<p>bump</p>
<p>Something to think about while you are waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting…</p>
<p>We do not have safeties, the schools that the kid has applied were the schools that the kid was willing to go with open heart. </p>
<p>It’s no wonder my son calls me Captain Obvious (I noticed my earlier post). Of course, most of my poss are just because he keeps nagging me to post every day. :-)</p>
<p>^^^He will stop nagging if you start posting “interesting” things about him. ;)</p>
<p>1) Yes
2) Yes</p>
<p>When dc applied to BS we didn’t classify schools by reach, match, or safety. We were mostly concerned with casting a wide net and finding the right fit. Thankfully, we did end up with all three types of schools on the list. We did state that no schools should be included on the apply-to list that dc was not willing to attend. </p>
<p>Post M10, with some choices in hand, the level of willingness to attend certain schools was not the same as it had been pre-M10. Had we decided that the school with the best FA award was the school dc had to attend, we would have had a very unhappy child in our home.</p>
<p>If that is the determining factor in how the school will be chosen for your family, please make sure everyone understands that before M10. </p>
<p>In our experience, the perceived “safety” schools did offer the most aid. They also ended up being the schools dc least wanted to attend.</p>
<p>I’ll answer for my son: No and No. We decided VERY early on in the process that there was no point in going through the arduous application process if he or we weren’t passionate about the school. Because we live very close to some really great prep schools, we were able to check them out prior to applying. We also have the privilege of having known either teachers or students from various of the “top” prep schools in our area, so we had a really good sense of what the schools could offer our son. Our whole reason for going prep school wasn’t just to GO to a prep school, but only if we believed it would afford him better opportunities than we could provide through homeschooling. There were some absolutely FABULOUS prep schools we visited, but they just weren’t the right fit for our son (both in his and our opinion). In the end, when we asked him what his choices were, he said “School A” all the way. And then we asked if there were any other schools he would also like to apply to, and he said NO. He would rather stay homeschooling if he doesn’t get into his first and only choice.</p>
<p>Bump…</p>
<p>I’d like to boldly define a safety school as one with a 60% or greater admission rate. </p>
<p>That’s really high. I’d say 40ish would still be a safety. </p>
<p>Safety for whom? A sporty domestic full pay applicant with legacy ties? sure.</p>
<p>A school accepting 40% of its applicants is still rejecting more kids than it accepts. I was trying to make this board feel a little more inclusive to the many lurkers who don’t enter the conversation here precisely because they’re being told that good schools like Berkshire and Kent are undesirable “safeties.” </p>
<p>but to each his own.</p>
<p>Thank you!! </p>
<p>“Safety school” is hard to define because it’s different for everyone. For my son it was a school with a 30-35% acceptance rate, but that’s not really why it was less desirable to him - His ranking had nothing to do with acceptance rate, SSAT scores, etc. It was the least desirable to him because of the social milieu - more formal and conservative than the other schools. </p>
<p>While we all liked that safety school at the time of the interview/tour, I think my son would have chosen our public high school over it, if those had been his only options, because he really disliked the feel of the community at that safety school on revisit day. Sometimes you just don’t know until you get to spend the day there.</p>
<p>Yes
No</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I agree with Albion. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>so true!</p>
<p>We have three schools between 25 and 30%, and think one of them gave us a smoke signal in the past week. We are as serious about this school as others on our list.</p>
<p>I am fully willing to go to my safety. I also applied to one other “safety” but that was because my brother was applying and it was a match for him and schools like to accept siblings. </p>
<p>My “safety” school is my local high school (academy for enrichment and advancement) and I got accepted so yeah I am willing to go… well no duh if no schools accept </p>
<p>My safety is public school. </p>
<p>Not quite willing…</p>