Is Ohio State a safety for me?

I’m currently working on my college apps, and I’m thinking of applying to either 2 or 3 schools: University of Kentucky (maybe), Ohio State, and University of Southern California. I visited Ohio State and absolutely loved it, so I think it’s very likely that I’ll go there (it’s a lot cheaper than USC, so even if I get into USC, I might choose tOSU). I have a 31 on my ACT (32 superscored), 3.59 UW and 4.30 W GPA at one of the top 10 high schools in the state (Illinois). I also have taken a lot of AP/honors classes and got a 5 on the AP Psych test, 5 on BC Calc, and 4 on AP English Lang. My extracurriculars are strong as well. Basically, I am definitely applying to Ohio State and USC, but I only want to apply to UK if I can’t consider tOSU a safety. Also, if I apply early action to Ohio State in the next couple weeks, when can I expect to hear back? If I would hear back well before the deadlines for other schools, then I wouldn’t have to apply to another safety now.

You have a nice ACT score but I wouldn’t consider OSU a safety under any circumstances. Stranger things can happen. OSU is too highly ranked to be considered a safety by most.

Ok, thanks. Do you know when I would get a decision if I apply soon? Their website says by mid January, but I’m not sure if some people get decisions much earlier.

I have extremely Similar stats but a sight my higher gpa. I’m also applying to both uk and osu because even if you have a good chance of getting in, you will feel much more comfortable having that extra school to lean on. Also, I love UK too and it’s a really nice school so definitely consider applying.

Some people who applied by the 11/1 deadline in 2015 heard as early as 11/20/2015. My son got his acceptance on 12/11/15 so it is definitely possible to know about an acceptance before the deadline for submitting apps to other schools. But there is no guarantee that you will hear before a deadline for other schools. Note also that if you require a certain amount of financial aid or scholarship money to be able to attend tOUS, you may not hear about that for a while after hearing about an acceptance. So you might not have that in time to make a decision about not applying to other schools.

@rose621 The past 3 years OSU has started notifying Early Action applicants the Friday before Thanksgiving. It seems that they have been notifying the applicants based on their credentials, with applicants with higher test scores and gpa receiving decisions first. OSU released decisions approximately every two weeks thereafter and continued well into December for the remainder of the EA applicants. Ohio State has been placing heavier emphasis in the past five years on gpa and class rank in a rigorous academic program. Does your school rank ? If so, are you in the top 10%? I think you are definitely in if your unweighted gpa is within the top 10% or even top 25% of your class. 31 ACT is a fine score, coupled with your rigorous course work and APs and “strong extracurricular” as you say. Ohio State does not superscore the ACT. But your score likely qualifies you for the national buckeye plus Provost scholarships, making OSU a great value , for OOS applicants. I know, because my son received buckeye and provost and is a rising sophomore, really enjoying his experience there. Even if your school does not rank, OSU, has a good idea of what gpa correlates with where you stand in your class, based in the Secondary School report your school submits and the OSU regional admissions twos are familiar with most of the high schools where applicants are from.

@trackmbe3 thanks for all the information, that’s really helpful! My school doesn’t rank, but does give a top 10% and top 25% cut off GPA, if that makes sense. I think that I’m in the top 10% for my weighted GPA but top 25% for unweighted.

I’m not sure OSU has any real order in which they release their decisions. My stats were comfortably above the 75th percentile and I didn’t receive my decision until January. OTOH, I know people who were right on the edge who received decisions (both acceptances and rejections) early on.

Bottom line is, you’ll have a decision by “mid-January”. Don’t count on getting one before then.

Another parent at orientation talked about a friend of her’s child not bring admitted even with an ACT of 32 and stong GPA. OSU definitely goes with a holistic approach. I would apply to others early also as not to take any chances.

Yes, this is what I heard as well from friends whose kids were accepted with lower than 29 gpas. The holistic approach is what I understand they use as well

Your GPA is a little low, but your AP scores are awesome! I think the only thing hurting your chances is your out-of-state status. OSU accepts a lot more in-state students. However, if you have some leadership experience and unique extracurriculars, OSU could be a safety for you.

The Ohio State U middle ACT range is 27-31, so your 31 ACT score is NOT a little low as the previous poster suggests. Its an excellent score. If you are ultimately rejected, it will NOT be because of your score of 31.

Have you run the NPC’s and made sure these are all affordable? Have you discussed budget with your parents and received confirmation all of these are within budget as is, or, if you need financial aid, that you’re applying to all the competitive scholarships you can? (If you need scholarships to attend any of these universities, you’ll need to apply to more, since scholarships are competitive and you can’t know whether you’ll get one.)

I’d consider that tOSU is a match.
If you want another large public university with football, look into UIndiana, Michigan State, Pitt, or Penn State. Pitt and Penn State aren’t generous at all with merit (you wouldn’t get any at Pitt, since they want super high test scores, and Penn State is stingy, only promising $4,500 minimum for Schreyer scholars, who are selected without regard to test scores - however, Schreyer is one of the best Honors Colleges in the nation.) Michigan State is pretty generous and their honors college is good.
UIowa or Iowa State would be good safeties too and they have good merit.

Applying to 2-3 schools only seems very risky to me - especially since at all these schools, merit is competitive and since you’re OOS you won’t get any financial aid. You may well get in but not be able to afford them.