Please recommend safeties

College Search & Selection
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<p>Hello! I kind of asked this in another thread but no responses, so I thought I would start my own.</p>

<p>My son is high school Junior at a competitive high school. GPA 3.4, but rising (3.1 freshman year, 3.4 sophomore year, 3.8 thus far through Junior year!). No AP or honors classes but will be taking 3 next year. It's like he finally woke up :) I'm hoping he'll be at 3.5 by the time applications go out.</p>

<p>ACT: 27 but taking it again with the help of some one-on-one tutoring, hoping for a 28+. His SAT's were weak so we're focusing on the ACT.</p>

<p>Good EC's including 4 years drama with leading roles, community service, teacher-selected mentorship program, and church youth group with significant leadership. Summer job as a camp counselor at the YMCA for 3 years.</p>

<p>We've visited a bunch of schools. He is undecided and open-minded as to major but may be interested in either business or engineering. Here are the ones he likes best so far:</p>

<p>Loyola Maryland
Miami - Ohio
Xavier
James Madison
George Mason
U. Dayton
Purdue (kind of different from the others...)
Northeastern
St. Joseph's</p>

<p>We haven't visited Fairfield yet but I think he may like that one too.</p>

<p>So generally he likes small to medium sized schools. He wants internship opportunities. He has liked the Catholic/Jesuit schools, but this is not a must as long as there is some kind of faith community on campus, which I think there is just about everywhere. He's pretty conservative, a relatively nice dresser (he was turned off to one school because the tour guide said that when they dress up, they wear jeans, otherwise it's sweats 24/7). </p>

<p>I kind of thought that St. Joe's and Dayton were safeties, but the GC says they are matches (?). </p>

<p>Price tag is really not an issue.</p>

<p>I appreciate your help in advance!!!</p>

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<p>I should also mention that his ‘dream school’ is Boston College but this is a huge reach for him. I’ve encouraged him to apply anyway… what can it hurt beside the app fee… but just to give you another idea of his type of school.</p>

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<p>Since it sounds like you’re willing to pay $55k+ for any school and seems to want some kind of faith community…</p>

<p>St Louis U
Gonzaga
along with the schools on your list? </p>

<p>What did he like about Purdue? That’s going to have a different culture than those in your list. Not a safety though.</p>

<p>He’s pretty conservative, a relatively nice dresser</p>

<p>Then, he’d like many southern schools. Campuses are more moderate and kids often dress nicely.</p>

<p>Does he like sport schools? Or are those too big? </p>

<p>What is your home state?</p>

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<p>Thanks for the quick reply mom2collegekids! </p>

<p>Our home state is NJ. He really really does not want to stay in NJ.</p>

<p>Most sport schools are too big, he has decided. He initially liked Penn State, but we had toured in the summer. Just toured Indiana a couple of weeks ago and he was overwhelmed with all the kids/buses/buildings/activity. Crossed the big 10 off his list.</p>

<p>I agree that Purdue is way off his norm (and not a safety at all). He just has it in his mind - I think he liked the name, LOL. And when we visited, we got to spend time with a student who is the daughter of a friend of mine. She was very sociable and as we lunched in the dining hall, and seemed to know so many people it made the large campus feel small. The tourguide also could have been hand picked for him… engineering student, and also very clean cut and a fraternity boy. Well spoken and involved in a faith group - not geeky if you know what I mean. So you never know why a student will like a school!</p>

<p>We thought about the south but then for some reason he moved away from it. I guess he wasn’t happy with the quality of the schools he could get into. I think he would have liked Richmond or William & Mary but they are definitely not safeties, probably far reaches. </p>

<p>Will look at Gonzaga and St. Louis. They’re a little farther away but I guess once you get on a plane you get on a plane…</p>

<p>as to cost, I dont’ want to limit him as he searches, and fortunately I don’t have to, but at the same time I don’t want to over pay… we will be very happy to keep the cost down and maybe even find some merit money. Cost will ultimately be a decision factor after we see where he gets in, but if we all agree that a 55K school is right for him then luckily I can make that happen. Dayton talks about scholarships for kids with 3.0 gpa’s and 24 ACTs so I’m liking that one a lot.</p>

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<p>I know St. Mary’s in Maryland is an honors college, but it is a public school and it does have a high(er) admission rate than most of the other colleges I myself am applying to. It’s a small, rural college, with 1,900 students. It’s a really beautiful campus and its right on the water and it is just an overall good school.</p>

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<p>thank you FangirlMary! I’ll check that one out too. He likes Maryland/Virginia/DC area a lot and I have family in that area too.</p>

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<p>Just to point out but BC does not have engineering, so if he is leaning in that direction BC would not work for him.</p>

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<p>Look at your school Naviance pages and see where the safeties like. I would have thought the same about Dayton and St Joes, as well as a few others on your list. My son’s stats were not as good as yours and those two and Xavier would have been safeties for him. He did get accepted at Farifield, Iona, Fordham, and Duquesne with some scholarship at some of those. Scranton was suggested as safety for a lot of the kids at his school by the way, as well as Stonehill, Seton Hall, St Johns, and any number of the smaller Catholic schools. But your GC would be the one to know where he would be most certainly accepted and where it’s not necessarily a slam dunk.</p>

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<p>Thanks confused: yes, aware of that with BC. He’s so undecided… he just has found that he has an affinity & aptitude for physics, so engineering has only recently hit his radar screen. I’m expecting we won’t have to worry about BC anyway :’)</p>

<p>cpt you made me feel a lot better! The GC was clear that she felt that these weren’t safeties. But I will be honest… I don’t think she has a lot of knowledge of schools outside of the east/northeast/midatlantic. Looking and looking at some of them, esp. Dayton, and I don’t see how it’s not a safety. I know that NOTHING is guaranteed in this process (that’s why we want 2 or 3 safeties), but Dayton has an EA admit rate of 87% and he is near or above their averages and will apply EA. Looking at Scranton too, and St Johns.</p>

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<p>and btw our Naviance isn’t the best… they changed the whole gpa system two years ago (affecting my son as the first class) so it’s really hard to figure out where he stands vis a vis prior applicants. Need to ask the GC for some clarification on this. I hope it doesn’t hurt his school’s 2014 applications! (all gpas are lower under the new system). I assume counselor reports/recommendations will mention this change, but it’s probably not smart to aSSume.</p>

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<p>The mid 50% of ACT scores for admitted freshmen at Northeastern is 29-32 so definitely not a safety.</p>

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<p>Tom, thanks and agree. All the schools i have listed above are considered by his GC as either reaches or matches (Northeastern being a reach). I just want to add a couple more “safeties”, although I’m getting more comfortable with Dayton and St. Joe’s as possible safeties.</p>

<p>Would welcome any more suggestions!</p>

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<p>

</p>

<p>Can he recalculate his GPA the old way for comparison to last year’s Naviance information?</p>

<p>Here are some obvious safeties:</p>

<p><a href=“Error 404 | Not Found”>Error 404 | Not Found;
[UAHuntsville</a> - Financial Aid - Entering Freshmen - Non-Residents Merit Awards](<a href=“http://www.uah.edu/financial-aid/aid/scholarships/new-freshmen/non-residents-merit-awards]UAHuntsville”>http://www.uah.edu/financial-aid/aid/scholarships/new-freshmen/non-residents-merit-awards)</p>

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<p>The GPA is what’s hurting the OP for Dayton. The ACT score is near the 75 %ile but a 3.5 doesn’t even reach 50%. And the Essay is as important in admission. <a href=“404 : University of Dayton, Ohio”>404 : University of Dayton, Ohio;

<p>There are some other things to like about Dayton:

</p>

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<p>I’d definitely look at Siena College (NY) near Albany. It is a Franciscan college and has a similar vibe to a Jesuit school in that religion is present but not pushed on anyone. When my son applied they had a fast forward application and let you know if you get in within a few weeks of applying. He got his acceptance by November! He didn’t go to Siena (as he got into his top choice/reach school) but we all really liked it. And if it is a factor, Siena has a lower price point than most private colleges. </p>

<p>We also looked at and liked Marist College which is now non-denominational but it was founded by the Marist Brothers and seems to me to have some vestiges of being a Catholic School (church on campus, large campus ministry program, you have to take a theology/philosophy course). Beautiful campus on Hudson River. If I remember correctly, Marist also had a lower than average price point for a private college.</p>

<p>Another idea is Manhattan College which has an excellent engineering program and a business school. It is a Roman Catholic College in Riverdale, NY and I believe they have rolling admissions.</p>

<p>And Fairfield is worth a visit although it might be a bit of a reach. You may also look into Sacred Heart (CT) as a true safety although I never visited that school so I have no first hand information to share.</p>

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<p>thanks to all for the replies. Siena is now on the list and will look at UAB and Huntsville.
Erin’s dad: I know, they mentioned all that in the presentation a couple of weeks ago! Like Like Like Like. We’ll have to work extra hard on his essay.</p>

<p>and yes, I’ll work with his GC to determine how to look at the Naviance info. </p>

<p>The application for Dayton is even free :)</p>

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<p>Manhattan College might be a possiblity if he is considering engineering or business.</p>

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<p>Have you investigated Catholic University in Washington D.C.? His statistics would seem to put him in position to be admitted there and they even offer an engineering major. I understand that they are often generous with merit aid.</p>

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<p>thanks ceiliblue and Joblue, I will check both of these out!</p>

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<p>Kmurph, if you just get on EA accept from the group, you have your safety. I was a bit nervous with my son because he didn’t apply early to any of his schools as he was late getting rolling on this and his grades were an upward trend that benefited the extra terms of grades being reported senior year. As I said, his ACT was a lot lower than your son’s. But he was taking strong courses and he did fine. I would visit any out of area schools to make sure they know you are interested as many of them are not happy about being tagged on safeties drawn out of hat as a “just in case”. They tend to know who and where their “bread and butter” students are and will give them more leeway than someone who looks like he just stumbled on his school. This goes for any number of the smaller private schools. We visited Duquesne, for instance, and they really gave us the royal treatment, I think , in part because we were out of area, and were serious about the possibility. </p>

<p>Ask your counselor what he thinks would be solid safeties too. Some local schools have a direct feed that way and will take just about anyone from a given school, knowing that the yield is pretty danged good from that source but scrutinize an outlier app. So, often, if you are “in the stream” you are good to go, but otherwise might get the stink eye.</p>