No Safeties....are we ok or not?

Applying to College
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I encourage you not to let your stress about how this B+ will affect his college applications spill over onto him. It’s not going to be what keeps him out of a place that he would otherwise be getting accepted. Encourage him to visit the schools he is excited about so he doesn’t make too big a deal about this.

And reiterating advice from above to visit and get excited about colleges that are a likely admittance, because everyone needs some of those on their list, especially with how crazy the college application process has gotten the last couple of years. (This is completely independent of the possible B-plus. (Which anyway would average to an A-, wouldn’t it?)

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Yeah I know. No they do not average the grades. They are all independent when calculating GPA. And A and A- are both 4.0/5.0 weighted. 89 is the same as an 80. Kinda sucks.

I am calmer, apparently she hasn’t curved the exam yet.

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Not a safety, but is your daughter considering USC? Great for screenwriting, great for quants, likes high stats kids.

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He’s got another semester to bring it up. Don’t worry. Que sera sera.

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My D22 may very well end up at her lowest ranked school despite already having acceptances at her reaches. The school offers her the opportunity to get into graduate school as a freshmen and be done with her schooling in 6 vs 7 years. It will also end up being half the price of the reaches.

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Is this a BA/BS → MD/DO or other health professional school path? If so, she should be sure to check what the conditions are to stay on the path to the professional school – there can be high GPA and/or professional school test (e.g. MCAT) score requirements and other requirements to fulfill in order to move on to the professional school.

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It’s a BS to DPT. Excellent points on making sure requirements are realistic. Since this is how the school fields most of their PT school, it has a vested interest in retaining the students. Their retention rate is above 90% which makes me confident it’s doable for most. My D wouldn’t have even looked at the school were it not for the program but once she did she loved many other aspects of the school. It’s the first school we toured and set the bar very high for all the other schools.

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University of Florida Class 2026 Admissions - Colleges and Universities A-Z / University of Florida - College Confidential Forums

@Melissa96 we are heart broken here, my daughter was rejected, she has 3.9 UW GPA, 1520 SAT, swimming, work, mock trial and some more extracurriculars. I see kids accepted with much lower grades. What can we do? is appealing something you would advise? Thank you!

Not sure if it will link right - it’s message #414.

Florida accepted 22% this year - with a rank now equaling UNC in US News, the apps pile up.

State of residence does not impact admission at Florida nor does major - they don’t admit by major.

You’ll have kids with lower scores (GPA and test) get in because it’s “holistic” but you’ll still have rocket scientists get turned down. Maybe the essays missed the mark or ECs or the AO woke up on the wrong side of the bed that day.

The reason the OOS is low (my hypothesis) is because they have Bright Futures in Florida - and it’s tough to get a smart kid to leave the state…it’s just too cheap to attend one of their many fine colleges.

While we’ve gone off tangent - I think the title of the thread and answers being given are - no, you’re not ok without a safety. But safeties mean different things to different people. Some consider NEU, BU, Tulane, BC, etc. safeties (those that think they’re eminently qualified for Harvard). And they’re not

Someone else might think a certain college is - but then they apply for an impacted major like CS or Poli Sci at Maryland…and they’re not safe.

The true safety is the one with auto admissions or you’re just flat out so superior in every way and they accept 80%. Or maybe a 3rd tier LAC.

Like I’ve written b4, my daughter’s valedictorian with 36 ACT was 0 for 16 on top 20 and only into NYU and UTK - where she attends.

Less kids go to school today - but more are seeking the top programs - and that’s causing gridlock I think.

The flip side - there’s always solid schools you could get into very late - if it comes to that - but then you might miss Honors and good dorms, etc. so it’s worth the investment up front.

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Would it say 89 on his transcript or would it get explicitly translated into a letter grade, and what would that letter grade be? I’m not talking about how GPA is calculated by the school; I mean how would it look to colleges, because they recalculate the GPAs themselves if there is a raw score.

It always interests me how different high schools do things. At schools in my area, they just leave the number, so an 80 is definitely not the same as an 89.

Regardless, I’ve done multiple info sessions where admissions folks at top schools said a few Bs don’t matter much. For your son, they are looking at him holistically. Even for chem, it’s how did he do relative to peers, what was his AP exam score, etc.

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I think it’s an A after all once she finished grading and curved…but to answer your question…
Not they do not report letter grades, just …B-/B/B+/A-/A. No A+. And there’s an independent grade for each trimester for multi-tri courses. But B-/B-/B+ all end up as a 3.0 or 4.0 for GPA purposes (following the UC formula for the most part, except they also weight Honors courses.) It is definitely different from school to school.

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Mom or Dad (OP) needs to stop freaking out.

They got a B.

Name one school that has 100% of students with a 4.0 UW GPA. I doubt there is any.

If said student (for Econ for example) went to - and I’m just throwing out names - Kalamazoo or Wooster or Muhlenberg instead of Holy Cross - life will go on and his success will be largely the same.

Or if your daughter is at Ohio U or Cincinnati instead of Wisconsin. Especially in her fields where some of the legends of the industry didn’t even go to or finish college.

A zillion successful people graduate every year from schools like Nebraska or Western Kentucky or Eastern Carolina.

I know you have high aspirations for your kids - they’ll be fine.

Don’t fret over a B or 3 Bs.

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I always find it ironic when anyone on CC says not to worry about elite school admissions. I know you are right, but CC makes parents stress out! CC is all about elite college admissions! I think I may need to check out for a while. This conversation has elevated my stress for days.

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Her great SAT/ACT #s do no good with the UCs. Since she didn’t apply to UCR/UCM other than UCSC there really isn’t a safety on your list. A lot of course depends on the major but the 'better" UCs are really not a safety for anyone. Even for someone as strong as your daughter.

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Absolutely no reason to freak out.

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Yes the CC is not for everyone.

I wasn’t saying not to worry about elite school admissions. Elite is in the eye of the behiolder.

I said - not to worry because your child got a B.

You can be straight As, a 1600 SAT, lots of ECs, a great essay - and still get rejected. There is so much out of your control.

And going to an “elite” school doesn’t guarantee success nor does going to a non-elite school deny success.

Your child gets the grades they get - and life won’t end - even if they don’t end up at an “elite” school. And there reality is there are many kids who turn down elite schools - for money or otherwise.

Let your kids be your kids- but yes, your thread has taken off and it’s ok to check out if it’s not for you.

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I just happened upon this thread and am I to understand that you’re freaking out about a possible B+ for your S23? Our kids had some Bs (in honors or AP classes). I think S19 had five and D21 had six. S19 is at Bowdoin and D21 is at Colgate. S19 got into schools like Davidson, Carleton, William and Mary OOS and got big merit at schools like Grinnell and Kenyon. He sent a 1540 and was NMF. Top ten percent of class. He had 12 schools to choose from in the end.

D21 got into Boston College, Lehigh, Davidson, Colgate, Richmond, and big merit at her more likelies like Furman, Denver, SCU, and LMU. She didn’t even send scores. Also top ten percent of class.

Bs are OK. Colleges look at where you sit in your class. They read your essays and recommendations. They look at how you spent your time outside of class. They consider the reputation of your high school.

As for safeties, who knows? I would say neither of our kids had true safeties by most people’s definition but they looked way safe on Naviance for the schools on their lists with 25/30% acceptance rates. Lots of people here thought our kids’ lists were risky yet they both ended up with many, many schools to choose from.

You are full pay as are we. Most of the colleges our kids applied to were need blind but not all. I’m clear that full pay may have helped our kids’ cases for some schools and will help yours as well.

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I know where you are coming from, but, as the folks here have said, take it easy.

Even if D & S have 4.0 UW etc, make sure they have safeties where they will be happy. NO ONE will care where your kids or mine went to college. It only matters what they do in college and beyond. That’s it.

It actually was CC that showed me that life does NOT revolve around what school your kids go to or that they have to go to the Ivies, Top 20 etc. CC and Operation Varsity Blues that is!

Best of luck. D & S will be fine.

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Check out SCAD. They do a lot of work in Atlanta.

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If this site or thread is not helpful for you, then please do step away. Take care of yourself, take care of your family, and relax. CC will be here if you decide you want to come back.

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My kid ended up with an 89.997 and got a B+ in Chem. It actually fired him up so the next semester he did the optional extra credit, studied more, and got an A. In the context of the rest of his application, even for elite schools, even for the schools where he’s been rejected, I am confident that the B+ is not the issue. Your kiddo’s blip is just that, a blip, and it might even be a learning experience in how to study or how to deal with stress :blush:

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