I need a reality check -- applying to mostly safeties

I really truly want to thank everyone for your comments and suggestions. The thing is, I know the value of a good safety. My D1 had the regular list-- reaches, matches and safeties, and in the end chose her safety over her reach dream school. I went through a little of this self doubt then, but it has worked out beautifully. D2 wants a very different field and so I allowed the doubt and the criticism to get to me. I have given advice very similar to this to kids in town and on these boards who are faced with only being admitted to their safeties. But somehow, I lost confidence faced with only applying to safeties and “lower” matches. I needed the reminder.

I am very much aware of the issue with high stats kids being waitlisted at their safeties and won’t take anything for granted. I very much believe that you treat your safeties the same way you would your reaches – same visits, same interviews, same careful attention to the applications.

Thanks again everyone!

She would get some nice merit money at Muhlenberg with those stats and they have a great science program. Skidmore has gotten very tough to get into in the last couple of years even with great stats so just be aware of that.

My second kid applied to three sure thing for admission colleges…we thought…and we were right. Got accepted to all three…and graduated from one.

If your kiddo is happy with the schools on her list…so be it. She will find smart kids at every one of those schools!

Yeah be careful with those safeties. I got rejected from all my safeties and accepted into my top 3. Weird year.

It seems some folks think med schools may look at the safeties as “easier”, requiring higher grades? Is that really the case though? With two identical classes, is one “harder”? Curious.

HRS- Two identical classes are “harder” if the students in one class are better prepared, work harder, have stronger math or science backgrounds to begin with, etc. Not saying that’s the case here- just how two identical curricula can end up NOT being the same. Professors get to do a much deeper dive and with more rigor with a better prepared class than a weaker one.

Hmm. Plus the curve may be higher as well if all the kids score lower in one program than the other?

Are you guys suggesting that we apply to matches because they may be more “safe” than the “safeties?”

What are some ideas for a Plan B? I have a kid who wants to major in bio purely because he enjoys the subject, not from any desire to go to med school – so I guess we’re starting at Plan B right from the get-go! Your mention of the hordes of unsuccessful wannabe-med-students is making me nervous.

I think nomenclature may not be your friend here.

Classifying something as a safety doesn’t make it one.

I think you are on the right track of identifying a bunch of colleges where your kid’s stats fall into the broad category of “Kids like me get accepted and attend here” AND your D is interested in attending. Parsing the nuances of what makes a safety truly safe is a moving target- last year’s rock bottom safety turns into this year’s “hot” college which turns into next year’s “Must show tons of love and demonstrated interest” and/or “practices yield protection”.

You don’t need this level of detail right now. Keep identifying schools which meet your D’s criteria and don’t get caught up in the categories right now. Even little things like “how many kids got in off the wait list” (which you won’t know for another three months) can impact the “safetiness” of a safety.

At some point, you also need to do a deep dive on how different colleges handle med school applications. Some colleges with very high med school admissions rates have those rates because they essentially tell the kids who are borderline “don’t even bother”. Or organic chemistry is graded on such a brutal curve that only the truly exceptional live to tell the tale. Or do not differentiate between kids taking physics who plan to apply to med school and kids who take physics because they are engineering majors- they are all lumped into the same sequence. Which is fantastic for the pre-med kid who is a physics whiz, not so great for the pre-med kid who is not.

But too early to do that. Right now- figure out how your D can spend four happy and challenging years as an undergrad!

@HRSMom and @blossom:
“It seems some folks think med schools may look at the safeties as “easier”, requiring higher grades? Is that really the case though? With two identical classes, is one “harder”? Curious”

This depends on the school. For example, PU and IU and UW-Madison (and UW-Seattle and UIUC for some majors) may be considered safeties for some in-state kids, but their pre-med science classes will be considered rigorous enough by almost all med schools, I daresay (kids who don’t meet the standards set there will be weeded/flunked out).

But there are other safeties that would not be so rigorous in their pre-med classes.

So it depends.

@dustypig: No interest in other health or other subjects or any industries?

iMO, HS is a good time to research industries.

I am speaking for my D only, not anyone else who might have an interest in med school. I know there are kids out there who decide on medicine because they like bio or because its culturally expected or because they think its prestigious and safe. That is not my D. She has single mindedly wanted a career in medicine since she was five years old. Her kindergarten class did a unit on how the organs of the body worked and she was hooked. At first, I thought it was cute. I though it would fade as she got older, but that never happened. She has sought out experiences throughout the years that keep confirming her passion – volunteering in two different hospitals, doctor shadowing, medical research in a lab in the city – which she commutes to. This spring she will be involved in a highly selective program enabling her to rotate through different departments in a 3rd local hospital. None of this guarantees that she will ultimately be successful. The point is, she is not interested in looking for other careers in case she fails.

I am also not necessarily of the mindset that college needs to prepare you for a specific job. If she changes her mind while in college or can’t make the grades, the whole world of opportunities will still be there. She can transfer to a different major, do a masters in something else, take time off to work and then go back for more education if she needs it. I have a friend whose son thought he wanted psychology, changed his mind and is going back to school for a masters in CS. I honestly think its too early to try to find a fallback when the main passion is burning so hot.

On the upside, she wants to double major in bio and philosophy so she should get a great grounding in writing and logic to prepare her for many jobs out there.

@gallentjill This sounds very familiar. I felt the same way with no family member who was an MD, but it was something I wanted since early elementary. I majored in philosophy and became an MD. Now my DD wants medicine too and has no back-up plan either. I am encouraging safety and merit to save $$$ for med school and perhaps lead to better GPA too. Best of luck to your DD.

@PurpleTitan: no interest in specific industries, no. He’s thinking about neuroscience right now – he took a basic neuroscience class in the fall and liked it, and in general he is interested in how the brain works and so on. But hey, up until 3 months ago I thought he was going to be a sociology major, so who knows! Next year he may take a bioinformatics class and get hooked on that!

@dustypig, IMO, quantitative skills (and writing skills) are always good and applicable in many roles.

No issue with the strategy but with some of the schools on the list, in that they may not offer a good setting (resources, opportunities to volunteer, community…) and/or not known for being affordable.
I’m especially thinking of Hofstra and Quinnipiac, which both seem to be low value.

Look into SUNY Geneseo (serious students, LAC-like environment, but instate for you). If she likes urban, look into Temple Honors and Pitt Honors.
She may want to throw in Dickinson, which would be a match but applying EA and showing interest would make it much easier to get into than Skidmore.

I went to U of Houston and my roommate got into University of Michigan Med School with scholarship support. Just go and do well in class and the MCAT and you should be fine.

Nothing wrong at all! My son applied to only safeties because those were the schools he liked for pre-vet. His gf did the same for pre-med. They both are starting their sophomore year with perfect GPAs, great experience, great ECs and happy as can be!