Is my counselor wrong?

Applying to College
1

<p>My high school counselor told me that I need safer safety schools but I'm applying to George Washington, Occidental, and University of Wisconsin as my safeties and I feel that I am pretty much guaranteed to get into one of them</p>

<p>I have a 4.0 (4.3 weighted)
SAT I:
Critical Reading: 700
Math:660
Writing:720
Essay: 12</p>

<p>ACT Composite:31 (with a 36 in reading)</p>

<p>SAT II:
Literature: 700
Math 2: 670
Spanish: 740</p>

<p>-Full IB course load
-Newspaper Editor-in-Chief
-National Honors Society member
-Recipient of the Wellesley Book Award (chosen out of entire junior class)
-Varsity letter in swimming (district champion and state qualifier)
-Lifeguard
-Extensive community service in Argentina the past two summers (I planned my own trip there to stay with friends and teach English)
-Participated in month long Spanish immersion program in Argentina
-Led voter registration drives during the 2008 elections
-Extensive political campaign work
-President of political club at school
-Jewish Student Union member
-Student council member sophomore, junior, and senior year
-Conversationally fluent in Spanish</p>

<p>Is my counselor right that I need safer safety schools? I'm also applying to USC, Northwestern, and Duke and I talked to a professional college counselor and she said that even USC could be my safety school and that I have a good shot at Duke. So should I trust my guidance counselor and apply somewhere even safer?</p>

2

<p>Your conselor is correct - you need “safer safety schools.”

Your test scores put you at the lower end of the “middle 50%” of accepted students at USC. Your GPA is slightly above the average UW GPA of 3.8. With a 24% admission rate, USC cannot be considered a “safety” for you.</p>

<p>At Occidental, again your test scores put you in the middle 50%. The admission rate is higher there, but you would need scores well into the top 25% to consider any school a “safety.” Occidental would probably be a “safe match.”</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/private/0910/FreshmanProfile2009.pdf[/url]”>http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/private/0910/FreshmanProfile2009.pdf&lt;/a&gt;
[Occidental</a> College :: Class Profile](<a href=“http://www.oxy.edu/x1984.xml]Occidental”>http://www.oxy.edu/x1984.xml)</p>

3

<p>Yes, you need a more accurate safety school.</p>

4

<p>If you’re in the top 10% of your class and have taken the most rigorous schedule then I think Wisconsin is a safety. Hopefully it is also a financial safety for you. GW would be from a numbers perspective but the acceptance percentage is too low.</p>