<p>I'm just saying, i prefer the gap year option than the safety option...and if, i'm just saying IF, there's a small chance of me getting into a better college than my safety, i'd rather do that..</p>
<p>To add to my previous post, sure, it's a year of my life off, but it's gonna be four years of my education afterwards, and I value my education beyond all other things. My aspiration is to teach, and I have decided to attend a US college just for the sake of getting a better academic experience. And if getting what I have been striving for means sacrificing one year and getting four better ones, then so be it - after all, these 4 years are the most crucial, right?</p>
<p>Wow, I am wondering if all those people actually read the entire thread or just the first post. You in fact do have a safety in the back of your head - Greek universities, which I suppose have much later application deadlines than American universities (August?) AND are free to attend for you. So if you were to change your mind about the gap year after being rejected from all your American choices, you would still have the chance to start college that year.</p>
<p>Anyway, good luck with your applications! :)</p>
<p>B@r!um strikes, destroys and moves out! :D </p>
<p>Ok not really but metaphorically :)</p>
<p>Why not just transfer from a safety to a larger university after your first year?</p>
<p>DA ... I do not have ANY problem at all with your strategy for some students ... it depends on the reasoning for the strategy and yours sounds OK. </p>
<p>Another one ... some kids gravitate to the norm of the community in which they live ... so for some high potential students whithout the greatest drive going to a safety might present them a typical student who will not push them while a more competative school may provide typical students who push this applicant.</p>
<p>While I understand the philosophy of "love thy safety" it is not clear to me it is a great approach for ALL applicants.</p>
<p>3togo, a safety is not necessarily a college that one is "overqualified" for. For example, a talented student can take honors courses at his public in-state university and be among his academic peers while attending a safety.</p>
<p>^ ... but in this case the honors students are a small minority on campus ... <em>some</em> students will maintain the focus of these honors students ... and <em>some</em> will be drawn to the norm on the campus ... and if the student is not the most self motivated and the norm on campus is not that acedmically focused than the honors school thing doesn't look nearly as good to me.</p>
<p>"if the student is not the most self motivated and the norm on campus is not that acedmically focused than the honors school thing doesn't look nearly as good to me."</p>
<p>In that case, the student didn't belong at an Ivy or similar school anyway.</p>
<p>Unless your dream is to teach at schools like Oxford or Harvard (even then) it makes little economic sense to aim for these schools. Cost of 4 years at an elite private is about $200,000, average teachers salary in the US is around $30,000. Sadly not a profession that is ever paid anywhere near what it should be valued at. An the fact of the matter is that "teaching" is not a science that demands an elite school. Go to a top tier public and then try for a place like Columbia Teachers College for your masters. Post grad is much more important in the credentialed world of education. Where you get your masters and PHD should be your focus.</p>
<p>@ barlum, no, greek universities are not a safety really...but if all else fails, I can do Greek university, and that won't be an option unless I do an extra year...you have to take the national exams to go to uni, so it's not really a safety...</p>
<p>why not to transfer: i've stated this before, but it's much harder to transfer than to actually get in..</p>
<p>3togo, how would that student even become the student he is in the first place? If a student is constantly being drawn towards the "average", how can he ever become an outstanding elementary, middle or high school student?</p>
<p>Some personal experience: If you are in an honors program and constantly surrounded by honors kids, you don't really interact with the other (less intellectual) students at that institution, whether there are 100 or 10,000 of them.</p>
<p>
[quote]
why not to transfer: i've stated this before, but it's much harder to transfer than to actually get in..
[/quote]
Not true for all colleges. The University of Chicago, for example, says that their transfer admission rate is about the same as the freshman admission rate. UW-Madison is very transfer-friendly.</p>
<p>
[quote]
"if the student is not the most self motivated and the norm on campus is not that acedmically focused than the honors school thing doesn't look nearly as good to me."</p>
<p>In that case, the student didn't belong at an Ivy or similar school anyway.
[/quote]
Not necessarily ... it's true some kids will flounder if thorwn in the deep end ... and some kids perform better when put into more challenging situations (including me 30 years ago and I would guess at least one of my kids). Each student is different and which environment is the best for them is very individualized IMO.</p>
<p>
[quote]
3togo, how would that student even become the student he is in the first place? If a student is constantly being drawn towards the "average", how can he ever become an outstanding elementary, middle or high school student?
[/quote]
One example would be because some kids are (book) smart enough that they could cruise though HS without really working very hard. Hopefully in college they will put themselves in a place where they can not cruise again.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Some personal experience: If you are in an honors program and constantly surrounded by honors kids, you don't really interact with the other (less intellectual) students at that institution, whether there are 100 or 10,000 of them.
[/quote]
Honors programs vary greatly ... if they have honor's dorms this would be more likely to be true ... what about if the honor's kids live among the general student population? Or a major focus of their life is an EC where very few students would be honor's students?</p>
<p>I'm going to bow out of this string at this point ... I think I made my point ... if it works for you great ... if it doesn't work for you that's great also.</p>
<p>its also presumptuous to assume that you will be superior to the rest of the student body at school that is admissions-wise a safety....</p>
<p>"The University of Chicago, for example, says that their transfer admission rate is about the same as the freshman admission rate"
Uh, no, not the last few years. Chicago only takes in 40-50 transfer students a year. There have been many more than 100 students trying to transfer to Chicago in recent years. And if the Freshman class is overenrolled, as it has been in the last 2 years, that reduces the # of transfer students they accept. I would say that since over 4000 students have applied to Chicago already this year, [EA] the chances of overenrollment again this year are very high.</p>
<p>It seems to me that the point is not to have a safety school per se, but to have a "Plan B" thought out if you don't get into the schools you really want. For most students, that Plan B is to have some match and safety schools. For others, it might be rational to take a year off to polish the resume and stats and try again. For yet others, Plan B might be to join the Army.</p>
<p>One of the things I asked my son to do was find a safety he loved. For him, that was UCSC. It was a school he could see himself attending, even if it wasn't his first choice. </p>
<p>And it was a good thing for him, as a stress reducer. Before any other of his admissions results came back, UCSC admitted him with a prestigious full ride -- no loans, no work study. What did that mean? It meant that for almost a month, when other people were tense about colleges, and when some waitlists were trickling in, he could look at that embossed acceptance and scholarship and know that whatever else happened, he'd have a special place at that school. </p>
<p>Did he end up there? No, he got into his first choice school. I have to tell you, though, the application process took him a few minutes, and was <em>well</em> worth the benefit of a little less worry and stress during March and April. Having a good safety bought him peace of mind.</p>
<p>I think you have a reasonable Plan B, to take a year off and retake your standardized tests. Then, when you apply to the same schools again next year, you will have your IB scores and higher standardized test scores.</p>
<p>In my opinion, if you don't get into one of your favorite schools this year and you end up applying again next year, you should include a safety school or two next year, either in the US or in Greece. </p>
<p>If you and your family all think this is the right plan for you, that's fine. (I think of a gap year more as a year where you have been accepted to the college of your choice and then you ask them to hold your spot for a year while you do something unusual; it is harder to apply to an elite college when you have been out of school for a year. If you end up needing to apply again next year, be sure to stay in close touch with the high school teachers who will be writing you the letters of reference.)</p>