please recommend me some SAFETIES

College Search & Selection
1

<p>i've looked over my (long) college list and realized that most of my schools are reaches or high matches, so i'm looking to you, CC, for some safety recommendations.</p>

<p>i'm probably going to apply to UCSB, UCSC, and maybe UCI and UCD as well, but i'm wondering if there are any good safeties/more realistic matches for me outside of california? not many preferences except not too small of a student body/not too secluded a location</p>

<p>copy-pasted stats from previous thread:</p>

<p>asian female, california, decent school (API is around 870, i believe). looking to major in history (which my ECs are mostly focused around)</p>

<p>SATs: 730 CR/700 M/780 W, superscored its 730 CR/700 M/800 W. planning to take the ACT. </p>

<p>SAT IIs: 720 english lit, 800 AP US history</p>

<p>overall GPA is around a 3.6 UW, 3.9 W (i know, i know.) </p>

<p>AP/honors classes taken: chemistry honors, physics honors, spanish 4 honors, AP calculus AB (a mistake of a class TBH), AP US history, and this year, AP literature, AP government, AP environmental science. i'm only taking four classes senior year, but i'm also getting elective credit for being an AVID tutor and an AP US history TA. </p>

<p>ECs:</p>

<p>1 year of JV co-ed golf, three years of varsity golf (captain, MVP, qualified for regionals twice)
history bowl (qualified for nationals, captain)
history bee (individual competition, 3rd at regionals)
historical documentation club (president)
various volunteering things, but nothing really long-term. </p>

<p>i also run a blog on tumblr (again, i know). i'm not sure how serious admissions people will take it, but it has over 16,500 followers and counting (gained like 200 followers today/yesterday heh), it's history-centric and sort of research-oriented, and it's actually kind of time-consuming (updated mostly every day). i'm also a tag editor, but i don't know if it would be wise to mention that on my app.</p>

2

<p>Cost constraints, financial aid situation, and intended or possible majors (history?) would help others help you.</p>

<p>You would get the full out of state tuition scholarship at the University of Alabama - Tuscaloosa. There are other automatic big merit scholarships for your stats, if you need a low cost safety but your financial aid EFC is significantly higher than what your family is actually able and willing to contribute:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>cost/financial aid is not THAT big of a factor, tbh, and yes - history is my intended major. i’ll check UA out, thanks!</p>

4

<p>What are your reach and match schools? We can suggest less selective comparables if we know your selection criteria, which should be reflected in your choice of schools thus far.</p>

5

<p>other schools i’m applying to: american, gw, nyu, duke, UNC, university of washington, jhu, bu, uva. might apply to an ivy just for kicks, you never know.</p>

6

<p>So you want medium sized, urban or large college town on the east or west coast. No LACs, no mid-western or southern schools. Are you a political science potential major or something similar? What’s your home state? And your grades and test scores are presumably good enough to consider the reaches on this list (which means you are at around the 50th percentile for admitted students per the common data set for the reach schools. Did I get this right?</p>

7

<p>hm, i’m pretty set on history as a major. yep, no LACs.</p>

<p>and actually, any region (outside of my home state, which is california) is fine. </p>

<p>thanks for your help, M’s Mom!</p>

8

<p>Minnesota if you want a lower cost out of state option.</p>

9

<p>I don’t know why you’re ruling out LACs out of hand for History. They prep students quite well for PhDs in that area. [REED</a> COLLEGE PHD PRODUCTIVITY](<a href=“http://www.reed.edu/ir/phd.html]REED”>Doctoral Degree Productivity - Institutional Research - Reed College)</p>

10

<p>As mentioned above, UA will give you free tuition for your stats, so remaining costs would be low.</p>

<p>Alabama has a strong history dept as well as a high ranking law school (it’s fair to say that schools with very good law schools also often have strong history (and poly sci) depts. </p>

<p>FYI…Alabama is very generous with AP Credits, so if you have a number of those, you might easily double major, include some minors, take some classes just for interest, and/or easily fit in a semester abroad (you can use your scholarship towards study abroad!). </p>

<p>Alabama also has an amazing Honors College which you qualify for. There are some very interesting courses that would interest a History major. </p>

<p>[All</a> Courses | Honors College](<a href=“http://honors.ua.edu/academics/honors-courses/all-courses/]All”>http://honors.ua.edu/academics/honors-courses/all-courses/)</p>

<p>[Home</a> | Honors College](<a href=“http://honors.ua.edu/]Home”>http://honors.ua.edu/)</p>

<p>The campus is gorgeous, the academics are strong, and the people are friendly.</p>

<p>Qualified students who are applying now are getting their acceptances within a couple of weeks. The online app is VERY easy…no essays, no recommendations…Alabama admits by GPA, test scores, and course curriculum.</p>

<p><a href=“Page Not Found | The University of Alabama”>Page Not Found | The University of Alabama;

<p>BTW…California ranks #8 in sending students to Alabama. This year’s frosh class is 60% out of state.</p>

11

<p>if you like NYU, check out Fordham.
if you like Duke, UVA, and UNC, check out William & Mary. it’d be another match/reach, but you might as well look at it because it’s kind of awesome.
if you like big state schools where you can find pretty awesome academics, look at Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Penn State (or basically all the Big 10). I have friends at all these schools and they say you can find basically ANYTHING there.
if you like being in a city on the east coast, check out Drexel. </p>

<p>good luck!</p>

12

<p>@Erin’s Dad i did like liberal arts schools last year and was thinking of applying to a couple… before i visited them. too tiny; i used to go to a small private school and it felt exactly like that - stuffy.</p>

<p>thanks for the other suggestions! i’ll definitely take a look at all of them. are any of these schools specifically good for history, though, besides UA?</p>

13

<p>With your stats, I’d consider American more of a safety.</p>

<p>Pitt may be good. Ranked in the top 50 for history, but with your stats and OOS residency would be an easy admit. Pitt, like Bama, has rolling admissions. Apply early for best merit aid.</p>

14

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<p>American University considers “level of applicant’s interest” to be “very important” in freshman admissions. Presumably, this means that one should not count on it as a safety.</p>