<p>I agree with orjr. You need to explore it first, I honestly hesitated adding it myself but thought it might be worth a look.</p>
<p>Any other suggestions for safeties? I've just been spooked by this thread on no acceptances.</p>
<p>We/he are making arrangements to sit in on a couple of classes at UM Residential college.</p>
<p>If he applies to Michigan now, he should have an acceptance by later October, at which point, he would not have to worry about safeties.</p>
<p>Breakfastclub,
My daughter has similar scores and is looking at the same schools. We visited Reed and she came away from the visit saying she was going to go there. Then she visited Macalester and that is now her number one. She is looking for a small LAC where she can major in English/Lit for her future career as a book editor.<br>
Other schools she is looking at are Oberlin and Earlham (small Quaker U in Indiana) right now. The unfortunate thing about Reed, Macalester and Oberlin (all very accepting of sexual orientation) is they don't really offer scholarships to students who don't qualify for need. If you want some scholarship money your son may have to go to a 2nd tier school.</p>
<p>A brief update. My son ended up applying to Reed (still number one choice), Michigan, Lawrence University and Antioch.</p>
<p>The Michigan application was submitted at Thanksgiving, and, by the school's website completed 12/08/06. After reading through the Michigan acceptance thread, I'm a bit nervous as he hasn't received admissions notification. I don't think he put as much effort into his essays as he should have.</p>
<p>We attended a program at Lawrence and he had the opportunity to spend the night. I would liken the visit to a group hug - it was great despite the nasty snowstorm on the drive back.</p>
<p>Toured University of Chicago on the way home from Lawrence. Gorgeous architecture, but he didn't care for the feel of the place. </p>
<p>We visited Kalamazoo College last Friday. I loved it. He didn't dislike it, but still doesn't want to go there. </p>
<p>The appeal of Antioch is a bit beyond my comprehension. We will be attending a program there this Monday and he will be spending the night. </p>
<p>And, you'll love this. Due to cost factors, he knows he may not be able to attend Reed even if he is accepted. He asked us the other day, "if you know you might not be able to afford for me to go to Reed, why didn't you save more money?" There are days I'd like to throttle that kid.</p>
<p>That's a nice touch, indeed! When we pointed out that a school my daughter was looking at was very isolated, she said, "That won't be a problem -- I could get a car." "With what?" we replied. Throttle away.</p>
<p>I had a comment like that too when I mentioned the price range we could afford... It shook me for a second and then I reminded her that we had a right to a life too; it was not all about her. She is fine with the price range now!</p>
<p>breakfastclub--My S. is a freshman at K College. They're very generous with merit scholarships. With your son's stats, the price tag probably would have been comparable to in-state COA at U-Michigan.</p>
<p>He'll get into every one of these colleges, potential merit money at most of them including Michigan. If he made any mistake, it was not reaching higher. He had a good shot at places like Brown and Yale.</p>
<p>Slipper, I would not consider Brown reaching higher, although given his son's interest in Reed, I'd say Brown may have been a better fit. But I definitely agree that with his credentials, he should have aimed at Harvard or Stanford or MIT for the hell of it.</p>
<p>^ Why? If he can barely afford Reed, why would you throw in applications "just for the hell of it" to schools that will definitely not give merit money? Especially if he wasn't thrilled with doing the applications in the first place?</p>
<p>Good luck to your son breakfastclub. And thanks for the update!</p>
<p>I would second the opinion of the poster that suggested Lewis and Clark in Portland - nice school in one of the nicest cities in the country. They also have good merit aid.</p>
<p>We were hoping he would apply to Yale, but he just wasn't interested. He is hoping for a classmate to be accepted to Harvard though. Like I said, he's a quirky - and very stubborn - kid.</p>
<p>We returned yesterday from a visit to Antioch College in Ohio. Any opinions on that? Everyone there was very nice, but to me the school just seems to be so "seat of the pants" and cobbled together. My son spent the night, but his host never showed. Despite that, he liked the school. He ended up hanging out with some current students he plopped himself down with at lunch. They feel the school is going to he## because of changes the new president is making - such as the new core curriculum and non smoking buildings.</p>
<p>I spoke with a faculty member who felt that things are looking up. Five years ago she wouldn't have wanted her child to attend. Admissions and retention this past year exceeded expectations, but the website says they only have 500 students. That's less than half the size of his high school.</p>
<p>The school has been having financial difficulties and a series of presidents over the years, so it's hard for me to get excited about forking out that kind of money. Not to mention that its political philosophy is rather different from that of my husband and I.</p>
<p>Have you explored Occidental in Los Angeles?
-- good but not overwhelming academics
-- self-contained but open to city
-- fair chance of merit aid with his scores
-- apparently gay friendly</p>
<p>He's rather particular about geographic location - no place hot. But thanks for the suggestion.</p>
<p>One last update:</p>
<p>Accepted to Reed, University of Michigan, Lawrence University (with Richard Warch scholarship), and Antioch.</p>