A true safety is a school you want to go to, if all else fails. Otherwise you will go through this again when you try to transfer up, which often fails.
@ab2002 I agree with that. All of S19’s “safeties” will likely give him merit. There are some great LACs in the NE that would probably be safeties for him but, as parents, we aren’t interested in paying full price for every school out there. S19’s reaches will be full pay for us but that’s different. We may agree to pay full price for a handful of schools.
If you’re considering Georgia, I would consider University of South Carolina and its honors program. I’ve been looking at it quite a bit and it looks amazing.
We struggle with this safety/match thing as well. It’s been said that high stats kids have reaches and safeties and no true matches because their “matches” are all reaches with low acceptance rates. Good luck to you!
@ab2002 if you don’t want to go, then it isn’t a safety.
You say you’re “willing” to pay 30-45K a year…are your parents onboard with that? What can they actually afford? @tk21769 is right…you have to look at the financial angles first!
@STF4717 I have 200k saved up for college. I am not saying that I wouldn’t be willing to go, but it wouldn’t be my first choice.
Some OOS flagships would fall in your $30K-$45K range. Check the Kiplinger listings.
https://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-public-colleges/index.php
(click-sort on “Total cost per yr. (out-of-state)”)
Competitive merit scholarships from some private match schools might get you close to that range.
Again, check award averages (and the % who get them) in the Kiplinger listings.