<p>Well, you would have to lay out the rules ahead of time. My son goes to school in the city where we live, and we have never dropped in on him in three years (although we have gone to visit when invited). We don't comment on where he goes or how neat his apartment is. It has worked out well for everybody...it can be done.</p>
<p>I know plenty of students in my city whose parents teach and work at the colleges that the students attend, and those parents don't drop in unannounced, etc.</p>
<p>I agree with lkf725 that it's a good idea to set up these guidelines (better word than "rules") ahead of time.</p>
<p>And if you got a job to pay for off campus living, how could your parents stop you? Even if they didn't like what you were doing, what could they do to stop it?</p>
<p>Also, a safety isn't a safety if you wouldn't enjoy going there.</p>
<p>Yeah, my mom doesn't even respect my space at home. xD But it's alright. At least someone will feed me. I decided that if I didn't get into the schools I wanted to go, I'd go there. My major isn't popular and this school is one of the best for what I want to study. The schols in this area are also religious based or conservative since it's Texas, so I can't escape that. Also, I get to go to Rome, so it won't be terrible. I'll be disappointed for sure, but I just have to make the best of it.</p>
<p>Among my nieces and nephews, all have stories of ending up at their safeties, or at least not at their top choices. All were excellent students in HS and competitive applicants who just didn't "win the lottery." All love, love, love their schools. My son is going to follow their lead next fall. Apply to a realistic range of schools, be prepared to like them all, and you will be happy wherever you end up.</p>
<p>I'm at my safety (Ohio State) and I love, love it. I have some great friends and I really like the campus atmosphere. </p>
<p>The best thing about going here is that since it's way less expensive than all the other schools I looked at, I feel like I have a lot of freedom. I can afford to study abroad multiple times or take as much time as I need checking out all the cool classes or double majoring or anything. I also don't need to let my post-grad job be decided by my loans, since I have none. I can travel or go to grad school or do something that I love but maybe doesn't pay that well. There's none of the pressure that comes with knowing you're spending an exorbitant amount of money, which is very freeing.</p>
<p>Yeah, I ended up at my safety, which is a state school and mainly a research university. I also got into BU. Cost hell of a lot and didn't give me that much money at all. At my safety, I even won free tuition and only had to pay around $1000 right now. It has plenty of opportunities and plus most of the professors in my major graduated from top notch universities like Harvard, MIT, Yale and princeton. So yeah life isn't bad at all here. Plus you'll meet people who are also passionate about stuff and down to earth.</p>
<p>My daughter is attending an OOS public university, one of her safeties, and is very very happy there academically and socially, and thriving. Whew, how do you spell R-E-L-I-E-F??? :)</p>
<p>She applied to seven schools: three reaches (none were Ivies) and four safeties. She was denied by all three reaches (despite her 2220 SATs and being NMF) and accepted into her four safeties with varying amounts of scholarship money at each. She chose her current school based on the strength of her intended major, its size (large but not overwhelmingly so) and its urban setting. And although she was accepted into the honors program, she hasn't taken any classes there yet. The regular courses have been challenging enough for her. She has met a great bunch of kids from all over the country (I get the feeling that the uni is trying hard to encourage geographic diversity). I love the fact that we have to pay only room and board for her because she's on a full-tuition scholarship.</p>
<p>I think the key is to pick safeties that really have what you want. Also, if a kid really wants or need the intimacy of a small school, you can't expect that a large state school will fit the bill. So just use common sense when picking schools to apply to. I think the honors programs at the large state U's can be great in that they encourage the formation of a critical mass of smart kids. I think that kindred spirits manage to find one another, and that has certainly happened in my daughter's case.</p>
<p>Great thread. </p>
<p>We are still sorting through things, but as time passes it looks more and more like D may end up at one of her safety schools. I think she will be admitted to her top schools, but I don't think we will be able to manage it financially, and she has vowed only to attend a school where she gets significant scholarships or aid --- she's looking for some benefit for all the hard work beyond just being admitted. </p>
<p>Sooo, looks like she will most likely be choosing from among her safety schools who have all offered full 4 year scholarships. She seem okay about it, but like most parents, I'd like to see her be able to attend one of her top choice schools if possible, so I'm still crossing my fingers a bit. </p>
<p>In any event, I'm glad I came across this thread which reinforces my belief that attending a safety can be very rewarding, not just financially, but academically as well.</p>
<p>I couldn't imagine being better off than I am now. The people are friendly, the schoolwork is challenging yet stimulating, and the overall atmosphere is laid back and fun. I'm thriving both socially and academically, and as beautiful as life seems now, the future looks even brighter.</p>
<p>Come decision time, give your safety school a chance, you may be pleasantly surprised.</p>
<p>I'm at StateU. I was waitlisted at all my top choice schools last year. I was admitted into my top choice as a transfer last semester, but even with a scholarship, it was too much money (as in I'd be paying off loans for 10-20 years, not counting grad school). I'm not the happiest I could be at this StateU, but I'm not completely depressed over it. The atmosphere is pretty laid-back, even in the honors college, which is nice to see after spending 4 years in a stressful, competitive high school. I have a nice amount of scholarships, too. And because of my AP credits and ability to take a higher courseload (due to less stress overall of classes), I'll be able to graduate next spring instead of spring '11. This gives me time to take a year off to do Americorps or something and still go to grad school a year early!
I agree with everyone else--make sure you choose a safety that you could see yourself liking and don't completely disregard your safety! At this point last year, I would have told you that I'd be going to my top choice school if I was admitted no matter what, regardless of money and other factors. But now, most of the time, I'm glad about where I ended up.</p>
<p>
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IMHO, whoever says "but how could you have passed up a #5 for a #50?!" doesn't really understand what college (and life after!) is all about.
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</p>
<p>Coincidentally, I'm considering doing just that, passing up Georgia Tech(ranked 5th in engineering) for Northeastern(ranked 57th in engineering) as I think NEU would be a better fit for me. Not that I don't like Gtech, its a wonderfull school. I just think that NEU is better for me knowing my own personality for a variety of reasons. Anyway this topic is making me feel better about possibly choosing that option.(I won't make the final decision till April after I've heard back from a few more places, the decision between those two is likely though based on how I except the remaining acceptances/rejections to play out)</p>
<p>I ended up at my "Safety". I was accepted at all 3 schools to which I applied. I was lucky because I only applied to my safety as a lark, but ended up visiting on a scholarship interview and completely falling in love. I chose USC over Stanford, and people thought I was insane. For me the only hard part was getting over choosing the "less prestigious" school because I truly preferred USC.</p>
<p>I'm at my "safety" school because it was cheap (in-state) but honestly, there's no other school that I would want to attend. I love my friends, jobs, activities, classes, the campus, everything. Some of my profs are Ivy grads and some do breakthrough research that is nationally recognized. Most of my classes aren't super competitive--but I'm not in a competitive major either--which is nice, to be able to relax and focus on getting a good grade for myself and not because I have to beat someone else.</p>
<p>I love my safety school. It's the school I've cheered for my entire life. I came here because it was cheap, but now that I'm here, I've realized that even if it cost $50K a year I'd still want to be here. I love my school.</p>
<p>I am at my safety school right now. Thru my h.s. years, I always wanted to go to ivies, but I ended up getting rejected by all...I should have applied to schools like Georgetown, Hopkins, etcs, the colleges that aren't as competitive to get into as the ivies but still are really good schools. I have to say that I am tremendously disappointed with my current school largely bc the majority of people here are either dumb or don't care about academics. So, I am looking to transfer out. (I applied). However, only good thing that came out of this whole experience is that I met my gf, who is really beautiful and nice at the same time. I doubt that I would have met a girl of this beauty had I gone to top schools.</p>