be fine to label the other one as a safety as well. Safeties are meant to be there as just a back up plan, and between the two you should definitely be accepted to one.</p>