<p>I am a fan of solid academic LACs way off of the beaten track for my kids who have not expressed clear post college career or school plans. My son went for one “reach” LAC, E.D. I and, though it was a realistic possibility and not a Hail Mary, he was rejected. He then went for a “match” LAC E.D. II and was admitted. After struggling with college level academic rigor his first semester at Whitman, he is now loving it. Because Whitman is out of the way (eastern Washington) and relatively obscure, many top students do not have it on their radar. Therefore, it has a relatively high admission rate of around 45% yet still attracts good students with middle 50% SAT ranges between 1240 and 1440 out of 1600 - which I believe is a class SAT range similar to Cal or UCLA.</p>
<p>Because of his targeted approach, he did not face a lot of rejection from reaches or end up at a safety that he might not have thrilled about attending, and his college search was over by February of his senior year. Keeping an even keel on what schools he could realistically get into kept the stress of college application season down substantially - though it certainly was not stress free.</p>
<p>My daughter is trying a similar approach. She has applied to a “match” LAC E.A. that we hope that she will be admitted to. Sewanee, on the Cumberland plateau in Tennessee, is her first choice, even over her “reaches,” and she definitely has her hopes up. Because Sewanee is out of the way and therefore not for every student, the college has a 65% admission rate. On paper, she would be in the top 25% of the class, she would add geographic diversity, and might contribute to their athletic program, so we are cautiously optimistic. </p>
<p>While quite different in some ways, Whitman and Sewanee appear to be equivalent colleges academically. Their main downsides are lack of diversity and cost, though the cost of Sewanee has become more reasonable in comparison to five years at at U.C. or CalPoly, which has happened to quite a few of families that we know. The obscure location of these colleges is not a downside to us since it has exposed us to parts of the Country we might not otherwise have seen. Moreover, it increases the odds of admission to these particular colleges for those who are interested by eliminating the less geographically adventurous. They apparently prepare students well for graduate or professional school.</p>
<p>My daughter will be completing regular applications to three university “reaches” with 20% to 35% admission rates by January 1, 2012. She would be happy to attend any of them if she got lucky, but she knows that her odds are not great and does not have her heart set on any of them. She did not visit them because we saved her visits for “match” schools. She will apply to a couple more LAC “matches / safeties” (with minimal supplement requirements) by February 1, 2012 that she could envision herself attending if disappointed by Sewanee, though will scrap those if she hears good news from Sewanee before that. </p>
<p>The bottom line is that my kids have striven to find good “match” schools that really interest them, even though they lack the prestige of more well-known universities. We have chosen not to fly too high in order to avoid crashing into the ocean (Ick! are not us, so to speak), and so far we have not been overly distraught by a “reach” that missed, or needed to rely on a “safety.” Getting realistic about the numbers, and having faith that one can be successful by doing well at an academically rigorous college outside of the “elite” schools, has made the process much less stressful. </p>
<p>Of course, if that faith is misplaced, . . . .</p>