Finding Safety Schools?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm currently a sophmore in highschool and I have just started being bombarded by colleges wanting me to subscribe to pamphlets and schedule visits. Naturally, I'm extremely excited and have thrown myself head first into my search for the perfect school.</p>

<p>Now, I have found a good deal of schools which seem to fit my needs, but, most of them are on the more selective end of colleges, (RPI, U of Notre Dame etc.) what I am having trouble finding are safety schools that I will have a higher chance of being accepted at. I was wondering if anyone knew of any place I might be able to find some less selective schools which would offer majors in architecture or engineering. I have failed utterly in securing any kind of list which shows me schools which I have a high chance of being accepted at.</p>

<p>If you want to be even more hands on, I'd love some suggestions, but I certainly would appreciate a link to a search engine which has some sort of selectivity field.</p>

<p>Thank you in advance.</p>

2

<p>Use the college search at <a href="http://www.collegeboard.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.collegeboard.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p>

<p>If you'd give us your stats, we could suggest colleges within your range.</p>

3

<p>Take the college selection test on review.com.</p>

<p>They have colleges for your reaches, matches, and safeties.</p>

4

<p>My stats are as follows.</p>

<p>Student:</p>

<p>User Name: PatrickW
Gender: M
College Class Year: 2013
High School: Public
High School Type: sends some grads to top schools
Will apply for financial aid: Yes</p>

<p>Academics:</p>

<p>GPA - Unweighted: 4.04
GPA - Weighted: 4.24
Class Rank: top 5 students
Class Size: 150</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
JV Cross Country, JV Indoor Track, JV Outdoor Track, (Conference qualifier in all) FIRST Robotics</p>

<p>Colleges of Interest:</p>

<p>College: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Choice #: 1, ED/EA: No, Athlete: No, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply
College: University of Notre Dame, Choice #: 2, ED/EA: No, Athlete: No, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply
College: Carnegie Mellon University, Choice #: 3, ED/EA: No, Athlete: No, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply
College: Northeastern University, Choice #: 4, ED/EA: No, Athlete: No, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply
College: University of Rochester, Choice #: 5, ED/EA: No, Athlete: No, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply
College: Temple University, Choice #: 6, ED/EA: No, Athlete: No, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply
College: Bucknell University, Choice #: 7, ED/EA: No, Athlete: No, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply</p>

<p>Area: East Coast, Midwest
Importance of cost: Important</p>

5

<p>May I suggest you do a lot of research on these schools. RPI has very few girls. ND will have a bunch. ND is very big on Catholic stuff and sports. The rest of the colleges (except maybe Bucknell on sports) are not so much. Also, Bucknell is one of the most expensive colleges in the country, so if cost is an issue, well, you get the idea. If RPI is your #1 choice, next year talk to your GC and head of the science department and ask to be nominated for the RPI medal (or whatever that award is called) because it gets you a good scholarship to RPI. It is really hard to asses your chances without SAT scores and grades in AP classes, but I can say that you are probably on a good start and have a shot at all of the colleges on your list.</p>

6

<p>Test scores will be important. Once you have everything, try something like the councilor-o-matic on Princeton Review.</p>

7

<p>SAT I / ACT / SAT II?</p>

<p>Also, you can't have above a 4.0 UW -- or at least not by most colleges' standards (the way your school handles GPA goes out the window when you submit your app, because the college in question doesn't give a damn what your school thinks).</p>

<p>Rule of thumb: UW = 4-point scale. W = 5-point scale for honors/AP/IB.</p>

8

<p>What criteria in a school are you seeking?</p>

9

<p>Once you get your test scores, go to Collegeboard's Matchmaker, enter the parameters you want, sort by SAT Verbal/Math scores and find some schools where you are in the 75th percentile or above in test scores.</p>

10

<p>I think that some schools give 4.33 for A+s</p>

11

<p>My school's A+ is a 4.2...</p>

12

<p>that is if it is a 100% average.</p>

13

<p>Try Fastweb.org...you feel ouy a profile and they match all colleges and scholarships that fit your profile. The sie also makes comparing size, cost, location and similiar basics really easy.</p>