<p>i ended up at my safety-- not because i didn't get accepted anywhere else (i got in everywhere i applied except UVA) but because when i actually went to visit it, i fell in love with it.</p>
<p>so WHAT if i'm studying business at UMD instead of NYU?? i made that choice and right now, i couldn't be happier. my grades are pretty good, i've made a ton of friends, i love the honors program, and i don't feel any cutthroat pressure.</p>
<p>so for all of you "oh my gosh i would rather enlist in the marines than go to a STATE SCHOOL" type people.... enough already. if you truly don't feel like a state school is a good fit for you, fine. but if you didn't even bother to look (like i almost did) grow up and learn that there are other qualities to look for in a university besides "ranked high on US News' list". thanks.</p>
<p>I'm using Clark and UMass: Amherst as my safeties. UMass is huge, so theres no reason why they wouldn't accept me. Clark should accept me, unless they think I'm too smart for them. But my lower GPA should ensure me in my safeties, because it will make me look like I'm not exactly using them as as a last chance school. I even talked to UMass about the honors college, trying to stress that I am interested in going there. That always helps.</p>
<p>I have a few... SUNY Binghamton, SUNY Geneseo, and UDelaware (Honors Program, but I'm qualified for it and both parents and my uncle went there anyway).</p>
<p>In fact, 3 out of the 7 schools I applied to are safeties, 3 are matches, and one is a reach. So far I got into a safety (Bing), a match and my second choice (UMich), and deferred ED from my only reach (Cornell).</p>
<p>I like what lindz0722 said. This holds true with my best friend. She could have easily been accepted to some of the best schools in the nation, with her grades and amazing musical accomplishments. However, she visited Muhlenberg College and fell in love. She didn't care that it was not as well known as other schools she looked at like NYU and Vassar, because she liked the campus, environment, and overall intimate feel of the school. She applied ED and of course, was accepted and even received a personal phone call before decisions officially came out. So there you have it folks, it is NOT all about rankings and prestige. You could be even happier at a school you consider a safety than you'd be at the school of your dreams.</p>
<p>My safeties are Canadian universities, where I'm essentially guaranteed admission to any program I choose, since admissions are grades-based, and I have above the cutoff for all the programs I'll apply to. Carnegie Mellon could also be counted as sort of a safety, relative to the other schools I'm applying to, I suppose.</p>
<p>i don't necessarily have "safeties" but more like "safe matches." I applied to University of Michigan (OOS, i'm from Virginia) with a 4.0 UMich GPA and 2270 SAT so hopefully i'm in there, but i haven't heard back from them yet. then i'm planning on applying to UVA and William and Mary which i am also guessing i'll get in, since i'm instate with pretty good GPA and SATs. Then last choice on my list is Virginia Tech, which i'm considering as my super safety, although i wouldn't mind going there, since they have a great animal science/agriculture program.</p>
<p>all my others are pretty much reaches like UPenn, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, Cornell, Columbia. i guess i would consider Carnegie Mellon somewhat of a safe match, relatively, compared to my other schools. i've also already been deferred by Harvard EA :(
but yeah most of the schools i'm applying to are reaches which i'm hoping i'll get into one of them at least.</p>
<p>My safety school is Marymount Manhattan. It's basically, "At least if I don't get in anywhere else, I can be in the city I want to be". 85% of people that apply get in. I got an envelope yesterday, and got the highest academic scholarship they offer.</p>
<p>I've had other schools offer me full scholarships - Emory & Henry, Indiana University of Pennsylvania...</p>
<p>What qualifies as a safety, exactly? If your SAT scores fall above the mid-50% range?</p>
<p>I am getting kind of worried (of course) about not having many safeties, but I am not quite sure what defines "safety." For instance, my SAT score is 1410/2200, and two schools that I am for now considering my safeties have mid-50% of about 560-660 for both sections.</p>
<p>Are these okay, or should I try to add one last-minute application in?</p>
<p>sharpielove - To me, a safety is a school that is decent by your standards but has SAT/ACT/GPA scores well below yours. Schools that are likely more interested in you than you currently are in them. Schools that you just KNOW you'll get into because you're well above and beyond their 50% stats.</p>
<p>I wouldn't judge it just if you are above the 50% stats, but it depends on your major. Remember that the 50% combines every major, which means it'll include all those majors that you can get into with RIDICULOUSLY low SAT scores, and those majors that require RIDICULOUSLY high SAT scores.</p>
<p>just curious why more people don't chose canadian top schools as their safeties. Admission is grade based, and since you've already done the SAT for your other schools it's just a plus. Even if you're going for ranking, the best canadian schools are in the top 30's of worldwide colleges. In addition, tuition is much, much, much cheaper. Less than $15k/year in some places.</p>
<p>Just curious, that's all. My safeties are def. Canadian schools</p>
<p>I applied to a total of two schools:
University of Oklahoma (first choice - meteorology, Natl. Merit)
University of South Carolina (in-state, fin. aid [if Natl. Merit doesn't work])</p>
<p>Call me lazy, but I don't want to apply to any more. I've already been accepted to both (and Honors at OU) so I'm set. And to all you 'state schools are trash' people out there... I don't care.</p>
<p>great advice Roger! I suggest one of the moderators tag this with the "important" tag for the next few weeks so it stays at the top of the forum.</p>
<p>I am kinda nervous about that choice, but I am at the top of my class, president of about 4 different organizations (& member of about 10 others), a Girl Scout in the middle of her gold award, Dartmouth Book Award winner, 2270 SAT I, active church member...</p>
<p>I was just deferred from Yale, but I still think that if I don't at least get into BC (a good school, sure, but not at the level of the 6 Ivies + Williams + Duke that I'm applying to), I'd rather take a year off and do something than be stuck at a lesser school. Or I'll apply to schools in England--their deadlines aren't until the summer, after all.</p>