<p>I am a strong math/physics/CS oriented HS junior looking for safety schools to apply to.</p>
<p>So far, I have a state college as my super-safety. I'm also looking at the following schools in descending order of preference:</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon
Duke
University of Chicago
Washington University (St. Louis)
Rice</p>
<p>Any other suggestions? What do you think about the schools themselves? Feel free to plug any schools (reasonably good ones) and offer any advice you have.</p>
<p>No one can suggest safeties if you do not mention your academic stats and your cost constraints.</p>
<p>Let’s say that my stats are good enough such that the example schools are listed would be considered safeties. There is no cost constraint. (Obviously, some weight can be given to places where scholarships are more abundant).</p>
<p>I’m not looking for places that match my ability - I’m looking for input on schools around the range of what I listed (which I happen to consider safeties).</p>
<p>These schools aren’t really safties. It’s easy to think so with scores. But admissions can be a tad random-seeming and each are looking for very specific traits beyond academic excellence (which they also want).</p>
<p>Sent from my Desire HD using CC</p>
<p>rachel - I agree that these schools wouldn’t be considered safeties by the majority of people. But, let’s just say that all of my achievements (not just scores and grades, but in other things as well) make these schools such.</p>
<p>Again, I’m looking for any input on these schools - which one do you advise applying/potentially going to, which one is better (clearly subjectively i.e. from personal experience), etc.</p>
<p>Look, if we don’t have your stats, it’s impossible to say what would work best for you. There are plenty of excellent students rejected from all those schools. Plus there’s the concept of Tufts syndrome and I presume you haven’t written your essay</p>
<p>What do you mean? I said that I’m focused in math/physics/computer science. For the third time, I’m not looking for schools based on my stats, just schools similar to the ones I listed for the subjects I listed.</p>
<p>The example schools are not safeties for anyone. Even if your stats are maximum, that is still no guarantee, as they consider a large number of non-academic and subjective criteria.</p>
<p>Have any of you even read my question/posts? I am looking for comparisons between the colleges I listed and any other similar ones. For example, which ones are better, subjectively, in areas oriented towards math/physics/CS, campuses, life, experiences, etc. etc. etc.!</p>
<p>I am NOT asking for safety schools given a resume which I did not even give! Please, answer the question - what schools similar or including to the ones I gave should I apply to, and particularly, why. </p>
<p>If you are only able to suggest superficially that my example schools do not satisfy such and such irrelevant criteria, then I advise you to refrain from posting in my thread.</p>
<p>As ucbalumnus notes, for admissions decisions, colleges consider a “large number of non-academic and subjective criteria.” A bad attitude is one of them.</p>
<p>@sevmom - Can you expect me not to be even slightly annoyed that now three posters have ignored my original question?</p>
<p>You say "no cost constraint " but you mention scholarships. Does not compute. Considering schools like CMU, Duke,etc. as safeties is risky. Sorry you’re annoyed. Good luck with finding a school!</p>
<p>Your original question (the title of the thread) was asking for safeties. No one can answer your question because you have not given basic academic stats or cost constraints, nor does anyone else agree that the example schools you listed are safeties for anyone.</p>
<p>Prepare to be disappointed if you consider the example schools and other similarly selective schools to be your safeties.</p>
<p>I’m sorry if I haven’t been clear - as I’ve said, I’m not looking for appropriate safety schools to match any stats I might give - I’m looking for recommendations on colleges around the level of the ones I gave in my OP. </p>
<p>If the title was confusing, I believe that I have made this clear over numerous posts. I do not need people to tell me whether a school is safety or not, and proceed.</p>
<p>The essential thing is: stop focusing on the word “safety.” I honestly do not care about your opinions on such a matter. </p>
<p>Finally @sevmom - I think I was very clear that scholarships are welcome; i.e. if some school was more likely to give me money, I would be more inclined to go that school than if they didn’t give me money. However, I can afford any school - that is why I said no cost constraints. </p>
<p>I’ll give a hypothetical reply as an example for what I’m looking for:</p>
<p>“I noticed that you are interested in such and such subjects, therefore I think a school like X would be great for you! I know a lot of people who go there and have done Y and etc. Also, I would consider school Z because of such and such reasons.”</p>
<p>You can see that I want opinions on a certain set of schools - specifically, ones of selectivity around the range of the ones I gave.</p>
<p>Well, you clearly are focused on private national universities ranked in the top 25 by USNWR. Just add the ones you’ve left out to expand your options-Emory, Vanderbilt, etc.</p>
<p>Thanks for actually attempting to respond to my question. However, I detect quite a bit of snideness in the first sentence of your post. If you think that I have not even attempted to look up prospective universities, you are wrong. If you think I’m shallow to care only about rankings, you are wrong. If you think you can answer a question in such a trivial manner, then you are completely wrong.</p>
<p>Therefore - let’s take a look at the list of colleges I posted - does anyone have advice for math/physics/CS at any of the college’s I posted? Or more generally - anyone have valuable, non-trivial comments on those universities?</p>
<p>Although I agree with the other posters that none of the schools you list is a safety (defined by me to be 90% or better chance of admission) since I do not recall hearing your name when the latest science nobel prize was announced, I’ll play along and suggest Carnegie Mellon as your safety. It is a bit more numbers oriented than the others and may have the no 1 program in the country for CS. </p>
<p>Other ideas, a Duke prof just one the nobel in chemistry and Duke has a strong math department. Also, Rice is extremely research oriented, especially in the medical field. These would be my other two choices of the ones you list. </p>
<p>What are your targets? I assume Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Cal Tech, and Princeton. If the schools you list are safeties, than why don’t you also have Cornell on the list, which is also a very competitive school but no more difficult to gain admission to than the ones you list. It has an awesome physics department, is very strong in the other sciences, just received the grant from NYC for a research center in the city, and also has a solid math department.</p>
<p>Okay,then. CMU is very well known for CS if that’s your interest. Husband and his father are graduates. MIL taught there. Great school. When it came time for our kids to go to college, it was not on the radar. Would have been too expensive and was not a good social fit. Vibe/fit are important.</p>
<p>Your state flagship.</p>
<p>How about RPI, Case Western Reserve, Johns Hopkins U.?</p>
<p>The schools you listed are all great but very different from each other. You would need to provide additional criteria to get other suggestions since I’m not sure I understand the list beyond the fact that these all have good CS/math/physics. There are LOTS of top 100 or top 50 universities that meet the criteria you have listed.</p>