<p>My understanding is that the parents are loathe to pay OOS tuition for Michigan or Wisconsin when U of I is in-state (under the theory of - if you’re going to go to a large state school, then just go U of I and be done with it).</p>
<p>Pizzagirl, I have a daughter who had a very strong profile and was a little like this girl in other ways too. Lehigh was her safety and that school fits several criteria this girl wants. </p>
<p>I also think Tufts is an excellent match school for what she wants to. My D also applied there as a match.</p>
<p>I don’t think Yale is social in the way this student seems to want. Duke seems a better match to me.</p>
<p>With this profile my list would look more like this: Dartmouth, Duke, Penn, Tufts, Brandeis, Boston College, U of Rochester, BU, NYU.</p>
<p>I think you’re right in your assessment of too many reaches. I’d add Tufts to the list-- not quite as reachy as the others, but not a shoe-in either. However, it meets all of the student’s criteria. It has two great student dance groups (oldest D was very involved in one) as well as theater groups and numerous a cappella singing groups. Plus, it’s got a Greek system. Easy to get to Boston–there’s shuttle from campus to the T and easy to get to Harvard Square/Davis Square, etc. The student body size is what she wants as well. Tufts also has an engineering school–I don’t know how it ranks among engineering schols, but undergrads in liberal arts and sciences can take courses in the engineering school–good way to try an engineering class, if one is undecided. Tufts has various supplemental essays that give kids a chance to “showcase” themselves–this might be an opportunity for the student to show how she turned “lemons” (her injury) into lemonade, i.e., how she got through it all. I like the idea of doing something related to the ECs in which she can’t participate, e.g., offering to teach ballroom dance to a group that wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to participate.</p>
<p>“My understanding is that the parents are loathe to pay OOS tuition for Michigan or Wisconsin when U of I is in-state (under the theory of - if you’re going to go to a large state school, then just go U of I and be done with it).”</p>
<p>Maybe if they looked at the rankings of Michigan, Wisconsin and compared it to Illinois’, they’d change their minds.</p>
<p>Wake Forest might be a match. I agree that Vanderbilt might also be a more reasonable reach.</p>
<p>If she can handle rejection well, it’s okay to have a bunch of reaches. I’m not sure I’d encourage that for this girl, as she goes through the trauma of big life changes due to injury. Other than that, I don’t think her injury should change the makeup of her college list. It would have been reach-heavy even if she’d not been injured.</p>
<p>I think she will get in to USC, and frankly she sounds like a kid who would like it a lot. Vanderbilt seems like a good match. I don’t really see how Pomona fits her criteria, plus it’s a big reach for almost anyone so might not be worth the effort. I wish I could think of a mid-sized safety that feels like Yale, but I’m not sure they exist!</p>
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<p>These should be likely acceptances for your D that meet most her criteria:</p>
<p>Case Western
U Rochester</p>
<p>Use the merit aid money for Southwest tickets out of Midway.</p>
<p>I also think U of Rochester is a good suggestion for the safety, and still believe that Lehigh matches much of her criteria as well for a safety. </p>
<p>I don’t think the criteria for the safety should be that it “feels like Yale”…there ia a reason these schools “feel” different. But the idea is to find ones that match her selection criteria and these do. She has to like the safety enough to attend. It is natural to perhaps not love it as much as the first choice school.</p>
<p>PS…I say this as the parent of a child who applied to both Yale AND Lehigh.</p>
<p>U. of Richmond might be a safety, although I don’t think it has engineering.</p>
<p>The engineering safeties would be Rochester Inst of Tech and RPI. Both are in not-so-great locations.</p>
<p>Mid-sized safety that feels like Yale: Dickinson immediately sprang to mind. Or Union.</p>
<p>Remember we’re midwest: U of Rochester, U of Richmond, Dickinson and Union are names that we don’t recognize or know anything about. What can you tell me (to tell my friend) about them? What could she compare them to?</p>
<p>Recognizing that none of us know this girl, but I don’t think a lot of the suggestions for safeties are going to appeal to her. I like Soozie’s suggestion of Lehigh and mine of Bucknell but even those might not appeal. Case and RPI will not, is my guess.</p>
<p>I also thought your suggestion of Bucknell was a very good one, MOWC. </p>
<p>PG…I also suggested Dickinson. </p>
<p>I think they need to read up on the schools’ sites and in directories and read sub forums on these schools on CC. </p>
<p>These are pretty well known and well regarded schools and make good safeties for a top student.</p>
<p>If the girl can discover Colby as you said she did, she can find out some of these schools which are known at least as well as Colby if not more.</p>
<p>I think that the mom should come to CC and also read college guides to get info for herself and her child.</p>
<p>University of Delaware?</p>
<p>Midwest: Macalester and Carleton.</p>
<p>NSM…I think the KID should research the suggested schools (not the the mom or dad cannot as well). :D</p>
<p>This is not a kid for UDelaware.</p>
<p>If she’s looking for Greek, Yale and Princeton do not have it on campus. Yale especially has struck me as not that kind of school whereas Princeton does have the Dining Clubs. </p>
<p>Has she considered Dartmouth (60% of Soph, Jr & Sen Greek) or Cornell (30% Greek)?</p>
<p>“NSM…I think the KID should research the suggested schools (not the the mom or dad cannot as well).”</p>
<p>Oh, I agree. I know that it can be, however, hard to get many kids to research schools, so that’s why so many parents are here. With the rare exceptions of families that are in crisis or lack the language skills or sophistication to do college research, I don’t think that friends need to be doing the research for parents or the prospective student.</p>