Do I need a safety school?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi everyone! I'm super nervous about not getting into any schools of my choice next year, so can you guys help me decide if I should add another safety school? If I do add another, it will probably a lac. Thanks:)</p>

<p>GPA: 4.0 (unweighted) 4.31 (weighted)
SAT I: 2190 Math- 740 Reading- 740 Writing- 710
SAT II: M. Bio- 780 Math II- 790 Chem- 770
ACT: 33 (35 Superscore) Math- 32 Reading- 35 Science- 36 Writing- 10 English- 35
AP: (self-study) Chem-4
IB: Chem-6
This year IB's: HL Bio, HL English, HL History, SL Spanish, SL Math (Full diploma program)
EC:
- Cross country and track and field- 2 years
- Marathon training- 2010
- Piano lessons and performance- 11 years
- NHS (2 years) , Mu Alpha Theta (2 years) , MUN (2 years- this year officer), attended IB student world conference
- founder and leader of school green club
Awards:
- Questbridge college prep scholarship
- national merit commended
- Questbridge finalist
Community Service:
- sunday school teacher ( 2.5 years)
- camp counselor
- volunteer research assistant at research university
- relay for life team captain (3 years)
- elementary school tutor
- spanish tutor
- helped build green roof at my school
- missions trip to Beijing</p>

<p>My schools: Princeton, Yale, Dartmouth, MIT, U Penn, Columbia, Stanford, Caltech, Middlebury, Washington and Lee, Williams, Brown, University of Oregon Honors College</p>

<p>Right now U of O is kind of my safety school, but i'm not too enthusiastic about it. What is your opinion?</p>

2

<p>I forgot I’m also applying to Swarthmore.</p>

3

<p>if you’re not enthusiastic about your safety school, it isn’t really “safe.” Also, since you say you’re using Questbridge, is it affordable? U of O is the only school you have a “safe” shot at, seeing as your list is Ivies and Upper level LAC’s you NEED another safety school. If you list some characteristics of what you’re looking for, it would be easier to suggest some.</p>

4

<p>I’m limiting myself to schools that I know have good financial aid programs. I’m not really picky about schools, to be honest. I know I want to do research, but I think I would enjoy either a largish school or smaller liberal arts college. What kind of school would I certainly or most certainly be able to get into, but still has great academics? Before I was just going off of middle 50 sat’s and act’s when deciding where I could apply, but now i see that I was going WAY too selective.</p>

5

<p>oh also, do you think it would be worthwhile to retake the sat I?</p>

6

<p>If you only apply to schools that are known to give a lot of financial aid, then you probably won’t find many safeties.</p>

<p>Since your stats are high, you should apply to some schools that would give you HUGE merit for your stats…like free tuition or more. </p>

<p>Is your EFC 0?</p>

7

<p>Everyone should have atleast a few safeties</p>

8

<p>Don’t know if I would say a few safeties are necessary. If a safety is one you’d be happy at then one will do. If not then it’s not a safety. Find one you ARE willing to attend.</p>

9

<p>I did a calculator online and it said that my EFC is somewhere around 400-500. I’m not sure how accurate this is. Do you think any of my schools are matches, or are they all reaches? Thanks for the input.</p>

10

<p>look for a good sized school where your SAT’s are above the mid-50% </p>

<p>College admissions at the schools you like are highly selective though you are qualified you still might not get in. I had a friend whose daughter was an outstanding applicant; deferred at Georgetown ED decided to go to Vanderbilt on a full ride merit scholarship. Don’t know if you like the idea of a Southern school but that’s one I might check out.</p>

11

<p>Holy Cross and Colgate. HC has nice campus-1 hour from Boston and is need blind for admissions.</p>

12

<p>Your stats are good but you’re applying to the most selective schools in the country. Right now you have all “reaches” and one “safety,” and since you’re not enthusiastic about your safety, it’s not a real safety. You need one safety you’d be happy with if that’s the only acceptance you get; and most critically, you need a few good “matches” with acceptance rates of 30+% and where your stats put you at or near the top quartile of the entering class. Look at LACs between about #15 and #50 in the US News rankings, and “national universities” in the same range.</p>

13

<p>Do you think Wellesley would work? I know it’s rated in the top 10, but it has an admit rate of about 35%.</p>

14

<p>I think Wellesley is in the same category (highly selective) as the others you are applying to, ranked #4 LAC in USNWR, and therefore is not a safety. I assume you realize Wellesley is an all womens college? If yes, then consider Bryn Mawr rather than Wellesley for an all womens LAC.</p>

<p>I would also consider a school like Franklin and Marshall.</p>

15

<p>I think everyone should have 2-3 safeties for a few reasons…</p>

<p>1) A safety may not turn out to be the safety you thought it would be.</p>

<p>2) A safety that you love in the fall, you may no longer like in the spring.</p>

<p>3) If none of your reaches/matches work out, then you’ll still have a choice amongst your safeties.</p>

<p>4) If you get a better financial deal at one safety, you might be able to use that package to get a better deal at a more desirable safety (of similar ranking).</p>