Good Safety Schools for a Northeast student

Parents Forum
41

<p>I would take a look at Geneseo if you are considering SUNYs. My daughter had similar stats and looked at a few private LACs but is headed to Geneseo this Fall.</p>

42

<p>I don’t think Geneseo could be considered a safety, and they’re in Western NY! It seems as if the OP would like to stay within easy driving distance of MA, is that right? If so, I would look at the Capital District and Hudson Valley schools, or maybe schools in Central NY that are along the I-90 corridor which is Albany-Utica-Syracuse-Rochester (Syracuse is about 2.5 hours from Albany via the Thruway). This map can help you locate the NY private schools that would meet your geographic criteria:
<a href=“http://www.nycolleges.org/pdfs/Map2008.pdf[/url]”>http://www.nycolleges.org/pdfs/Map2008.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I would second the Siena suggestion!</p>

43

<p>“I don’t think Geneseo could be considered a safety”…indeed, SAT scores are 150 pts. below their average…I wouldn’t consider any school a safety unless SAT scores were at 50th percentile or higher…</p>

44

<p>you could try WNEC, Springfield College, or Hampshire college</p>

45

<p>Skidmore. Not exactly a safety but good science and dance and right over the MA border.</p>

46

<p>Take a look at Bates and Bowdoin, two top LACs in Maine, both SAT optional. Colby is a third, but it’s not SAT optional. Bowdoin is the most competitive of the three to gain admission, so consider it a reach and the other two as potential matches. And yes, Goucher, just outside Baltimore, could be a good safety for you.</p>

47

<p>I second Connecticut College for you. Very strong in dance and languages. Not a safety, but a match since it’s SAT-optional or I think you can choose which set of scores to send in (eg., just subject tests).</p>

48

<p>It is probably more of a match than a safety, but if you can bring up your test scores it could become a safety. Dickinson (in PA, so a little outside your geographic range, but not far…). It was my D’s safety, but she fell in love with it and now is a happy rising junior there. It also gives a fair amount of merit aid, which some of the other schools listed here do not.</p>

49

<p>WPI a safety? I don’t believe so.</p>

50

<p>Agree with M’s Mom that this is the type of student for whom test-optional schools are tailor-made. These aren’t safeties but some good test-optional LACs in the Northeast would include:
Bard
Bates
Bowdoin
Connecticut College
Dickinson
Drew
Franklin & Marshall
Hampshire
Hobart & William Smith
Holy Cross
Juniata
Mount Holyoke
Sarah Lawrence
Smith
Union
Ursinus
Wheaton (MA)</p>

<p>I think without the SAT/ACT scores the OP could be competitive at any of these schools, though obviously some (e.g., Bowdoin, with a 20% admit rate) are tougher to get into than others (e.g., Drew, with a 74% admit rate and 75th percentile SAT/ACT scores pretty close to the OP’s).</p>

<p>The other option, as others have suggested, is to get those SAT/ACT scores up.</p>