Help Me Find Some Safety Schools

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi everyone,
I am now officially a rising senior (ahhhh!!) and like many students around the country, I will be spending my senior summer making college visits and starting to narrow down the pool. I have, of course, given college selection extensive thought, but as I am looking at my list, I am having trouble coming up with safety schools where I would enjoy myself and thrive. Here are my stats; I would preferably like to stay in the Northeast or Mid-Atlantic for school but it's not a requirement (my ideal is within a seven hour radius of New York City). </p>

<p>GPA: 4.17 weighted (probably somewhere in the 3.85-3.95 range unweighted)</p>

<p>SAT 2400: 2290 single sitting (740 M, 790 CR, 760 W) - may take again in October to bring up math/writing </p>

<p>SAT Subject Tests: 700 World History (very unhappy with this, may not send); took Math II and Literature in June </p>

<p>Courses (brief summary): Honors English 9-11, AP Lit 12, CP Spanish II 9 (year ahead), Honors Spanish 10&11, AP Spanish 12, Honors Physics 9, Honors Chem 10, AP Bio 11, Honors Human Anatomy 12, Honors US History 9, AP World History 10, AP US History 11, Honors Geometry 9, Honors Algebra II Trig 10, Honors Pre-Calculus 11, BC Calculus 12 **All final grades have been A+, A, or A-</p>

<p>Extracurriculars: lots of ECs - marching band, committed piano student, Rotary Interact with tons of leadership and community service hours, Relay for Life leadership, Sunday School teacher, musical theatre, etc. etc. (plenty to get into a top-level school)</p>

<p>Awards: National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, Math Honor Society, National Spanish Exam gold awards, National Language Arts League, National Guild of Piano Students state level commendation, many school academic achievement awards </p>

<p>I've thought of perhaps Boston University, Ithaca...I hate Rutgers so that is not an option...I will definitely look into any suggestions you can give me. I don't want to be at a school that is far, far below my level, but I wouldn't say no to some merit aid and a safe option. Thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide!</p>

2

<p>You’re a really strong candidate for most schools. A safety has to absolutely safe for your admission, absolutely a school you would attend if all else goes wrong, absolutely has your major, and absolutely affordable.</p>

<p>When you answer the second and third of these, we can help you with the first. Then you can take those suggestions and make sure that your family can afford them.</p>

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<p><a href=“Before you ask which colleges to apply to, please consider - College Search & Selection - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1621234-before-you-ask-which-colleges-to-apply-to-please-consider-p1.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Is Rutgers the most despised school on these forums?</p>

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<p>NYU?</p>

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<p>Sorry, I somehow deleted some of what I wrote, which I realized when I looked back at this. I’ve visited 8 schools so far. Of the schools I’ve seen, I have loved Georgetown and Columbia the most. I also really liked Bucknell, and I didn’t mind Dickinson but didn’t love it. Some things that I liked about Georgetown and Columbia were the study abroad options, the apparent involvement of the students (I saw people all around on both campuses, taking part in events, hosting fundraisers, and just generally talking with their friends), and the surroundings - ideally, I would like to be near a city or at least a large town. I looked at the thread you linked, @ucbalumnus. Most of those questions were answered in what I originally wrote, of course, but it’s quite late here and I don’t know how I deleted it. Here are the answers now. </p>

<ol>
<li><p>Cost constraints are not a big issue for me. My parents won’t relish paying $60,000 a year, but they will be able to handle a school with annual tuition of $40,000 and below, and may consider going above that for a place that is truly my dream school. We will get very little need-based financial aid, unfortunately. My state of residency is New Jersey. Sorry about the Rutgers comment, but I really do not like the school and have already had it suggested multiple times by multiple people. It did not make a good impression on me when I visited and I can’t see myself attending there under any circumstances. </p></li>
<li><p>I intend to be pre-med in college. I am unsure of my major at this point; many people who I have talked to have advised against a biology major, because showing other interests besides science can be a selling point for medical school apparently. However, I may go toward a biology major anyway. I have also thought about double-majoring with Spanish, which is probably my favorite subject in high school; I have a knack for languages and would love to become bilingual. </p></li>
<li><p>Like I said, I want to stay in the Mid-Atlantic or Northeast. My home is near New York City and I would like to stay within a seven hour radius if possible (although it’s not a hard and fast rule). As far as size, I would prefer a mid-size school (i.e. 4,000 to 10,000 students) although I would consider going larger or smaller, though very slightly. I like schools that are around urban areas; I don’t want to be out in the middle of nowhere, though my appreciation of Bucknell seemingly contradicts that. In general, though, I prefer city schools. I don’t want to go to a major party school, but I have an active social life in high school and would like the same in college. Political scene and religious environment are not important; I’m easygoing and can tolerate people with different beliefs from my own. I would like to join a sorority but it’s not a deal-breaker if the school doesn’t have Greek life. </p></li>
<li><p>I tried to provide my best estimate for my unweighted GPA, as well as my courses. </p></li>
<li><p>I have already provided my test scores and I may have National Merit status. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>Sorry about that again; I hope I’ve provided enough information this time. Thanks to those who have already commented. </p>

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<p>Consider SUNY Geneseo and UNC Asheville for smaller schools with (out-of-state) price under $40,000. But check whether they can be safeties for admissions.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-p20.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-p20.html&lt;/a&gt; lists schools with automatic big scholarships for stats (which you qualify for a lot of), but many of them are in the south. But your preferred region includes from that list Temple, Howard, NC Central that your stats will pick up big scholarships at.</p>

<p><a href=“Updated list of schools with auto-admit (guaranteed admission) criteria - Applying to College - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1562918-updated-list-of-schools-with-auto-admit-guaranteed-admission-criteria-p1.html&lt;/a&gt; lists schools with automatic admission criteria (not necessarily with scholarships).</p>

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<p>in my estimation, there’s no need to take the SAT again. The math score is great. Ditch the World History score. Med schools want to see that you have taken their pre-reqs; after that they consider GPA, MCAT scores, letters of rec, and research experience. Alma mater and major matter less than these, usually. So major in what you’d enjoy doing and take the pre-reqs on the side.</p>

<p>We’re talking of safeties here, primarily academic safeties (for someone with your scores) that are mid-sized, within 7hrs of NYC, urban/suburban, possessing an active social life that doesn’t surround parties, tolerant, and might have sororities.</p>

<p>Look to the column on your left. See the button that says “SuperMatch”? Go there, plug in your data, and you’ll get a list of academic safeties from which you can create a list of safeties. If you click “must have” where appropriate, you’ll be able to winnow out a few schools, but you’ll have to cross off Rutgers by yourself.</p>

<p>People here, including me, have a tendency to either offer their alma mater or their favorite schools, or repeat the same old mantras about schools that fit a person with certain criteria. i’ve suggested you use SuperMatch in order to broaden the schools you check out.</p>

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<p>Thank you ucbalumnus! I will check out what you suggested. Thanks to jkeil911 as well. I have found SuperMatch overwhelming in the past but I think I need to just be more selective with the criteria that I enter. I have done broad searches, but I will try to narrow it down a bit more and do another search. Thanks for your advice!</p>

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<p>Generally, academic safeties can first be identified by looking at their “middle 50” SAT stats. If you go to a site like College Data and look up your schools, you’ll find on the first page down a bit a graphic for average SAT ranges for students accepted at the school. There’s one part of the graphic which is for 75-100% chance of acceptance; those are the admitted students whose, say, math score is well above the average math score. This is a fairly accurate way to judge academic safeties; having said that, most averages have risen at most schools as you go from 2009 to 2013 and so the average will probably be higher after the class of 2014’s is calculated. If all your CR and M scores are in the 75-100% range, the school is probably an academic safety unless something in your resume is out of whack with your SAT scores.</p>

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<p>Temple and Pitt are probably academic safeties for you, and should also be affordable. They both have solid pre-med programs, along with opportunities to study abroad. Pitt is usually rated higher, but might stretch your 7-hour limit. It’s 6-7 hours from my home in north-central NJ. I think Lehigh, Vassar, Connecticut College, Goucher, and George Washington are all mid-to-low matches, where you might also qualify for decent merit scholarships. Do you dislike the entire atmosphere of a state university, which would rule out Delaware or UMDCP as well, or is it simply a resistance to Rutgers? I have mentioned on other threads that my sons, who are NJ residents but attended boarding school in PA, found that their PA friends envied them for having Rutgers as a flagship university while NJ students had higher opinion of Penn State. Grass is always greener . . . </p>

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<p>Don’t take the SAT again… You’ll either go up by 20 points tops, or go down. Just take what you have. 2290 is already in the 99th percentile, so you’d be wasting your time. If there is an exam to retake, if would be world history.</p>

<p>Also, keep in mind that a lot of ECs DOES NOT look good. In fact, it will seem superficial, so try to list 4-5 you have committed to for the longest period of time or feel most passionate about.</p>

<p>“I don’t want to be at a school that is far, far below my level”— Well that is what a safety school is. It’s a school at which you exceed the average test scores and GPA and a school you can afford. Safety schools have to be “below your level”. So maybe Rutgers isn’t a bad idea or perhaps Ramapo College. If you live in Jersey, it would be rather affordable and you would probably get in. Have you checked out the SUNYs or CUNYs?</p>

<p>What I will say is, you seem like someone who needs to be in Boston. Check out Boston College. It would be good for you</p>

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<p>Thanks everyone for your input! I will definitely check out your suggestions. @woogzmama‌, I would possibly consider Penn State - I would prefer it to Rutgers if I need to go the state university route. Overall, though, that type of atmosphere is not my first choice. @AnnieBeats‌, when I said that I don’t want to be at a school that’s far, far below my level, I was thinking more along the lines of a community college (which is the safety many of my friends will likely choose). While Rutgers is not my first choice because I did not like the environment, I spoke too quickly earlier when I said it was “not an option”. And I will certainly look into Ramapo. Boston College is on my list and I hope to visit there soon. Thank you for your help. </p>