Make Sure Your Child's Application List Includes a "Safety" College

Parents Forum
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<p>Hi, everyone, </p>

<p>Another thread here on the Parents Forum suggested opening a thread on this topic. I'm eager to read your thoughts on this. Quite a few parents have noticed that as College Confidential gains more and more participants, we are seeing more and more threads in April after admission decisions are announced in which a parent announces with dismay that all of her or his child's applications to "top" colleges were rejected. In today's competitive admission environment, many high school students with fine academic records will not get into their first-choice college, or their second-choice college, or their third-choice college. That's just a hard mathematical fact. Every year on College Confidential, a lot of participants post in April that they were disappointed in their admission results. </p>

<p>But the end of the application process to your child's dream college doesn't have to be the end of your child's college dreams. Anyone applying to a top college (Harvard, MIT, etc.) ought also be applying to a "safety" college, a college the applicant can count on being admitted to. In previous CC posts, I have defined a safety college as one that</p>

<p>1) is pretty much certain to admit the applicant, based on its known behavior in acting on recent admission applications,</p>

<p>2) has a strong program in an area the applicant is interested in,</p>

<p>3) is affordable based on its known behavior in acting on financial aid applications,</p>

<p>and</p>

<p>4) is likeable to the applicant. </p>

<p>My son, my wife, and I are 99 percent sure that the state flagship university in our state fits those characteristics for my oldest son. It now practices "holistic admissions," which means that in principle it could reject any applicant for any reason or no reason at all, but in practice admits mostly "by the numbers," and is not known to reject applicants who are successful in the accelerated secondary math program my son is now enrolled in there. We know quite a few very smart and curious young people who thrive there. The way we can be most sure that that college is a "safety" for our son, when the time comes for him to apply to college in fall 2009, is to seize the earliest opportunity to submit a "rolling" application to that college (which indeed will be an "on the spot" application during the first week of October), so that we get an instant read of his chances at that college. If he is admitted, the safety is in hand. If he is not admitted--we have to consider this possibility--then that is NOT his safety, and it is back to the drawing board to add another, safer, sure-bet admission college to his application list, and apply to it at earliest opportunity. </p>

<p>What college fits the "safety" definition for your child? What do you like about it? What are some of the best characteristics for other students of the college that you have identified as a "safety"? It's vital to build an application list from the safety college on up, and I appreciate suggestions in this thread about how to do that. Let's especially talk about how parents can help their children stay focused on a flexible list and avoid undue disappointment when admission results are announced. </p>

<p>Good luck to the families of members of high school classes of 2009 and 2010 who are putting together lists of colleges to apply to. And for those members of class of 2008 still looking for a college to get into, let's mention here the colleges that are still available for applicants after the main wave of decisions are announced in early April.</p>

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<p>For top students at the high school my daughter attended, the state flagship, which is the University of Maryland at College Park, is the almost-universal choice of a safety school.</p>

<p>A surprising number of the kids end up going there -- not because they've been rejected by all their other choices but because UMCP hands out lots of merit scholarship money to top students. Suddenly, for these kids, the academic "safety" becomes the financial "top choice." A full ride (and UMCP hands out about 200 of these every year, about half of which are accepted) is a hard thing to say no to.</p>

<p>I suspect this sort of thing happens in other states as well.</p>

<p>Choosing a safety is much harder, I think, for students whose tastes run to smaller schools. Not everyone would be happy at a megaversity, even if they are getting a full ride and their parents have said that they can use the money that would otherwise have been spent on college to go to graduate school.</p>

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<p>My daughter initially wanted to apply to three schools only. Two of the three schools were viewed as safeties, and the third a solid match (that is where she is attending). She added one reach school because she liked it, and one school close to home because we asked her to. Everyone thought she was nuts only applying to five schools, but as she put it...she would have been happy attending any of the five and there was no need to go further since three of the five were safety schools based on her stats (she was above the 75%ile at those three schools). </p>

<p>She took the "love thy safety" rule to the nines. I will add also, that her applications were completed by October 1 (EA to two, rolling to two, and deadline to the reach school).</p>

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<p>A word of warning about safety schools: Apply early!! I know too many kids who took their time finishing apps for safeties & then were waitlisted/rejected due to space issues. Two years ago, quite a few kids at my D's excellent high school were unable to get into Michigan State simply because they waited too long to apply.</p>

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<p>Many of the top kids at our local high school choose our local UC as their safety school, fully expecting not to "have to" go there. Needless to say, they are not happy when they do go there.</p>

<p>One thing that I would say to anyone who is identifying safety schools--you must actually think you'll enjoy going there. A safety isn't a safety if you won't be happy attending.</p>

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<p>Just an added thought...I don't think a student should apply to ANY school that they don't feel they would attend if they were to be accepted. This doesn't only apply to safety schools. It is a complete and total waste of time to apply to schools that you couldn't "fathom attending".</p>

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<p>Hey, I'll play along! My daughter is probably unusual here on CC - she applied to 3 safeties, 2 matches, and a reach. results: Five acceptances and one rejection (the reach, natch.) Her list was safety-heavy mainly because she really, really liked those schools.</p>

<p>And as it turns out, she's deliriously in love with one of those safeties and has already sent in her tuition deposit for the fall. Why the love? The university is strong in her intended major; internships and local job possibilities in this field are excellent; the students she's met are enthusiastic and "her kind" of people (quirky, unpretentious, maybe a little snarky); she loves the location (Chicago).</p>

<p>Her father and I like the school for all the reasons she does, plus: average class sizes are generally small; the profs we met at the Accepted Students weekend were bright, witty, and enthusiastic about teaching; and I particularly like the emphasis on community service. I won't lie, the merit aid she received is nice, too. </p>

<p>It's the classic safety school, too - her GPA and ACT score put her solidly in the top 25% of her class. The acceptance rate this year was in the mid-60s I think. Plus, it's rolling admissions (good point, kelsmom) - she had that acceptance in hand in mid-October. Her senior year was almost stress- free.</p>

<p>We took that "love your safety" mantra to heart, and it really paid off.</p>

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<p>Re: thumper's post about her D's solid match--there were kids in this admission's cycle who were rejected or waitlisted by schools that would have been a solid match or even a safety last year. Those 75% scores are old news. Real safety, imo, should also involve rolling or EA acceptance, so there's time to change the list if the early ones don't come through. My son, who only wanted small LAC's, found 2 excellent "safe" schools where I'm sure he would have been happy if they had been his only options.</p>

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<p>Bethie...dd's top choice was an EA application and her second choice was a rolling admissions school. Third was also EA, and last choice was rolling. We agreed...if DD had not been accepted EA to the two schools and/or the rolling one, we had PLENTY of time to revisit other college options.</p>

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<p>DD applied 5 years ago to two safeties, two matches, and two reaches. She applied ED to the reach, EA to one of the matches, and the rest (except for the second reach) were all rolling. She sent all apps together in mid-October. By the time she heard from the ED school (accepted!) she had already been accepted at 3 of 5 others. It was such a great relief to have sent all of the apps in at once, so that she had some acceptances and didn't have to "start all over" had the ED been a rejection or waitlist.</p>

<p>DS applied ED to one school last year. That was it. Just one. I guess you would call it a match, but these days who knows. Being legacy helped, I am sure, and he was well-qualified. I tried to convince him to submit other applications at the same time, but he had no interest (LAZY?) He said he would be happy going to his second choice school (big mid-western state university with great programs in his areas of interest) which would have accepted him with his credentials (out of state needs to be in top 30% of class) as long as he applied before Feb 1. He did get into the ED school, but I NEVER would had let him apply to just one school without knowing there was a place he could go where he would feel satisfied.</p>

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<p>When our DD and DS were thinking about where to apply, we emphasized that they should only apply to schools that they would be happy attending. This was important to us...as important as the finances in our family's case. And we didn't want time wasted completing applications "just because". </p>

<p>In my humble opinion, every student should have a rolling admissions school that they really like on their list...and they should submit that application very early.</p>

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<p>This is an important thread. Thanks for starting it, Tokenadult.</p>

<p>This topic was a bit of a hair-raiser in our house, b/c our flagship U, which is not a guaranteed safety anymore, does have an early non-binding notification if the application is in by Nov 1. We visited the school, and DS HATED it. Too big. No way, Refused to apply. Didn't want to have to be in an honors program. The school he decided to use as his safety is expensive, and <em>way</em> more expensive than our state school. Fortunately the safety came in with merit money, and it is a school he really likes (and will probably attend) but this was a tough issue. Both his safety and our flagship U are very good schools- but the pricetag is very different. Oh, and guess what. the school he will likely be attending?? He'll be in the honors program! Part of me wishes we'd made him apply to the state U just to see if it would have been another option.. since these kids do change their minds frequently.</p>

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<p>Thumper, I could tell you knew what you were doing, but I just want to caution parents and students for next year. I've been in touch with one CC parent whose high-achieving D was rejected or waitlisted this year by 3 schools that NO ONE from her HS with similar stats had EVER not been accepted to.</p>

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<p>I actually think "safety" is way overrated. It should only be used when the student is not clear about the matching schools. </p>

<p>Safety, by its definition, is a school that almost everyone could get in. I have talked to a brunch of parents. They all told me that their kids work very hard and they don't want to go to the same school that every other kids from the same HS school are going.</p>

<p>For those who are clearly the top 1% students, I would think applying to more reach should be the way to go.</p>

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<p>If you can afford the app fee and time, it never hurts to apply to as many reach schools as you want.</p>

<p>It can hurt real bad if you don't apply to more safeties.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
I have talked to a brunch of parents. They all told me that their kids work very hard and they don't want to go to the same school that every other kids from the same HS school are going.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>That's true of a lot of students, and probably most students on this board... doesn't mean they get into the schools they want to. Or get enough aid at the schools they get in to.</p>

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<p>It all depends on your perspective. Some of those tippy top schools accept less than 10% of their applicants. Translation...90% of those who apply are rejected. Many of those students are in the top 1% of students.</p>

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<p>It may not be wise to apply to the only top 10 schools. However, I have not seen one all around student failed to make into a top 20 school from DD's HS. </p>

<p>How many true top 1% HS students failed to gain admission into a top 20 school? One in every ten years?</p>

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<p>Bethievt, may I ask what two excellent safeties you and your son found? I thought S1 (h.s. junior now, who definitely is drawn to small LACs) had a couple of solidly safe choices, but in light of this year's results, I feel it would be wiser if he/we regarded those as matches.</p>

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<p>It depends on how you define a top 1% student. The top schools REJECT tons of students with perfect SAT's every year. The REJECT tons of students who are class vals. They REJECT tons of kids who have perfect GPAs from their high schools. They REJECT tons of class presidents. ETC. The reality is that each of these top schools could fill their class with "top 1%" (whatever that means) student 3 or 4 times over.</p>

<p>I can think of several of these top students just on CC here who conventional wisdom would have thought should have been accepted....and were not. I believe those posting on this forum represent a very small minority of those applying to colleges each year.</p>

<p>And again I say...if there is a school in the top 20 you like...identify the CHARACTERISTICS of that school...and keep looking. I am quite certain there are schools much lower on the USNews ranking list that have the same characteristics.</p>