<p>Ok well my top 2 schools are UMiami and UCSB.
And after that I like SDSU, Colorado, Indiana, and ASU
The last 4 I listed are all safeties for me, but I love them all equally.</p>
<p>I don't really like any reach schools besides UCLA (but i have no chance, so I don't plan on applying).</p>
<p>So is it okay to apply to 4 safeties? Or is it stupid and a waste of money?</p>
<p>I'm also considering Pepperdine, LMU, or USD....as an alternative to my other choices.</p>
<p>Four safeties is silly. It wastes everybody's time and your money. IMHO</p>
<p>My son's high school recommends at least 3 safeties that you would be happy to go to.</p>
<p>It would be a waste of time if they were all going to offer you the exact same financial aid package. How are we to know that? Also, I would say that now is not the ideal time to be closing doors. I think you should keep all your options open as long as possible.</p>
<p>Yah I'm a junior so I have some time, but I want to narrow those 4 down, but I can't.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>SDSU - Really Inexpensive. In San Diego by the beach. A strong business program, however, it doesn't compare to the other schools. Also the athletics/school spirit, especially in football, isn't as big as I would like it to be.</p></li>
<li><p>Colorado - Probably my favorite of the 4. However, it will most likely cost a lot more than the others, and ASU and Indiana's business schools seem to out perfom CU's.</p></li>
<li><p>Indiana - Seems amazing and business is tops there. However I don't know if I could handle living in a small town like Bloomington. Also the midwest doesn't really appeal to me.</p></li>
<li><p>ASU - This school has everything I want, but it is really hot there. Also I'm worried this school may be to big of a commuter school.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Overall they are all great choices, so I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens.</p>
<p>If you want to narrow them down, then you can do so. However, if you love all of your safety schools, I see no reason why you shouldn't apply to all of them. The most selective school you can get into isn't necessarily the place where you want to end up, so I see these schools as ones you love, can see yourself at, and can get into. If you're a junior, you have a long time to think about your decision, too. Don't rush it right now. By this time next year you may be interested in different aspects of each school.</p>
<p>given the responses I'm seeing, perhaps we need to define "safety"? A safety is a college that will almost certainly accept the applicant. There only needs to be one, and narrowing down that choice now makes eminent good sense, financially and ethically. If the OP aspires to no match schools, s/he is done. If there are schools with selectivity somewhere between UCSB and Cal State that would suit, then by all means pick a few and see what happens. But four SAFETIES? Why? If acceptance is already assured (and the OP knows the cost of each), that makes little sense. It just allows the OP to delay making a decision, for no good reason.</p>
<p>I say go for it and apply to UCLA....I loved the school but I 'knew' I wouldn't get in. I didn't have anything spectacular GPA and SAT wise. I wasn't going to apply but my parents made me check the box last minute saying I should at least try. Well now I go to UCLA :)....so you never know! If you really like the school it's worth a try :)</p>
<p>Bruinbee -- congratulations. You must be ecstatic. And thank your parents. I've been watching UC acceptance patterns for a while now, and this year really puzzled me. Kids who wanted UCSB got accepted at UCSD (usually tougher to get into), and UC Davis took in some UC Riverside applicants. Go figure. Did you have a hook that you think got you into UCLA?</p>
<p>Thanks for the thoughts. Some basic stats are 3.5UW/3.7W, PSAT estimated 1300/1900 (w/out studying), and I'm around top 5% of my class. Some good ec's and hopefully very strong essay....oh and the toughest schedule possible.</p>
<p>I consider UMiami and UCSB slight reaches, and the rest safeties. And if I apply to Pepperdine, then that would be a reach I think...their acceptance rate is like 25%.</p>
<p>Well I hope to narrow down my list on this topic. I posted it in the business forum, but here it is, and hopefully you guys have some thoughts.</p>
<p>Well after going over the different business specialities, I'm pretty sure I want to pursue finance.</p>
<p>I've been researching colleges a lot, and even though I'm a junior I've liked the same colleges for a long time, with a few exceptions.</p>
<p>I would hope to work in the entertainment industry (MTV, E!, or Fox), sports industry (NFL, NCAAF, Nike/Adidas, or ESPN), or a top finance/accounting firm.</p>
<p>The schools I'm interested aren't ivy level, but they have pretty strong business programs.</p>
<p>My top 2 schools are UMiami and UCSB
<em>UCSB only has a business economics major</em></p>
<p>However I'm also very interested in Indiana, ASU, SDSU, Colorado, and Pepperdine.</p>
<p>My question is....will these schools set me up for success, or will I have to go out of my way just to get a decent job?</p>
<p>Also could you rank these schools? Which school is best for me?</p>
<p>Thanks....all opinions/comments are welcomed.</p>
<p>If you are applying to six schools, and you like them all equally, I see no reason not to apply to the four safeties. Some of the posters assume safeties are last resorts, but in your case, if the safeties are also good fits for you, then why not keep them on the list? It would then give you until May of senior year to decide which one you prefer. Students often change their minds as they go through senior year and you don't want to limit yourself too much. If you can visit each of them before you apply, though, you might find one or two drops off your list. I would also add a few private schools, because you could get scholarships and that gives you different kinds of options. You never know until you try.</p>
<p>If you like all of those schools and would be happy to go to any of them -- but can't decide which one -- by all means, apply to them all. The poster who told you that it is silly and a waste of everybody's time obviously never heard of merit aid -- if the school is a safety and offers any sort of merit aid, then you are probably in the running to get it. Additionally, there are various honors programs or specialized programs at different schools that essentially are things you may only find out about after being admitted, or at least after applying.</p>
<p>Any person who tells you that you shouldn't apply to multiple safeties, yet thinks it is perfectly o.k. for a kid to apply to half a dozen reaches with only the slimmest of chances at admission, has just fallen victim to the mass marketing of prestige -- i.e., the notion that anything you can get easily isn't worth having. </p>
<p>Apply to the schools you are interested in -- don't worry about how selective they are as a group, as long as at least one or two are sure bets -- no one has to have a "reach" .... and if you apply to several, then you will have the luxury of making up your mind in May when you have a lot of good choices. </p>
<p>Too many students end up very unhappy because they applied to and were rejected from their reaches, and have only a single safety to choose from because they were told to focus their attention on the schools that were least likely to accept them. </p>
<p>I'd also note that my daughter's least-preferred safety in the fall -- one that she wouldn't even have applied to but for my encouragement -- ended up being the most-preferred safety in the spring. She is attending a different college (super reach for her) instead -- so she's lucky -- but the point is, there is no reason to foreclose options early.</p>
<p>Agree 100% with calmom. </p>
<p>The thing about safeties is that people think that at reaches you will be happier because everyone is more academically motivated, whereas at safeties you are smarter and more motivated than the general student population (as indicated by your higher SAT and GPA). Some kids need to be that big fish in a small pond. Others get into amazing programs at their safeties and get more personal attention than they would have gotten at a reach. There are dozens of reasons to choose a "safety" over a reach. These names are only used to describe one's chances of admission, but should not be used to order one's preference of colleges.</p>
<p>If they are really all completely safe, four is too many.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Any person who tells you that you shouldn't apply to multiple safeties, yet thinks it is perfectly o.k. for a kid to apply to half a dozen reaches with only the slimmest of chances at admission, has just fallen victim to the mass marketing of prestig
[/quote]
</p>
<p>No, that's not what I said. I said, if the OP was interested in adding some match schools -- schools that were likely but not certain -- then it made good sense to apply to some of those. I certainly didn't recommend multiple high-prestige reaches.</p>
<p>As for merit aid, yes, that could be a consideration, but the OP didn't seem to think so. I trust the OP to understand his/her own family's unique financial situation. I said "if the OP knows the COST of each" safety, then applying to multiple safeties is silly.</p>
<p>Even in your post you say, "as long as at least one or two are sure bets." That's about the same as what I was recommending -- one (or at most two) safeties.</p>
<p>Goldarn it, I'm feeling very misunderstood tonight :)</p>
<p>Celloguy, if I read your post right you said that only one safety was necessary. I took the OP's position to be that even though the 4 schools were safeties they were also good fits. Isn't that more important than the level of a school? If those schools have the right programs, why not go for them? I did take issue with your comment about delaying a decision. Choosing to have more options when one needs to make that final decision is good planning. I've seen seniors change their minds about favorites after the applications were all in. Why bother to choose a favorite until one has been accepted?</p>
<p>
[quote]
I took the OP's position to be that even though the 4 schools were safeties they were also good fits"
[/quote]
</p>
<p>yes, I also took that to be the OP's position, and certainly that's more important than the "level" of a school. I wasn't disagreeing. But the OP asked the question (were four too many?), and I gave my opinion. If there are four equally-attractive options, and all are guaranteed acceptances, it doesn't make sense to pay four application fees, burden the HS teachers and guidance office with preparing and mailing four sets of docs, fill out four apps and write (at least) four essays. Just bloody pick one and be done with it instead of fussing over the choice for months more. My opinion.</p>
<p>celloguy:
Well I applied to all my schools for Fall 2005..I'm already a sophomore in college. I applied to every UC except UCB and UCSD...I got into all of them except UCI. According to my guidance counselor UCI was one of my matches! So I also think UC admissions are pretty random. My hook I would say would be my essays. They were pretty good and I took a risk and started one of them in a different language even though I was advised not to. (My point I was trying to get across was my interest in learning foreign languages)</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the opinions...</p>
<p>I will for sure apply to UCSB, UMiami, and Pepperdine. Miami is my dream school, and I have visited SB and Pepp.</p>
<p>But as for the last 4, I will probably only visit SDSU, before I actually apply to them.</p>
<p>My interest in the perfect college will not change for me. I know so much about all of my schools, and I can't narrow them down. 7 is a good number, so no problem.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the help.</p>
<p>After all, you can only attend one college at a time. But, as I have related here every once in a while, I know two men in my generation who each went to FOUR different colleges to complete their undergrad degrees, transferring to a new college once a year and still graduating on time after four years in college. So you do have to narrow down your list each new school year, to know where to go that year, but you don't have to eliminate all the colleges from your list if you really, truly can't decide. Just figure out which order of attending them makes transferring credits most smooth. ;) </p>
<p>Good luck in your applications.</p>