<p>I guess I have a different view on the safety school. I applied last year and didn't get into the colleges I wanted to and ended up at my StateU in the honors program. Before coming, I was determined to make it work and had a positive outlook. But after being here for a semester, I have found that it really is not right for me at all. The school is just too big and the class sizes are terrible (two of my lectures have over 500 students each this semester). </p>
<p>While I'm still hoping things may sort out before the end of the year, I am currently in the process of transferring. Looking back, I really wish I would have picked a better safety. Our guidance department in my HS was completely focused on state schools, and so I was really clueless through the entire process. There is so much more out there than just state schools.</p>
<p>I think it should be noted that "safety" doesn't necessarily mean "last acceptable option". "Safety" is definitely more a statement of how your stats match up. There's certainly nothing wrong with having a "safety" school be your #1.</p>
<p>I don't understand the term "safety" school. I applied to Cal-L&S, UCLA-Engineering, UCSD-Engineering, UCSB-Engineering, & Cal Poly SLO-Engineering. I think Cal Poly SLO was the easiest to get admitted into (generally the definition of safety) - however it had a great engineering program which I graduated from and hooked me up with an awesome job.</p>
<p>Mr Payne: "Safety school" doesn't say anything negative about the school, and a safety school for one student is not necessary a safety for the next. I have numerous friends who've attended their safeties (either by choice or necessity) and had wonderful experiences. </p>
<p>"Safety" just refers to cost and/or likelihood of acceptance (hence the occasional distinctions between "financial safety" and "academic safety"). A financial safety is a school that will certainly be affordable (automatic merit scholarship, in-state tuition, etc. ...not a private school that guarantees to meet <100% of need, offers no merit scholarships, and for which you're an average applicant), while an academic safety is a school for which your acceptance is almost certain (a 'safe' bet, so to speak...average stats below your own, a high rate of acceptance, etc. ...not a competitive school for which your grades and test scores are average, but to which only 10% of applicants are admitted).</p>
<p>"Safety schools" get a bad rap (as in the original post of this thread) because it's often assumed that students will count them among their last choices, opting instead for higher-ranked schools. Of course, this is not necessarily true, and a well-picked safety is one which a student would be happy to attend.</p>
<p>I think it's a good idea to choose more than one "safety" school. Apply to that dream school or even a couple of them. But be sure your list has at least one you know you can get in to and at least one that you know you can afford even with no financial aid. (In our case, we felt fairly confident with acceptances, but never dreamed that some very good schools would pony up $20K per year more than the dream school.) And students should definitely select schools that they would not mind attending, even if they are not at the pinnacle of the dream list.</p>
<p>The problem is that it is not always possible to find a safety that is both pragmatic and enjoyable. For me, I only had one option for a financially pragmatic university that was even remotely where I wanted to be. </p>
<p>Obviously, as far as the debt and distance from home goes, I meant, and I assume most people know this inherently, that it is within reason. I would be willing to take on even 10-20k a year in loans now because with the experience, it is an opportunity cost that I feel is worth it. Distance from home doesn't matter to me; I come from a broken home that kinda no longer exists. What is important to me is making the most of my college experience. Now if you're taking on 50k in debt a year in loans and majoring in a field that doesn't have good prospects...</p>
<p>Thanks for your hope! My college life has been defined by optimism and open-mindedness, but we shall see where life takes me...</p>
<p>I'm attending my safety and thought it was a really good fit for me (and was excited at the prospect of having an over half-tuition scholarship to boot!) and was happy to attend until I realized I was going to this school because it was one I had found I could fit into instead of a school that could fit me. So now I'm transferring out, but not because it was my safety, but because I chose it for all the wrong reasons. The school I'm planning to transfer into IS more prestigious (whatever that means), higher ranked, etc. but it fits me better, in all the things that matter to me. (Academically, socially, geographically, etc.)</p>
<p>But I definitely don't regret attending my safety. I have had a once in a lifetime opportunity (I currently attend a women's college) that I'll most likely never repeat again. I've been able to be the activist I never realized I wanted to be and have pinpointed and been able to concentrate my efforts into the feminism that I've always believed in but in the past was kind of muddled and difficult to grasp at. But everyone has to leave their college at some point, some earlier than others, and I think I've experienced what I've needed to experience and am ready to move on.</p>
<p>Friends of mine go to UMass Amherst and they love it there.
They got into Ivy's and other "good" schools but decided to go to UMass because they want to graduate debt free and get into a great grad school.</p>
<p>It's really about the major, atmosphere and cost you should be considering rather than the name. Happiness shouldn't come with a $210,000 price tag.</p>
<p>I guess college experience really depends on what you make out of it, no matter where which one you attend. So, going to a safety school is not necessarily bad afterall!</p>
<p>As OP, I only hope that this thread gets revisited, as students and their parents review their acceptance and rejection letters. </p>
<p>It seems like the common theme, for the few who ended up unhappy, is that their safety school was a poor fit. If you identify a safety school where you think that you could be happy (the only kind of safety you should bother applying to), you probably will be happy.</p>
<p>I applied to tippy top east coast schools and then two safeties in my state, one was State U. and other was local private LAC. Ended up at LAC after receiving scholarship money there and being rejected from everywhere but safeties.</p>
<p>I applied to this school basically blind, as I knew nothing about it even though it's only 45 minutes away from my house. The scholarship weekend sold me on it though, and I'm much happier here than I would have been at State U. I still feel like I could be better off at the places I got rejected, but I wouldn't have had the money to go there anyways so this is probably my best fit within my price range.</p>
<p>Since coming here I joined the varsity swim team, SGA, newspaper, Campus Crusade, and right now I'm in the middle of rush week and I will likely pledge if I get a bid to one of the two fraternities I'm looking into. The schoolwork here is still difficult, but I feel that it's easier here to double-major. The class sizes and personal attention from professors is what I love the most though, something I honestly didn't consider before I got here.</p>
<p>Here's my definition of a "safety" college. A safety college is one that </p>
<p>1) is pretty much certain to admit the applicant, based on its known behavior in acting on admission applications,</p>
<p>2) has a strong program in an area the applicant is interested in,</p>
<p>3) is affordable based on its known behavior in acting on financial aid applications,</p>
<p>and</p>
<p>4) is likeable to the applicant. </p>
<p>Many of the replies have noted that the state university in one state or another is often a safety college for a well-prepared applicant who also applies to "reach" colleges elsewhere. I can well imagine a lot of learners who would be very delighted to attend the flagship state university in my state, which probably is a safety for our oldest child.</p>
<p>I'm at my safety and absolutely loving it. I got into all the ones I wanted to, but in the end the price tags were ridiculously different. I'm thriving and having a blast, as they say, it's the best years of your life. =)</p>
<p>My D is at her saftey U of A. She did get into her 1st choice school but with no money. She actually loves the school is in the honors college, does research, has a 3.9 and enjoys her lifestyle here. We are shocked as we tried to steer her away from such a big college. She is a junior now and plans to go on to grad school. My son is at his 1st choice school, Pomona College but both of them have had good experiences and are quite satisfied.</p>
<p>I have one safety, the University of Dallas. It's not by choice either. It's a mile from my house and my mother works there, which means I get free tuition. I know for sure I'll be unhappy there because it's super conservative and I have visited the campus, but didn't like it at all. It looks more like a high school than anything else and the library is tiny, crampt, and simply awful. My mother works in the dorms and I can already tell by what she tells me that most people around there will annoy me. However, I can't ask my parents to pay for another school I won't be happy going to. I just have to make the best of it if I don't get into the other schools I applied to. Going to a state school would cost about the same and the University of Dallas is a private school, which I feel would benifit me more. Besides, I won't be paying tuition or dorm since I'll live at home. So I guess it kinda works out.</p>
<p>If you get free tuition, why don't you get a job to pay for room and board? Or maybe apartment rent? Free tuition is pretty nice and you may feel completely differenly about it if you are living on your own. If you have a negative attitude, it will become a self-fulfilling prophesy. Try not to pre-judge too much! ;)</p>
<p>My parents wouldn't like that. Besides, it wouldn't make a difference because both my aunt and my aunt work there and like I said, my mother is in charge of the dorms, so it'd be the same as living at home. She'd come by and tell me to clean my room, pretty much know every detail that was going on in my life and the only apartments close enough are part of the dorms. =/</p>