<p>my daughter is looking for some good middle and safety schools. She is a top student, her SAT is 2250, she is taking a lot of aps, does extra circulars, sports etc. we are just having trouble finding safety schools that she would be happy going to if she cant get into her reach school (her reach school is georgetown). If anyone has any suggestions. We live in ny so I was thinking suny geneseo and binghamton but she doesnt seem to like the rural setting too much but she would go if needed</p>
<p>I think it would help you to start with what she does like. If she likes Georgetown then why does she like Georgetown? Because it’s urban? Because of the city it’s in? Because of the major? Because of its size? Once you can narrow down the criteria of what she likes and why she likes it then you can take that criteria and find schools that fit financially and are good matches for acceptance given her situation academically. It’s about grades and test scores, sure, but it’s also about where the student can thrive holistically. It’s easy to ‘toss out’ school names, but I guarantee you if all I put out on a thread were my son’s GPA and test scores and nothing else the “list” would look very, very different than what his actual list of schools is in reality.</p>
<p>If she wants DC then look at American - if she wants jesuit then look at Fordham - if she wants urban then look at northeastern. All would be safeties with possible merit money. For state schools try either UMD or UDel Honors programs.</p>
<p>University of Rochester is probably a match for her.</p>
<p>Also make sure that financially that the choices work out. While she may “want” a particular school, unless you are telling her that $ is no object, make sure that she knows the financial constraints. Did you run Georgetown through the net price calculator? Are you comfortable with the number? Make sure that there are some financial safeties on your list. If money is remotely an issue also look at schools where she stands a good chance of getting merit aid to reign in some of the costs</p>
<p>If part of the appeal of Georgetown is Washington, DC, she may want to consider the University of Maryland at College Park, which is only a short Metro ride away. But she needs to apply soon. The “priority” admission deadline – which makes you eligible for special programs, merit scholarships, and other goodies – is November 1.</p>
<p>It’s hard to make recommendations without knowing much. What does she want to major in? What does she like about Georgetown? Villanova in Philly is considered a very good Catholic school that’s easier to get accepted to. I know someone else suggested American. I’ve heard of people going to visit DC for G-town, but deciding on American instead.</p>
<p>My DD has a friend who loves Catholic University, which is also right in DC. I don’t know anything about it except that it is easier to get into than Georgetown and it is right in the city.</p>
<p>My younger son liked American even better than Georgetown. If she has any interest in International Relations it should be on her list. She’s probably get a nice merit scholarship with that SAT score. My son considered Syracuse (too big), Vassar (still reachy for my son, but easier to get into as a boy), George Washington (except that he hated the fact that it had no campus) as some of the easier to get into schools. He ended up not needing a safety (except he still applied to American because he had liked it so much) because he got into U of Chicago early action. That’s the best safety of all, a college you get into early!</p>
<p>It’s not too difficult for us to think of viable safeties/mid-range schools if we know a few of your daughter’s top choices and the basic rationale behind them. On the other hand, it’s almost impossible for us to name a list of schools she might like if all we know is that her dream school is Georgetown. </p>
<p>What are her other reaches? What draws her to these particular schools?</p>
<p>Looking briefly into your post history, your daughter doesn’t seem to be so sure herself:
If she is premed, I would strongly advise that she apply to the regular college whenever there are multiple schools to choose from. I wouldn’t have her worry about a major just yet, much less whichever one will prepare her better for the MCAT (the general consensus seems to be that premeds can major in whatever they want anyway, so long as they fulfill the general reqs for med school and maybe take one or two related electives). The only kids who really need to consider potential majors when deciding on schools are the ones who know they have a specific, strong interest in a particular one–this doesn’t sound like your daughter.</p>
<p>Edit: Oh, and while Georgetown and premed don’t really tell us anything, I definitely recommend applying to one or more SUNYs. They’re good backup options to have, even if they don’t totally fit your criteria. With your daughter’s record, she should get into Geneseo and Binghamton pretty easily, but you might also want to check out Buffalo as another safety. It’s not totally rural, and they’re known for being relatively strong in biomedical fields.</p>
<p>My DDs picked safety schools by looking for places that were strong in things that interested them, even if they were not as academically competitive. D1 picked a safety that was very strong in her ECs, but where she was at the top of their admission stats. D2 picked a safety that had a standout stellar department in her intended major and a great location. The art of picking a safety is finding a place they could be inspired by and happy to attend, maybe for a reason beyond academics. My DDs safeties were not lesser shadows of their first choices, they were special places that just did not happen to be as difficult to get into.</p>
<p>sorry i didnt specify her interests. She would like to study something in the sciences, maybe biochemistry or biomedical engineering. She likes georgetown because of its location, academics and its lively campus. She likes medium schools, not schools that have a lot of students.</p>
<p>Jenny…</p>
<p>For a school to be a safety, it has to be affordable.</p>
<p>There are many, many schools that will accept your D, but they may not give great aid or merit, so they may not be affordable.</p>
<p>However, if you’ll pay $50k+ per year, then we can provide lots of choices.</p>
<p>What is your budget for paying each year?</p>
<p>jenny</p>
<p>Look at Tulane. Mid -sized urban school with a real campus in a great city. They have biomedical engineering, and a medical school (different campus) for research opportunities. Generally could be both an academic and financial safety (they give merit) for high stats kids. But be only apply if it is a serious option. It is getting more competitive every year - and they are getting better and better about weeding out the non-serious applications.</p>
<p>Northeastern University in Boston. With that SAT she could get good merit $$</p>
<p>As wonderful as Georgetown is, it doesn’t provide her with the opportunity to study biomedical engineering. I think she should focus on schools that have all majors she is considering, not just some of them.</p>
<p>Pitt (Univ of Pittsburgh) is in a city, with access to an excellent medical school (in terms of learning more about med school and possible research opportunities), and she would likely be an honors college admit. Might be a little larger than she’d like but they have rolling admissions, so she’d hear early…</p>
<p>If money is no object, she should look at BU, also.</p>
<p>Would she consider Barnard? No exactly a safety…but…look at the stats for admitted students. Could be a lower reach than G-town.</p>
<p>The desire for a biomedical engineering program completely changes what i was going to suggest! One suggestion: Case Western Reserve University.
[Department</a> of Biomedical Engineering | Undergrad](<a href=“http://bme.cwru.edu/Undergrad]Department”>http://bme.cwru.edu/Undergrad)
Cool school, nice merit aid.</p>
<p>I second the Rochester suggestion.
[BME</a> Undergraduate Program - Biomedical Engineering | University of Rochester](<a href=“Department of Biomedical Engineering : University of Rochester”>Department of Biomedical Engineering : University of Rochester)
Kids from around here (NE Ohio) really love Rochester. A couple of my daughter’s friends (HS class of 2008) received nice scholarships there, too.</p>
<p>Neighbor’s kid was accepted at Georgetown but is headed off to the Honors program at Ohio State so the family will have some money left for younger siblings’ college tuition.</p>
<p>If she’s not going to apply to engineering school, check DePaul. We love DePaul. Both of my kids visited there and thought they would have liked it; both have friends who went there and liked it.</p>
<p>Look here for some options: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html</a></p>
<p>I don’t know how accurate the post about being premed was, but if she is more set on doing medicine and is choosing between bio/biochem etc. and biomed engineering for her undergrad, I’d forget the engineering path altogether. Majors such as biochem, biology, biomedical sciences, etc. are liberal arts majors–you can go to med school, or anywhere else really, with those degrees. Majors such as engineering are not liberal arts majors–they’re very focused on training students to work a specific career (in this case, as engineers). While it’s not unheard of to go from an engineering major to med school, it still doesn’t make much sense. </p>
<p>On the other hand, if your daughter is by no means set on medical school, she should definitely be looking into her engineering interests as well. Just keep in mind that at many universities she will have to choose between applying to the college of arts and sciences or the engineering school, so this is a choice she will have to make relatively soon.</p>