I agree that UGA is not a safety (more a match), but I do want to point out that they do not differentiate between in-state and OOS applicants (one exception with a small group of apps last year). Unlike GATech, UGA does not have a mandate to accept a % of in-state students. This is well documented in David Graves Admissions blog, which I encourage OP and son to read if UGA is a consideration as it is very informative and transparent.
For the OP, I agree with others encouraging you to make safeties a priority when planning college tours. If your kids rule those out (for whatever reason) after a visit, it is important to know that before applying and not if they end up as the only options. My D visited all her safeties before applying. She did not visit the school she ultimately attended (T10 LAC at the time) until after acceptance.
Your kids absolutely have very reasonable chances at the schools already on their lists. But as has been said over and over, no one wants to be caught without a plan b. Good luck! I look forward to following their journeys.
We did the same with U of Minnesota. We have reciprocity there so itâs somewhat affordable and my D found out she was admitted in early November. I remember her saying, âWell, Iâm going to college.â It wasnât near the top of her list but it would have been a good option if it had been needed. And it took the stress off a little bit. And she also didnât have to bother applying to any other schools that were lower on her list. She had a friend who got denied or waitlisted at all the T20âs he applied to when he expected to be admitted somewhere. He ended up at Minnesota.
That is a terrific blog, he is an excellent ambassador for the school, and I donât doubt that their stated policy is supposed to be state-neutral. But the impact of how they build a class and fulfill their in-state objectives is essentially creating the same effect as a cap; there are far too many anecdotes of ultra-high-stats Westchester, Long Island, and northern NJ kids getting rejected for there not to be some fire behind the smoke, in my opinion. I could not in good conscience call it anything other than a reach for an OOS student unless maybe the state is a Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho, etc.
I donât want to veer too far off topic by diving into detail on UGA⊠But that makes complete sense, and I should have included a caveat for the geographic diversity most schools are looking for. As an aside, if UGAs OOS applications continue to increase I wouldnât be surprised if a policy is put in place in the future.
For the economics major student, what type of economics major would he prefer?
Liberal arts flavored
Low math (no calculus)
Moderate math (single variable calculus)
High math (multivariable calculus, linear algebra, and/or more advanced math)
Business flavored (has additional requirements more typical for business majors and/or upper level electives that are more business flavored like managerial economics)
High math liberal arts flavored economics majors are the least common, although some departments have multiple math options (e.g. a moderate math and a high math option). Most high math liberal arts flavored economics majors are at more selective colleges (the least selective college with high math may be UCSC).
This. And really the tours usually just confirm what the kids and family know anyway.
Touring those sure thing schools can turn up some surprise schools that kids might likeâŠ.once they get there. But donât bill this as a tour of safety schools just in case. Bill these tours as other options to consider.
I think itâs safe to assume that all of the schools on the two lists are in that category. Fellow CCers, correct me if I am wrong, but thereâs no one repository for that, is there? Most of this comes from experience and some anecdotal experience, FWIW.
However, Iâve been following threads long enough that several CCers have an incredible sense of this at many of the schools, both on these lists and others.
Trinity College Dublin would be a safety for both students, and both could find great options there. Ticks all the other boxes on the first post. Ditto Kings College London (except maybe the rah-rah)- and itâs only 3 years. #justsayin
How high is their class rank? They seem like great candidates, but it is always hard to figure out how likely some of the possible safeties are(Holy Cross, Trinity?) without knowing rank. For example, for a kid in the top 2% at our school, as long as the hardest APs available were not dodged, Wake & BC would also be safeties. However, a 4.0uw/35 ACT kid (with about the average Honor/APs at our school) got shut out of top state schools and all others but one backup in-state school last yearâbecause the rank was barely above middle of the pack and they were just not aware that the truly competitive kids (for the instate flagship) took much harder classes and had higher GPAs. The parents were shocked. So there may be more safeties on here than you think, or there may not. I think it is best to add one more solid safety to both kidsâ list.
âIâm kind of leaning towards NOT touring safeties unless it comes to that (especially on the same trips as tours of Ivies.)â
Someone else mentioned it but I think you should spend the most time looking for your safety school. You should really like it. We made our kids find their safety schools first and didnât move on until they did. Itâs hard to get a student to love their safety if itâs always being compared to the elite school. In the case of our younger D her safety became her number 1 choice.
Grade inflation is not just an issue in higher education, contrary to what one might think based on popular reports. Grade inflation is also an issue in secondary schools. Parents and students need to put their UW GPAs (and even their weighted GPAs) into context â which has become harder to do without explicit class ranking systems. But without making the attempt (word-of-mouth, guidance counselor, Naviance, etc.), families develop unrealistic expectations.
Itâs at the point where a 4.0 GPA and X APs donât provide much insight for T100 admissions, on their face, yet thatâs what many parents highlight first in CC and the foundation upon which students base their entire college interest lists (thatâs not directed at the OP, who did a very nice job providing useful context).
I know a student with a 3.8 UW who is in the top 1% of her high school class and who has scored all 5s on her APs. I know others who have 4.0 UW GPAs but are in the top 30% of their high school classes with a mix of 3s and 4s. This is a problem. Much of the difference can be traced to how their high schools grade and AOs largely know how to tease out those comparisons. Parents and students, often, donât.
In sum, you asking the OP what those GPAs translate into in terms of peer comparisons is a good way to give them a better understanding of their chances at their reaches, and would also prove useful for pointing them toward appropriate match and safety schools.
Iâm sure, based on the list, that itâs CT. Trinity in Texas is a wonderful school but like 80% TexansâŠwhen people say Trinity, itâs typically CTâŠespecially when mentioned with Holy Cross.
But that makes complete sense, and I should have included a caveat for the geographic diversity most schools are looking for. As an aside, if UGAs OOS applications continue to increase I wouldnât be surprised if a policy is put in place in the future.
