<p>re post 78 and to further clarify , Stanford allows early applications to other private colleges IF IT IS REQUIRED by those colleges for scholarship consideration- USC is a case in point. They have a Dec 10 deadline .</p>
<p>I have gone through the process twice and truly believe financial safeties and academic safeties are crucial. My kids (four years apart) are about even, statistically speaking. Both graduated in the top four (number, not percent) of an 800+ high school with many APs. She scored 1520 on the SAT and he scored 1560. She was a NMS, he was commended. </p>
<p>Both were rejected from their "reach, reaches" -- she from Princeton, he from CalTech. Our home college is UT. Both were accepted with $1000 merit scholarships, leaving us owing roughly $20,000/year in tuition, room and board. </p>
<p>She got full tuition or better at schools ranging from Loyola New Orleans to Emory to UChicago. She opted for UChicago, which offered her a full tuition merit scholarship. Loved it and is about to enter grad school.</p>
<p>My son got full or near-tuition at fewer schools, Drexel and American University among them. He has enrolled, happily, at American. </p>
<p>In both cases, our state school turned out to be more expensive than the private schools they attended/will attend, due to merit aid. Also, it's worth noting that competition, in my view, was much heavier this year than in 2002, when my daughter graduated HS. Despite their similar stats, she was named an Emory scholar and he did not make semi-finalist. She received full tuition at Fordham, he received $12,000. </p>
<p>So, anyway, in our cases the financial safeties/academic safeties worked out well, although the "landscape" changed significantly in four years.</p>
<p>Post 77, 79, and 82 all prove that there is not need for a safety. </p>
<p>Especially in post #82, "In both cases, our state school turned out to be more expensive than the private schools they attended/will attend, due to merit aid. ". Exactly my point - cast a wide net with reach amd match.</p>
<p>"Post 77, 79, and 82 all prove that there is not need for a safety. "
dad, just because the students in the above posts were ACCEPTED at matches, doesn't mean that they were GUARANTEED to be accepted at the matches! One does not cause the other! It is a nicer problem to have to decline an acceptance at a safety, than to have no acceptances at all!</p>
<p>I think post #77 proves the need for a safety. Even one of the schools the student thought was a safety rejected him. He got into only half the match schools and only 1 out of 4 reaches. With a slightly different selection he might easily have been attending the safety. (Not that there is anything wrong with attending a well chosen safety.)</p>
<p>orjr, you did the work, your kid did the work, the kid had a good "plan", and it all combined to yield great results. Great job. Congrats all around .</p>
<p>I didn't mean to imply there is no need for safeties. I think there is. My kids were fortunate, but those safeties were important. Especially the financial safeties. If I had a third child, I would encourage safeties, matches and reaches, both academically and financially. </p>
<p>My son, for example, was rejected at CalTech (his reachiest reach). He was accepted at Emory, with zero dollars in aid. He is, instead, going to American (which some would consider a safety/match, given his stats). It's a good school, he likes it very much, and they gave him a nice scholarship.</p>
<p>DadII you can cast a wide net with reach and match, but you're more likely to get merit aid at the safeties.</p>
<p>My S applied to 3 reaches, 2 matches and 3 safeties. He was admitted to 4 schools by early December, and received an SCEA admission from his first choice by mid-December. He ended up with one rejection only, from a reach.</p>
<p>If your child has a clear first choice with Single Choice Early Admissions, I recommend going for it. My son got lucky and had the most relaxing admissions season possible. From then on the only nerves generated were for the wait for the FA package. A rejection would have cleared his mind of that school, and he would have had time to consider his other choices carefully. He would have been happy to attend any of the schools to which he applied. Early admissions notification from safeties with big merit awards put big smiles on his face.</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>Since you have double legacies, and it's her first choice, ED would seem to be the perfect way to go! The acceptance rate is usually at least double for ED compared to RD, so you might as well try. <<</p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>Just chiming in to point out that it is a faulty assumption to say or believe that the acceptance rate is "usually at least double" for ED compared to RD at all schools. There are a number of schools, especially among the more selective ones, where ED rates are not all that much better than RD. And, even a few colleges where the acceptance rate ED is lower than for RD. So, it is important not to generalize -- do your research on individual schools before assuming that the boost from ED will be tremendous.</p>
<p>Another rule of thumb to keep in mind with ED (and EA) is this: ED and EA are not "miracle cures." If you are way out of the ballpark to begin with, applying early alone probably won't effect a miracle. If you are in the ballpark stats-wise, however, ED and EA can add to your chances, but as I note above, not always as much as folks like to think. </p>
<p>ED shouldn't be chosen out of fear. ED is best used when your child is absolutely sure that they will have no regrets about attending, and, of course, you must also be sure that you will have no regrets about living with the bill. I do recommend that if your child is planning to apply ED, and financial aid is important, that you ask the financial aid office to give you a preliminary estimate of what your package might look like. Some schools won't do this, but an increasing number are willing to do so if asked.</p>
<p>Finally, as with ED, no one should assume that Legacy status, even double legacy status, will get every student in to every college, even when combined with ED. I can introduce you to plenty of disappointed parents whose children were rejected from their alma maters, even though they applied ED. As with ED, the legacy admit rate differs from college to college, and also depends on many individual factors (i.e., developmental admit, etc.) Legacy status alone is no more of a "sure thing" these days at ALL schools than applying ED is.</p>
<p>One more thing: don't forget to consider the opportunity cost of applying EA to a Single Choice EA school, especially if it is a real reach. It's great if it works, but if it doesn't, you may have given up better EA chances at other, more realistic options. Obviously if you're in the ballpark at a highly competitive SCEA school, and you're sure it is your absolute dream school, then go for it. But if you are just taking a shot in the sky to see if you can get in even though you're not in the ballpark, the student may be better served focusing on applying EA to more realistic options.</p>
<p>For what it's worth, here's my rule of thumb for safety schools.</p>
<p>First, begin with the student, not the admit rate. Ask the following questions, and spend time really considering and rearching the answers:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>What is it that my child wants and needs most from his/her college experience? What are the "non-negotiables" that he/she absolutely has to have in order to be happy and successful?</p></li>
<li><p>What does my child have to offer that could be valuable and highly desirable to a particular college or group of colleges? Think broadly, and look beyond just grades and test scores. </p></li>
<li><p>If finances are an issue, make sure you also ask: What can our family realistically afford? Which college characteristics might we accept not having in exchange for a lower price? How much might a particular college or group of colleges be willing to pay for what our child has to offer? (This last question applies not only to merit money, but also, in many cases, to the type of financial aid you will be offered)</p></li>
<li><p>Then, carefully consider: Who would be most likely to want to "buy" what my child is bringing to the table? Where would something about what my child has to offer be rarer in the admissions pile? Which of those colleges most closely match my child's non-negotiables? (Some non-negotiables are more important than others for most students)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Somewhere in the intersect between the "must have" your child is looking for, and the "must have" particular colleges are looking for in applicants, is where true safeties lie.</p>
<p>Also, Reid pinned it correctly: this is the type of thinking and research to do at the BEGINNING of the college search, not at the end. Build your college list from the bottom up, not the top down. Incidentally, these questions will also help pinpoint the most realistic REACH schools as well. :)</p>
<p>Keep in mind however, that the old saw "one man's treasure is another man's trash" applies. "One kids' acceptable safety is another kids reach or college nightmare." So, focus on the individual student first, and let the safety list (actually the whole college list) flow from there.</p>
<p>carolyn</p>
<p>What great advice! We visited schools that sounded like great fits for our son at every level of selectivity. There were 2 schools, out of the 20 we saw, that accepted the overwhelming majority of applicants and would have met all of his requirements. Had we not found LAC's that would meet those requirements, we would have looked at larger universities and I'm sure we would have found great matches there.</p>
<p>D2 told me today that she plans to apply to sister's school as a safety. I almost fell over with shock because I don't see that as a fit AT ALL, but who am I to say? She's right that it would be an admission and financial safety, but I'm not sure she'd be too happy except that she's totally risk-averse and sister would be there. I guess it wouldn't be a bad thing, right?</p>
<p>I think it's a start.</p>
<p>Zoosermom, for what it is worth, my son used my daughter's college as his safety school this year. He felt comfortable there, felt he could find the challenge he wanted, and he liked what he heard from his sister about life there. And, from our perspective, it didn't hurt that we'd get a bit of sibling discount. :) For a while after he was admitted, I had fantasies of being able to double-the-fun on parent's weekend. Alas, 'twas not to be. He is thrilled with the college he'll be attending, but once or twice he has actually sounded a bit wist-full about his sister's college. (He did have other colleges on his list as well)</p>
<p>It's so hard to read all these posts about kids who "only" got into their safety schools, and now are so disheartened they won't pick between the schools that have admitted them.</p>
<p>Boy, if I have learned anything from all this, it's to make SURE my son (last one - YAY) has at least 2 safeties (that are safeties both from an admissions AND financial point of view) on his list that he'll be happy with. WHY did these kids apply to schools they didn't want to attend? </p>
<p>For parents whose kids haven't really started the process, please encourage them not to "fall in love" with any school that they've only "met" in a superficial way - through mailings and short visits. </p>
<p>Good luck to all who are finishing up this process, and wisdom to those of us ramping up for the fall...</p>
<p>How to you encourage your kid to" fall in love" with a school they don't really feel for ?</p>
<p>I didn't understand why my D liked the schools she did, and had disdain for
( some ) the ones she didn't.
For instance, she got admitted to a school with more prestige and reputation than the school she ultimately chose to attend.
As luck has it, she got a nice finaid offer from her #1 choice, so financially it was a better fit.
She could've gotten a free ride if we considered our states incentive offers for community college and transfers to a state college upon completion ( as long as our shady governor doesn't pull the plug )</p>
<p>I understand the disappointment that kids feel when all of their friends got accepted into their chosen schools when they got into the schools they applied to as a safety net</p>
<p>I do feel that parents need to place limits as far as their levels of comfort as well as what they can legitimately pay for, but one doesn't know until offers are on the table.</p>
<p>I do not have the magic power over my kids to manipulate them into feeling things they really don't feel..that doesn't mean that I couldn't have made them understand that things don't always turn out like you want or hope, or that they will be happy with however things fall into place.The worst case scenario is a transfer process if they really are not happy where they go in the freshman yr.</p>
<p>"How to you encourage your kid to" fall in love" with a school they don't really feel for ?"
"For instance, she got admitted to a school with more prestige and reputation than the school she ultimately chose to attend.
As luck has it, she got a nice finaid offer from her #1 choice, so financially it was a better fit."</p>
<p>Same here, but that's why it's their decision and not ours.....We wouldn't even attempt to figure out what's going on in their minds....As long as they can justify their decisions......</p>
<p>Yeah, but then why apply to those safety schools at all? I was so surprised when it became really clear that my D had no intention of going to one of her schools no matter what -- and they had what she seemed to be looking for and gave her nice merit aid. Why did she apply at all? I certainly didn't force her.
And in terms of safety nets -- why have them if you really don't want to go?</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>"How to you encourage your kid to" fall in love" with a school they don't really feel for ?">></p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>Our kids visited many schools prior to applying to colleges. We didn't encourage them to fall in love with ANY school. We did, however, tell them that they should ONLY apply to schools that they would be happy to attend. In that mix (for both) were schools that we felt were attainable and schools that were iffy. But in all cases, both kids would have been happy at any of their application choices if accepted. To me...that is the key to a good, balanced list. Help your child choose a variety of schools that they would be happy attending.</p>