<p>How many is a good number?</p>
<p>I have three, but since they're safeties maybe that's a bit much. Then again, if I have to go to a safety, I can compare financial aid packages between them.</p>
<p>DD is applying to one safety. She happens to like her safety a LOT and would be very happy to attend if her other choices don't work out. Of course she REALLY wants her #1 choice which we hope is a match.</p>
<p>I had one. I spent more time on matches and reaches, because I knew I would get into at least a couple of them - and I did. Had I applied to too many safeties and not enough reaches, I would have likely ended up at a safety.</p>
<p>I've got two.</p>
<p>The most important thing is not how many safties to apply to because you could apply to loads of them and not really be enthused about any of them. It is more important to *** love your safety *** and choose a school that if accepted you will be happy to attend and the school will be a financially feasible option for you and yor family.</p>
<p>Agree with sybbie...also nice if they have rolling admit or early action.</p>
<p>I didn't apply to any safety schools. Come to think of it, I don't think I applied to any match schools either. From my experience, if you apply to enough reach schools (I applied to five) and don't really care about which one you want to go to, you'll get in to at least one of them</p>
<p>Ecliptica, did it work for you? Where are you going now?</p>
<p>I think it worked out well for me, I applied to Georgetown, Davidson, UNC-Chapel Hill, Wake Forest, and Tulane. I only got accepted at the last two (waitlisted at the first two, rejected at Chapel Hill).
I almost only applied to Davidson, because I was 100% certain I was going there for track, the coaches told me not even to bother applying to other schools because I was 100% in. Unfortunately my academic stats weren't as good as my track ones and the adcoms, despite all the contact with the school and literal guarantees of my acceptance, I got waitlisted. I'm so glad I applied to the others just in case that exact circumstance happened.
I go to Tulane now and I really couldn't see myself anywhere else.</p>
<p>I hope I am not interupting this thread, but I was wondering what I can consider Penn State (University Park) to be for me. I am in-state, top 5% of my class, and I'm hoping to bring my SAT to 1350+ (between Math and Reading). I looked on college board for Penn State's averages, and their acceptance rate is a little more than 50%. Can I expect PSU to be a safety or should I expect it to be a match (hopefully not a reach!)?</p>
<p>girlfriend, you only really need one safety, but it has to be a "real" safety, defined by me as a school that you wouldn't mind going to and you have an overwhelmingly sure chance of getting into. If you're going to need financial aid -- either needbased or merit -- you may need to have a financial safety as well. </p>
<p>A more selective college with EA or rolling admissions could be a kind of safety. If you get admitted early, then you have your surebet in your pocket and can take more chances on your RD list. If you're denied or deferred, you can recalibrate to includes more less-selectives. </p>
<p>Some kids like to have more than one safety just so that, in the worst case, they have a choice. If you are applying to highly selective colleges you may have to widen your net, but please, don't follow Eliptica's model unless you're willing to gamble with your future.</p>
<p>Do you think it's better to apply to your dream-reach school EA, or your safety school EA? I'm going Yale SCEA, first of all because the percentage acceptance is higher, secondly because I see no point in securing admissions to UCSD before next year (I'm in California, so UC admissions is pretty sure).</p>
<p>tkm, Two separate issues here. Any EA school can become a safety by default IF you get in. The strategy is that you will know the outcome before you send off your RD applications and you can adjust your list accordingly.</p>
<p>If your dream school is a superselective, it's still a good idea to apply EA or SCEA, but his has nothing to do with using it as a safety strategy. If your #1 choice Yale, just be aware that everyone's chances of admission are relatively low, so you should only use up your single early shot on Yale if you're within their admissions ballpark statistically. </p>
<p>The rule of thumb that I would use in choosing an early application school would be to ask yourself: If you didn't get in under RD would you always regret not applying early?</p>
<p>EA and SCEA are good options for those who are not willing or able to take the financial risk of applying ED. However, if your #1 favorite is an ED school, then it doesn't do you much good to apply EA somewhere else.</p>