We were told this year a safety is a school who admits most of their applicants AND your stats are above the top admission stats.
Who knows if that’s a good way of looking at it but it seems solid.
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It also has to be comfortably affordable, else it’s not a true safety.
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Just a reminder about Demonstrated Interest.
Tufts U is a reach for everyone,
and they LOVE demonstrated interest, especially a campus tour.
So that’s a college that is an example of visiting the college BEFORE application, to help with admission rate.
Tufts sent DS2022 an online puzzle during Christmas break.
I made son do the puzzle.
Anything as another touch base with Tufts (including campus tour).
Yes, he was accepted, so I do believe his demonstrated interest played a factor (however small of an impact it may be).
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There may be a handful of “reaches for everyone” that care about demonstrated interest. Many (most?) do not.
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I have looked at the common data set for all of the matches and safeties that S is looking at, only one has interest as even considered. Almost every other school has it as not considered. It actually makes it harder because it is very easy to click a link and watch a video.
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Oh yes, I agree that demonstrated interest via online engagement is easy peasy. It’s the touring of the schools that I don’t feel should be considered, as many families do not have the means to travel (fly in many cases) to far away schools, rent a car, stay in a hotel, eat meals out, all so their kid can demonstrate that they are interested a college. In the world away from CC, this type of college visit is not the norm.
I admit, our family is part of this type of community (private school) where cross country college tours are not uncommon. I’m trying to normalize for D24 that she doesn’t need to visit every college on her list before applying. It has greatly reduced anxiety in our household.
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When I look at CDS for my D24, I see most of the colleges mention that they have accepted students percentage is more than 80% for 4.0 GPA. Is that true indicator that it’s of time to apply to such college if she doesn’t have 4.0 GPA?
Depends on what her GPA is and what else she has on her application and what a 4.0 means at her school. So if it is impossible to get a 4.0 at her school and she is in the top of her class then she should absolutely apply. If she has a hook or some super special EC then of course she should apply. If neither is the case for her then she could of course apply to a few of these schools as a super reach but make sure that she has others that are more reasonable.
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The Major we are applying also matters also. If you are applying to CS , Engineering or Some other STEM majors the admit rate is usually lower than others. I know someone is this years application cycle who applies for CS for many colleges which they considered as safety and matches and they were waitlisted but in a high reach school they applied for humanities Major and they got in. I have heard one more case this has happened. So something to be aware of.
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Agreed. Plus, it can even be tricky to see nearby schools if they don’t offer weekend tours (surprising number don’t) because you can’t just keep taking your kiddo out of school. I’m in the camp of not needing to visit every school (unless it is an ED candidate) - with S22 we visited any schools we didn’t make it to once he was admitted (there ended up being 2).
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For S21 we visited none, there was no choice! Which is why I can’t figure out why I am so anxious about this with S24, I think that since he doesn’t know what he wants it makes it so much harder.
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For D21 we visited a couple before COVID hit. She ended up at a school she hadn’t visited before move-in day. D24 seems to know exactly what she wants, and it’s a school with a much higher acceptance rate which certainly makes things easier. My fear is that she’ll want to apply ED and then change her mind by the end of senior year 
. She tends to change her mind or second guess decisions pretty often.
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Thank you both!
My biggest question is if she is applying Humanities majors like Economics/Pol. Science/govt and if it falls into College of Arts and Science in the college, will she be competing with all high stat STEM students or will be considered differently?
STEM majors only face lower admit rates when it comes to certain majors - typically CS and Engineering. More traditional STEM subjects, like math, chemistry and biology, aren’t necessarily tougher admits than any other major (and these are often housed in colleges of arts & sciences). Business and nursing are two other majors that are often more difficult admits - typically because those programs are smaller (this is particularly true of nursing).
@Thorsmom66 , Thanks! So you’re saying that though the major comes under College of Arts and Science, they just look at the major that the student is applying to? I was wondering if the colleges do consider the fact that the student can always change major once admitted and treat everyone equally for admission into that particular college.
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For certain majors, you can’t transfer into it if you weren’t a direct admit.
UMass Amherst officially stated that you can’t transfer into the Business school Isenberg.
So the recommendation is to apply/be accepted to the “impacted” major, even if you’re not 100% sure, and then transfer to say biology.
My friend’s daughter is not certain about nursing, but since nursing has such a low acceptance rate, she applied to nursing, and then she’ll take the 1st year to check out other majors, while trying to conclude if she really wants nursing.
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Are the admissions officers listed on the websites for your region the ones who will actually be looking at the applications? Or are they there more to be guides for students during the admissions process? Anyone know?
Again this depends on per college. For example some colleges admit to the college not the Major. And some Colleges admit into the major directly. I know this makes it harder but we have to research each college you are applying to. Some public colleges have impacted majors so you cant change into them after you join.
@RadM , Thanks! Is there a way to figure out what process the college follows?
It varies by school, but generally the admissions officers main role is to bring in as many applications as possible from their region. To do that they answer a lot of questions and do outreach. At most schools admissions officers also read and rate applications, but the final decisions are made by the admissions committee, the admissions dean, and the person in charge of enrollment management.
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